Which city hosted Ray Kroc's first McDonald's franchise in 1955?

Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955.

Kroc opened the restaurant on April 15, 1955, at 400 North Lee Street. It became the ninth McDonald's restaurant in the company’s history and served as a highly visible demonstration of the McDonald brothers’ standardized operating system.

The Des Plaines restaurant is frequently mistaken for the first McDonald's overall, but the original business began in San Bernardino in 1940. Kroc’s location mattered to branding history because he helped turn a regional restaurant format into a consistent national chain. A reconstruction of the Des Plaines restaurant operates as a museum near the original site.