Which fast food chain originated in San Bernardino, California?

The fast food chain that originated in San Bernardino, California, is McDonald’s.

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first food business near San Bernardino in 1937, calling it The Airdrome. In 1940, they moved the operation to 1398 North E Street in San Bernardino and opened a drive-in restaurant under the McDonald’s name. That location became the foundation of the modern chain.

The brothers originally sold barbecue, but they discovered that hamburgers generated most of their sales. In 1948, they redesigned the business around a limited menu, walk-up ordering, fast service, and assembly-line food preparation. This “Speedee Service System” helped make inexpensive hamburgers profitable and became a model for modern fast food.

Ray Kroc later encountered the San Bernardino restaurant in 1954 while selling Prince Castle milkshake mixers. Impressed by its speed and efficiency, he became the brothers’ national franchise agent. The original restaurant was eventually demolished, but its site is remembered as the birthplace of McDonald’s. The oldest surviving McDonald’s opened in Downey, California, in 1953.