The drive-thru format opened its first McDonald’s location in Sierra Vista, Arizona, in 1975.
The restaurant was near Fort Huachuca, a United States Army installation. Military personnel were not always permitted to leave their vehicles while wearing fatigues, so McDonald’s created a service window that allowed customers to order and receive food without entering the restaurant.
The idea matched the growing importance of car travel in American life and eventually became a defining part of McDonald’s branding and operations. Drive-thru service later appeared across the company’s international network and became central to the visual identity of roadside McDonald’s restaurants.
The format is sometimes confused with McDonald’s earlier walk-up windows or with later digital ordering systems. The defining feature of a drive-thru is vehicle-based ordering and collection, usually through a dedicated lane and service window.