Neil Fox opened McDonald's first franchised restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953.
Fox became the first franchisee to use the McDonald's operating concept outside the brothers' original San Bernardino location. The Phoenix restaurant helped demonstrate that the standardized format could be reproduced in another market.
This franchise is often confused with the Des Plaines restaurant opened by Ray Kroc in 1955. Kroc's location was the first restaurant operated by the McDonald's System under his leadership, but Neil Fox's Phoenix restaurant preceded it as a franchise.
The 1953 opening marked an important step in the brand's expansion. It showed how a consistent restaurant design, menu, and service process could support growth beyond one family-owned site.