Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's restaurant operated under his franchise system.
Kroc opened the restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. He had become interested in the McDonald brothers' highly organized San Bernardino operation after supplying it with Multimixer machines. Kroc then pursued the right to franchise the concept and built a larger organization around standardized food preparation, service, and restaurant design.
The Des Plaines restaurant was not the original McDonald brothers' restaurant. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 and later developed the Speedee Service System. Kroc's Des Plaines location represented the beginning of his major expansion effort.
The restaurant also became a branding landmark because it presented the McDonald's name and operating model in a form that could be repeated across many locations. The reconstructed site is now associated with the McDonald's historical story.