What McDonald's Originally Sold Instead Of Burgers And Fries

As the most successful fast food chain in the world, McDonald's has perfected its simple, yet craveable menu with burgers and fries as the main attraction. However, not everyone knows the secret history of the first McDonald's and how different its menu looked when the restaurant was starting out. McDonald's began as a barbecue restaurant that sold a wide variety of items that are no longer available, including hot dogs. 

In the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald journeyed from New Hampshire to California seeking a glamorous career in Hollywood. After working as crew members on back lots and an unsuccessful run operating a movie theater, they determined that to grow their wealth, they needed to break into a different industry: food. Particularly, cheap, quick food that would appeal to struggling Americans. They began with a brief, yet successful stint selling hot dogs and orange juice from a walk-up stand, then decided to turn it into a larger operation that would offer drive-up service. 

The brothers opened the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940, known as McDonald's Famous Barbecue, near Route 66 in San Bernardino, California. They expanded the menu to include a wide variety of items besides hot dogs, such as baked beans, tamales, and even peanut butter and jelly. Based on the success of other quick-service burger restaurants like White Castle, they also sold hamburgers. 

McDonald's Famous Barbecue in San Bernardino was a success throughout much of the 1940s, with sales regularly reaching $200,000 annually. The large parking lot that accommodated 125 cars was often full. A significant part of the appeal was being able to sit in your car while carhops walked or roller-skated up to your window to take and deliver your order.

Despite its success, after a few years, the McDonald brothers were determined to make service speedier and more streamlined. In 1948, after identifying issues that could be affecting their efficiency, including personal conflicts between the fry cooks and carhops, teenage customers stealing plates and silverware, and an overloaded menu, they made the bold move to close the restaurant for three months to come up with a new business plan. 

One might question why McDonald's closed its successful BBQ operation. In short, they decided to pivot away from barbecue, which cooks slowly, to focus on a fast food item that made up the majority of their sales: hamburgers. The brothers pared the menu down to a handful of offerings that included 15-cent hamburgers, fries, chips, pie, and beverages, and built their own ultra-efficient kitchen equipment to crank out the food as quickly as possible. When the restaurant reopened, it was renamed McDonald's Famous Hamburgers, positioning it as a fast and affordable restaurant for families. McDonald's mogul Ray Kroc would eventually purchase and help expand the franchise into the global giant it is today.