McDonald's Menu

Founded in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a barbecue drive-in, then reinvented in 1948 around a fast, assembly-line "Speedee Service System" built on burgers, fries, and shakes. Ray Kroc joined as a franchise agent in 1955, opened the Illinois location that became the template for the whole chain, and eventually bought the McDonald brothers out entirely. Now the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue, deliberately varying its menu by country.