McDonald’s and Burger King proudly display their logos on thousands of facades around the world. However, their founding dates seem to vary according to sources: 1940 or 1955 for McDonald’s, 1953 or 1954 for Burger King. This confusion is not trivial. It reflects more complex founding stories than a simple year engraved on a notarized document.
Why McDonald’s Claims Two Founding Dates
The very first McDonald’s restaurant opened on May 15, 1940, in San Bernardino, California. Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald sold hot dogs and hamburgers from a small drive-in stand. The business was doing well, but not much more.
In 1948, the two brothers radically changed their model. They eliminated table service, reduced the menu, and developed a fast preparation system inspired by assembly lines. It is this operational overhaul that laid the foundations for modern fast food.
Then came Ray Kroc. A milkshake machine salesman, he discovered the McDonald brothers’ restaurant and obtained the rights to franchise it. On April 15, 1955, he opened his first establishment in Des Plaines, Illinois, and subsequently founded McDonald’s Corporation. To find the detailed founding date of McDonald’s and Burger King, it is necessary to distinguish these successive stages.
The official date thus depends on the criterion chosen. McDonald’s corporate website mentions 1955 as the starting point for the current company. Historians, however, trace back to 1940 to mark the opening of the first restaurant. Neither is false; they simply tell different stories.
Burger King: Insta-Burger King, the Forgotten Name of 1953
The story of Burger King begins in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida, under a name that no one uses anymore: Insta-Burger King. Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns launched this brand based on a machine called the Insta-Broiler, capable of grilling hamburgers in series.
The concept caught the attention of two Miami entrepreneurs, James McLamore and David Edgerton. In 1954, they acquired a franchise and then restructured the company after the founders’ financial difficulties. They dropped the “Insta” prefix and renamed the chain Burger King.
Have you noticed that some sources indicate 1953 and others 1954? The reason lies in this transfer of ownership. The first physical establishment dates back to 1953. The Burger King brand as we know it, driven by McLamore and Edgerton, took shape in 1954. As with McDonald’s, the “true” date depends on what one considers to be the foundation.
First Restaurant, First Franchise, First Corporation: Three Distinct Milestones
The confusion surrounding these dates can be explained by a mechanism common to both brands. Three different events are regularly presented as “the creation”:
- The opening of the very first restaurant (1940 for McDonald’s, 1953 for Burger King), which marks the start of business activity under a given name.
- The launch of the franchise system, which transforms a local restaurant into a replicable network. For McDonald’s, this is the turning point of 1955 with Ray Kroc.
- The establishment of the parent company (corporation), which gives the brand its current legal and financial structure.
These three milestones never coincide. An article stating “McDonald’s was founded in 1940” and another stating “McDonald’s was founded in 1955” both convey something true, but not the same thing.
A detail illustrates this ambiguity well: the McDonald’s in Downey, California, opened in 1953, is often presented as the oldest still in operation. It is actually the third McDonald’s ever built and the second franchised. It is neither the first restaurant of the brothers nor the first of Ray Kroc.
McDonald’s and Burger King in France: Staggered Arrivals
The establishment in France adds an additional layer to the timeline. McDonald’s opened its first French restaurant in 1979, in Strasbourg. Burger King attempted a first entry into the French market in the 1980s but ultimately withdrew before returning much later.
Why this delay? McDonald’s benefited from an earlier and more structured international expansion strategy, launched as early as the late 1960s. Burger King, after several changes in ownership, took longer to stabilize its development outside the United States.
For the French consumer, the perception is therefore skewed. McDonald’s seems much older than Burger King, even though their founding dates in the United States are only about fifteen years apart, or even less depending on the criterion chosen.
How to Decide Between 1940 and 1955, Between 1953 and 1954
There is no single answer. Both brands themselves maintain a certain ambiguity, depending on whether they want to emphasize their longevity or their modern structure.
Here are the most reliable milestones to remember:
- 1940: opening of the first restaurant of the McDonald brothers in San Bernardino.
- 1948: redesign of the concept towards fast food as we know it.
- 1953: opening of the first Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville.
- 1954: McLamore and Edgerton restructure the brand under the name Burger King.
- 1955: Ray Kroc founds McDonald’s Corporation and opens his first franchise.
Citing just one of these dates without context simplifies a story that is not simple. The next time you read “McDonald’s, founded in 1955,” you will know that this statement deliberately omits fifteen years of prior existence, and that Burger King has the same type of dual origin.