The first-ever McDonald’s location has been turned into a weird unofficial museum

by FarleyElliott

10 Comments

  1. SixofClubs6

    I visited this probably 6 years ago.
    Wouldn’t consider it new

  2. HowDoIWhat

    I’ve been. Bunch of old happy meal toys, mostly.

    I think there’s some interesting dispute over the definition of “First McDonald’s” between this museum and the McDonald’s corporation

  3. liverichly

    Hey there Farley, how are you enjoying life at SF Gate vs. Eater LA?

  4. ghostlymadd

    I mean, it’s ironic because it actually wasn’t their first location- their first location was actually in Monrovia but they didn’t go by the name McDonald’s then. This is pretty well known lol.

  5. monotekdm

    Went there after I went to Milta Cafe for some SoCal food history. If you are in the area it’s worth checking out and there is a vintage arcade across the street as well!

  6. SpaceProphetDogon

    Wow, seeing the Officer Big Mac prison out front really hits me in the nostalgia feels.

  7. MakeSouthBayGR8Again

    Didn’t the late owner also own the Military history museum next door as well? Also, the owner wanted to call his grilled chicken business Don Pollo but the name was already taken so he settled on Juan Pollo…

  8. Rocket_69

    Oldest operating McDonald’s is in Downey, so not sure what this is

  9. my dad took me here when I was a kid and I remember it being this weird liminal space even then like the ghost of something that was and the way the dust smelled; they had this old browning french fry in a display case they claimed was the longest fry ever cooked in a McDonald’s so long that they measured it out of a helicopter, pretty sure I remember seeing a picture of that too?

  10. savvysearch

    McD, if you’re listening: They’d make bank if this location offered a take on their recipes before 1990s. But if not that, then atleast do the original formula 47 french fries (when it was made with beef fat as the frying oil), so the new generation knows what it used to taste like. People would line up in droves and it was trend nationally for the fries.

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