McDonalds Vs Burger King: Which Fast Food Chain Came First?

McDonald's vs. Burger King is one of the most famous rivalries in American food, challenged only by the Coke or Pepsi debate. Fighting over the most iconic of American dishes, the two are at the top in the fast food field. According to a QSR report, McDonald's and Burger King have the first and second most burger restaurant locations in the U.S., although Wendy's is in second place by revenue. However, Wendy's doesn't offer anything resembling the signature burger rivalry between the McDonald's Big Mac and Burger King Whopper (sorry, Dave's Double). So, we can't help but wonder, did Burger King or McDonald's come first? While both have been around for nearly the same amount of time, it turns out that McDonald's was first by a few years.

One confusing factor is that both current companies grew out of franchises of the originals. McDonald's founding has three important dates. In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald founded the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California, which was a barbecue joint initially. It wasn't until 1948 that they switched to the burger concept and introduced the assembly line system that made the chain famous. Then in 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise east of the Mississippi and founded what would become McDonald's Corp. in Des Plaines, Illinois, which bought out the McDonald's brothers in 1961. But if you are going by what most people consider true McDonald's, the 1948 switch to burgers is the best "founding" date, still predating Burger King by several years.

Burger King's origin story actually intersects directly with McDonald's. Burger King in its current form began in 1954 in Miami. It was founded by James McLamore and David R. Edgerton as "Insta-Burger King" and was actually a franchise of the original Insta-Burger King, which had opened in Jacksonville, Florida, the year before. The original Insta-Burger King's founders, Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns, had opened their restaurant in 1953 after being inspired by a visit to the original McDonald's. McLamore and Edgerton shortened the name in 1957, the same year Burger King started flame-broiling its burgers, and bought the whole company in 1959.

Like Ray Kroc, McLamore and Edgerton were franchisees who took over the brand and turned it into a national powerhouse. So, if you consider the founding of the original burger restaurants that became McDonald's and Burger King, the former was five years ahead of the latter. If you go by the locations that eventually grew into the organizations we know today, Burger King would have started in 1954 and McDonald's in 1955. Still, because of the McDonald brothers' breakthrough contributions to the world of fast food, most will always consider that 1948 date the most important.

There may be many differences between McDonald's and Burger King, but these two longtime rivals have been tied together from the very beginning as '50s pioneers that spawned franchises, growing quickly on opposite coasts while slinging a dish that remains a defining item of American cooking.