McDonald's Hamburger Restaurant

14480 San Pablo Avenue, San Pablo

Either you love it, or you don't, the San Pablo McDonald's franchise has been around for 60 years!  However, when news that a McDonald's restaurant would come to San Pablo in the early 1960s, it was a huge deal.  It would be the first of its kind in this area to be built near Contra Costa Junior College.  This was at a time before all the fast-food establishments we have today were built.  At one time there were a few in this area near the college; in addition to McD's, there was Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, and Der Weinerschnitzel (Taco Bell and Der Weinerschnitzel closed some time ago).

At an April 1965 meeting of the San Pablo Planning Commission, property owners and developers, Jack Kilcrease and Art Wanlass petitioned for a permit to build a drive-in restaurant on the property at 14480 San Pablo Avenue. The permit was approved within two weeks, and a permit for construction was issued to McDonald Systems, Inc. of San Francisco. It was estimated the valuation of the 880 square foot structure would be at $35,000.

Then in July 1965, before it was even open, several Bartender & Culinary Workers Union locals planned a new campaign against the McDonald's restaurant chain by picketing at the new San Pablo site. However, McDonald's San Jose office countered with "union labor is being used to construct the San Pablo building." All issues resolved, by January 1969, McDonald's Hamburger restaurant was in its third successful year, and San Pablo franchise owner, Ed Rossman indicated "business was booming!"

In a Richmond Independent article of January 1970, it was reported that McDonald's of San Pablo had sold more than three million burgers during its first four years of operation. So successful, that in 1976 plans to remodel and expand its restaurant was submitted to the city's planning commission. The plans included building an enclosed eating area in front of the building and remodeling the look of the exterior.

In July 2013 another commercial design review application was brought before the Planning Commission to allow for additional renovations, including exterior facade improvements, addition of a second drive-thru and site development work at the San Pablo McDonald's which was unanimously approved. The San Pablo franchise was also very active in community activities and participated in numerous fundraisers for various organizations.

The original McDonald's restaurant opened by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald in 1940. It was originally a barbeque restaurant with a large menu and classic car hop service. In 1954, Multimixer salesman Ray Kroc visited the McDonald's restaurant and was fascinated by their fast food operation. He learned that the brothers were seeking to franchise their restaurant concept nationwide and jumped at the opportunity to become the national franchising agent, thus writing the first page of McDonald's history. From its humble beginnings as a small restaurant, McDonald's has become one of the world's leading food service brands with more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021 in more than 100 countries worth $215 Billion.