RITUALS : Serving You Since 1953

YOU WON’T FIND Ronald McDonald or any of the other contemporary McDonald’s characters. But you can look for the oldest remaining original McDonald’s sign, a 60-footer that promises this is your kind of place. The McDonald’s on Lakewood and Florence avenues in Downey is the only independently owned link of the Titanic chain. When it opened in 1953, owners Roger Williams and Bud Landon (who still own it today) served a 15-cent hamburger; the then-modern equipment could turn out 600 burgers per hour. Although the stand was one of the original McDonald’s, it was never part of the franchise purchased from the McDonald brothers by Ray Kroc. But Landon and Williams were granted the right to buy food from McDonald’s and to continue to use the name. It’s outdoor seating only, but you can enjoy the same burgers, fries and shakes that are now found all over the world.

McDonald’s, 10207 Lakewood Blvd., Downey; (213) 869-6212.