Vintage photos of fast-food restaurants show what it was like to go to McDonald's and other chains back in the day

• The most popular fast-food chains looked very different decades ago.

• McDonald's restaurants look drastically different now from how they did in the 1950s.

• Vintage photos show how other chains like Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, and In-N-Out have evolved.

Many popular fast-food chains have been around for decades.

However, the menus, restaurant designs, and employee uniforms have changed a lot over the years.

These vintage photos of fast-food restaurants show what it was like to go to McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and other chains decades ago.

The first official McDonald's franchise opened on April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

The first franchised restaurant only sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milk, root beer, orangeade, Coca-Cola, coffee, and three kinds of milkshakes: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

In the 1970s, McDonald's employees would take down orders by hand, rather than use an electronic system.

The company was well-established by the 1970s and was beginning its global expansion. By 1970, the chain had sold over 6 billion burgers.

Customers could order at the counter and watch as their meal was being prepared by employees through a large window into the kitchen.

McDonald's meals were served on plastic trays, which customers could then bring over to a dining-room table to enjoy.

McDonald's restaurants got drive-thru windows for the first time in 1975.

While chains like In-N-Out Burger already had drive-thru windows, McDonald's didn't have one until 1975, when a franchisee in Sierra Vista, Arizona, skirted around an Army regulation that prevented military members from entering local businesses in fatigues.

Fast Company reported that he got around the regulation by knocking down a wall in his restaurant's kitchen and installing a drive-thru window to serve customers.

Kids would often celebrate their birthday at McDonald's.

The first McDonald's PlayPlace was introduced in 1971, forever changing the McDonald's dining experience for families and children. While parents relaxed and ate their meals, kids could play in colorful climbing structures, jungle gyms, and slides.

The introduction of the PlayPlace solidified McDonald's reputation as a destination for families on a budget, as many were during the 1970s amidst a time of financial insecurity, high inflation, and the Vietnam War.

After the Big Mac was released in 1968, the burger soon became the chain's signature item.

The chain added two more signature burgers to its menu when the Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese were added in 1973.

In 1979, the first Happy Meals were introduced.

The McDonald's menu expanded even further in the 1980s.

Chicken McNuggets were added to menus in 1983, and patrons were also given the option to "super size" their fries and soft drinks to a larger size starting in the summer of 1987.

McDonald's has tested out many other items throughout the years and, by 2013, its menu had 145 options, Bloomberg reported.

Burger King first opened in 1953.

When the chain first opened, it served 18-cent flame-broiled burgers, milkshakes, and fries. By the 1980s, the fast-food chain had a well-established brand identity.

Burger King locations in the 1980s offered both drive-thru and dine-in service, allowing customers to choose the method that was most convenient for them.

The menu hasn't changed much since the 1980s.

However, you might be surprised to learn that Burger King once offered a customizable salad bar.

The chain brought out its iconic Whopper burger in 1957. By the 1980s, it was a staple at the fast-food chain.

It originally cost 37 cents compared to Burger King's original burger, which cost 18 cents. The Whopper came with sauce, cheese, lettuce, pickles, and tomato, all piled on top of a larger patty.

The Burger King employee uniform featured hats and striped polo shirts.

Burger King's uniforms have changed drastically during the chain's lifetime. In the 1980s, the brand started experimenting with plaid, stripes, and baseball caps.

Customers could take their orders to go or eat in the adjoining dining room.

Many Burger King restaurant dining rooms have evolved since the 1980s, but some look surprisingly similar.

Taco Bell was founded in 1962 by Glen Bell in Downey, California.

Pictured above is a Taco Bell restaurant in 1996.

Most Taco Bell restaurants have modernized, and no longer feature the original logo and Southwestern-inspired architecture.

Taco Bell's menu had just five items when the restaurant opened in 1962.

Each item cost just 19 cents, and the menu featured traditional Mexican favorites like frijoles, tostadas, burritos, and tacos.

In 1984, Taco Bell introduced the Taco Salad and Taco BellGrande and, in 2004, Taco Bell began selling Mountain Dew Baja Blast.

Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded in 1952 by Colonel Harland Sanders, who also became the face of the brand.

This is what the restaurants looked like in 1975.

This is a White Castle in the 1960s, although the first White Castle was established way back in 1921.

White Castle is often regarded as the first fast-food hamburger chain. When the restaurant opened, the family-owned business sold its 5-cent sliders by the stack.

In 1961, White Castle became the first fast-food hamburger chain to sell over 1 billion burgers. One year later, the chain brought out a new menu item: the cheeseburger slider.

The Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, opened in 1946. It would eventually become what we now know as Chick-fil-A.

The business, owned and operated by founder Truett Cathy, started by selling standard items like waffles, breakfast foods, sandwiches, and burgers.

The first official Chick-fil-A locations were located in shopping malls.

The first restaurant to bear the name Chick-fil-A opened in the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1967. The restaurant is pictured above in the year it opened.

Cathy opened the first freestanding Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1986, over two decades after he created the chain's original chicken sandwich. Free-standing locations are now the norm for Chick-fil-A, and mall locations are much less common.

In-N-Out became California's first drive-thru hamburger stand when it opened in 1948.

Not much has changed on In-N-Out's menu since its early years. In 1961, In-N-Out added "animal-style" burgers to its menu, which included a mustard-cooked beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, extra spread, and grilled onions.

In 1963, In-N-Out began serving its famous Double-Double burger, and in 1975, In-N-Out began serving milkshakes.

A few years later, In-N-Out opened its first location with a dining room in Ontario, California.

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