How McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Beat Out The Competition To Become The First Non-Hamburger Menu Option

The Filet-O-Fish has been a McDonald's fixture for so long, most fans of the fish burger may not realize it has an interesting origin story. In the early 1960s, Lou Groen, a franchisee who owned the first McDonald's outlet in a predominantly Roman Catholic part of Cincinnati, Ohio, realized that sales dipped on Fridays from customers observing the Lenten fast. Seeing how well a competing chain's fish sandwiches sold at the time, Groen came up with the idea of a fish burger. Since fish are cold-blooded, it is the protein of choice for many who abstain from eating meat during Lent.

Despite the clear reasoning for adding it to the menu, McDonald's executives at the time seemed hesitant about a fish burger. Price increases, as well as cooking a fish patty (as opposed to a hamburger patty), were concerns. The Hula Burger, a non-meat burger with pineapple and cheese, was also in the works, and it was backed by McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. The executive made a wager with Groen — whichever item sold more on a Friday would be added to the McDonald's menu. Come Friday, six Hula Burgers were sold compared to over 300 Filet-O-Fish. Consequently, the latter continues to be on McDonald's menus across several countries. In fact, Filet-O-Fish sales numbers during Lent speak for themselves, making up a quarter of the burger's annual sales.

When Lou Groen came up with the idea for a fish burger, he actually formulated the sandwich and made it from scratch — including the batter and tartar sauce — for the McDonald's executives to try. Ultimately, the company substituted Groen's halibut patty with one made of Atlantic cod to make the sandwich more economical. The story of the Filet-O-Fish is replete with fun facts, and it led the way for more McDonald's menu items to have franchisee-led origins.

Only super fans of the Big Mac will know that it, too, was the result of a franchisee wanting to cater to their local customers and keep up with local competitors who were doing better. Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchisee, owned several outlets in the Pittsburgh area. After a lukewarm response from the McDonald's executives to his double-decker burger pitch, Delligatti assembled it himself, starting with an extra-large bun to make the triple-layered burger. A year later, the Big Mac was available at McDonald's outlets nationwide and continues to be, arguably, the chain's most iconic offering.

The Egg McMuffin came about as a precursor to the McDonald's breakfast menu in the early 1970s. Herb Peterson, who owned an outlet in Santa Barbara, California, initially thought of an eggs-Benedict-style offering. The idea evolved into the Egg McMuffin we all know today, with its cheese, egg, and bacon combination. Peterson developed the Egg McMuffin in 1971, and it finally became available across the country in 1975 — about 10 years after Lou Groen's fish burger, which, conceived in 1962, finally appeared on McDonald's menus in 1965.