What You Don't Know About McDonald's Famous Filet-O-Fish BY ANGELA JOHNSON/APRIL 2, 2019 3:25 PM EST/UPDATED: APRIL 19, 2019 9:35 AM EST
Whether it was after a long night of drinking, at a rest stop in the middle of a road trip, or in an effort to transport yourself to a simpler time, you've likely craved a Filet-O-Fish from McDonald's in the not-so-distant past. And you may still be kicking yourself for indulging your taste buds, but there's something about that fried fish smothered by a mound of tartar sauce that keeps us coming back for more. But you may be surprised to learn that this deliciously guilty pleasure, has a very interesting history.
182.3K We Finally Know Which Boxed Brownie Mix Is The Best From its humble Ohio beginnings, the Filet-O-Fish has gone on to become a fast food phenomenon. The simple fried fish patty sandwich with cheese and tartar sauce has been around longer than the Big Mac and is one of the biggest non-burger success stories in the history of the franchise. Although the fish sandwich has held its own on the McDonald's menu for over 50 years, there are still a lot of things about the Filet-O-Fish that you probably do not know.
It was introduced to appeal to Catholics Facebook The Filet-O-Fish was McDonald's first non-meat sandwich addition to the menu. And while it has remained a popular menu item for over 50 years, it was created out of necessity by one desperate franchisee.
The groundbreaking idea to add a mouthwatering fried fish sandwich to the menu of a burger joint was first introduced by Cincinnati-area franchisee, Lou Groen, in 1961. His Ohio restaurant was located in an area of the city where over two-thirds of the population were practicing Catholics and didn't eat meat on Fridays. As a result, Groen's burger sales dropped dramatically on Friday nights, and he averaged only around $75 in profits. And for a man with a wife and young children at home, $75 was not going to cut it.
Groen realized he was losing most of his Friday business to another area franchise, Frisch's Big Boy, which had a fish sandwich on the menu. Groen knew that he needed to act fact to be competitive and save his bleeding profit margin. Just like that, the Filet-O-Fish was born.
It beat out a pineapple-based burger Twitter When Groen came up with the idea of a breaded fish sandwich, he knew it would be a winner — but he had a major hurdle to cross first. He took his idea to McDonald's founder Ray Kroc in hopes of getting his new sandwich on the menu. Kroc, however, wasn't excited about the idea of having fishy-smelling restaurants.
Kroc challenged Groen to a competition against his own meat-free sandwich idea, the Hula Burger — a slice of pineapple and cheese on a bun. In the end, Groen crushed his corporate competition, selling 350 Filet-O-Fish to Kroc's six Hula Burgers in one day. In 1965, the Filet-O-Fish became the first new menu item added to the national McDonald's menu.
Today, the Filet-O-Fish is a popular menu item all year long, but it's really a star for Catholics — 25 percent of the sandwich sales occurred during Lent in 2016.
It's really made of fish Facebook If you were wondering (or worried) about just what you're eating when you bite into your Filet-O-Fish, you can breathe easy. You may be quick to assume the fast food fillet is a mishmash of questionable non-fish ingredients, but there's nothing artificial happening here — the Filet-O-Fish has always been made with real fish. The first Filet- O-Fish sandwiches were made with halibut until McDonald's started using cod shortly after in an effort to save money.
In case you needed another reason to feel good about eating your next Filet-O-Fish, you should know that McDonald's is doing its part to maintain the stability of the fish population as well a healthy environment. These days, the Filet-O-Fish is made with sustainable Alaskan Pollock. In 2013 McDonald's announced that they would source all of their fish in the United States from a single sustainable Pollock fishery.
Poster Comment:
That's nice. But when I lived in Chicago there was a lake in Wisconsin that was over run with Carp. They drained down the water levels and brought in seine nets. Three tractor trailers pulled up with McDonald's emblems of the doors. So don't tell me about Pollock fisheries.