The 1962 Filet-O-Fish

This is the way the Filet-O-Fish was intended to be! Really, it is. If you've seen the film "The Founder" then you already know the origin story of McDonalds. What the film didn't divulge much information on was the inspiration behind the menu items themselves. The story about the Filet-O-Fish is almost as interesting as the story around the restaurant that serves it. About 300 million of these sandwiches are consumed each year and a whopping 23 percent of them are consumed during Lent. (Which is actually the reason the sandwich was created in the first place.) In 1959, Lou Groen opened the first McDonald’s in the Cincinnati area–87 percent of the residents that lived there during that time were Catholic. His business was struggling, but Lou noticed that sales at a nearby restaurant Big Boy were great. Their secret sauce? A fish sandwich. Lou possessing a creative and entrepreneurial mind of his own set out to create the most delicious fish sandwich. The result was a filet of halibut between two buns with a melty delicious slice of cheese. He had a hit, he presented it to Ray Kroc and the sandwich was rejected. The reason being Ray had an idea of his own to catch the catholic audience–a "Hula" burger. It was essentially a piece of pineapple in a bun? Well, Kroc was so confident in his pineapple burger he challenged Lou to a duel. On Good Friday in 1962 his Hula Burger went up against the fish sandwich. The customers would decide the victor...well there's no pineapple on the menu. The fish sandwich was so delicious it earned the right to a permanent space on the menu–but the story doesn't end there. The filet-o-fish unfortunately wasn't scaleable with expensive Halibut as the fish of choice. Instead, Ray swapped the catch for Cod and then later its cheaper cousin Pollock. Luckily, today you can enjoy the Filet-O-Fish as Lou Groen dreamed it would be served–breaded moist and flavorful halibut, sweet onions, melty white cheddar cheese, between a fresh bakery bun!

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet