McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac in 1967 after franchisee Jim Delligatti created it in western Pennsylvania.
Delligatti operated several McDonald’s restaurants and developed the sandwich as a larger alternative to the chain’s standard hamburger. The Big Mac used two beef patties, a middle bun section, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and special sauce.
The sandwich was first sold in the Pittsburgh area before McDonald’s added it to menus nationally in 1968. Its three-part bun and layered construction helped make it visually distinctive as well as filling.
The Big Mac is sometimes dated only to 1968 because that was the year of its nationwide introduction. The more precise history distinguishes the regional launch in 1967 from the national rollout the following year.