Which McDonald's franchisee created the Big Mac in 1967?

Which McDonald’s franchisee created the Big Mac in 1967? Jim Delligatti created it.

Delligatti was an early McDonald’s franchisee who operated restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. He developed the sandwich to compete with the larger double-decker burgers sold by Big Boy restaurants. Although he later modestly said he had not invented the basic double-decker concept, he is credited with creating McDonald’s version.

The Big Mac debuted at Delligatti’s Uniontown, Pennsylvania, restaurant on April 22, 1967, initially selling for 45 cents. It became popular quickly and was added to every U.S. McDonald’s menu in 1968. The sandwich’s signature structure uses two beef patties, cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, special sauce, and a three-part sesame-seed bun.

A common mix-up is the distinction between creator and namer: Esther Glickstein Rose, a McDonald’s advertising secretary, suggested the name “Big Mac,” but Delligatti created the sandwich itself.