Which McDonald’s product was created in 1962 by Cincinnati franchisee Lou Groen?

The Filet-O-Fish was created in 1962 by Cincinnati McDonald’s franchisee Lou Groen.

Groen operated a restaurant in a heavily Catholic neighborhood, where many customers avoided meat on Fridays, especially during Lent. He proposed a fish sandwich as a way to attract those customers without abandoning McDonald’s core menu.

The sandwich originally used a breaded fish fillet, cheese, and tartar sauce. McDonald’s tested Groen’s fish sandwich against a meatless competitor product and selected the Filet-O-Fish for wider sale.

The product became an important part of McDonald’s brand history because it showed how local franchise conditions could influence the national menu. It is often described as the chain’s first non-hamburger sandwich.