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

Lou Groen created the Filet-O-Fish sandwich for McDonald’s in 1962.

Groen operated a McDonald’s franchise in a heavily Catholic neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. During Lent, many customers avoided meat on Fridays, and his restaurant’s sales fell sharply. Groen proposed a fish sandwich as a way to serve those customers without abandoning the McDonald’s format.

The sandwich was tested against a competing meatless option associated with the chain. The Filet-O-Fish performed better and became part of the national menu. Its recipe and fish sourcing have changed over the decades, but the sandwich remains one of McDonald’s longest-running branded menu items.

The Filet-O-Fish is sometimes confused with the Big Mac because both became signature McDonald’s products. The Big Mac was created later by Jim Delligatti, while Groen developed the fish sandwich.