The Limited-Time McDonald's Filet‑O‑Fish With A Spiced Twist That Deserves A Comeback

Of all the fast food items with cult followings, the Filet-O-Fish is among the most underrated. It may not have the same hype as the McDonald's Big Mac, but the sandwich of fried Alaskan pollock, American cheese, and tartar sauce has been winning diners over since 1965. While there are roughly 300 million original handhelds sold every year, some fans are still dreaming about the discontinued Old Bay Filet-O-Fish.

It hit stores in the Mid-Atlantic in early 2015. Residents of Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Virginia flocked to one of more than 700 locations to try the sandwich, which came with Old Bay tartar sauce. The menu item was made in collaboration with McCormick & Company, the owners of Old Bay Seasoning, after a Maryland franchisee named Mark Furr thought to riff on the original.

The limited run was a success. "Please make it a nationwide thing!" someone commented on the Baltimore McDonald's X account's announcement of the launch. "This needs to be available at all locations all of the time. I would buy one tomorrow," said another. Others wished the handheld came with a matching side. "I'm all for it, but damn did they miss an opportunity to do Old Bay McDonald's fries," one Redditor wrote. "Why Old Bay only on the Filet-O-Fish? Old Bay Burgers & Old Bay McNuggets too!" suggested an X user.

Old Bay is a seasoning blend starring celery salt, paprika, and "18 herbs and spices," according to the brand. Ed Hernandez, the brand manager of Old Bay when the collab launched, described it as "zesty," but that's a bit of an oversimplification. It has sharpness from black and red peppers, smokiness from paprika, earthiness from the celery seed, and plenty of herbaceous notes. It's not spicy, but has notable warmth. This could be due to potential additions of mustard powder, clove, cinnamon, or nutmeg. Combined with creamy, tangy tartar sauce, it made a drool-worthy companion for savory, salty fried fish. Plus, Old Bay is a natural match for seafood, arguably essential to crab cakes and seafood boils.

A 2016 article by McDonald's shared that the Filet-O-Fish is "offered in select U.S. restaurants with a specially-formulated Old Bay tartar sauce," but this is outdated. There's no telling if or when this popular McDonald's menu item will be resurrected. Luckily, the original is still available nationwide to hold fans over. 

One thing you might not know about the Filet-O-Fish is that a whopping 23% of them are sold during Lent (via Smithsonian Magazine), a time of year when some practicing Catholics don't eat meat or poultry. In fact, the Filet-O-Fish was invented as a way to bring Catholic diners back to McDonald's after sales dipped ahead of Easter. Theoretically, this would be a good time for the Old Bay iteration to come back.