Why McDonald's Founder Once Thought The Filet-O-Fish Was A Bad Idea

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While McDonald's is primarily seen as a burger-and-fries joint, its menu just wouldn't be complete without the indomitable Filet-O-Fish. It's a classic these days and, unsurprisingly, it sits near the top of our fast food fried fish sandwich ranking. However, it wasn't always looked upon with favor.

One of the things you didn't know about the famous Filet-O-Fish is that it had to fight for its right to exist. What is now a perfectly reputable order under the Golden Arches almost didn't make the menu, because McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc thought it would "stink up" the restaurants. Despite Kroc's initial concerns about the Filet-O-Fish, it still became popular. Even notorious McDonald's diehard President Trump is (almost) completely on board. The one upgrade Trump would make to the Filet-O-Fish? More tartar sauce.

However, if you've ever fried fish in your own kitchen, maybe you understand Kroc's concern. Cooking it in an enclosed area can be smelly, so how did this humble sandwich evolve from a no-go to a major part of the show? Kroc laid out the whole story in his book, "Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's."

In his book, Ray Kroc wrote that the fish-based sandwich was "born of desperation." The idea for the Filet-O-Fish came from a struggling franchise owner in Ohio: Lou Groen. A Catholic, Groen opened his McDonald's franchise in 1959 in a predominantly Catholic area of Cincinnati. Before 1966 (and the Second Vatican Council), Roman Catholics were obligated to abstain from eating meat on Fridays throughout the year. Groen noticed that he had particularly bad sales on Fridays, and he attributed this to the fact that there were no fish offerings on the menu — your average Catholic's go-to protein when meat isn't allowed.

So, Groen presented the idea of a fish sandwich to Kroc in 1962. As Kroc described in "Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's," his first reaction was, "I don't care if the Pope himself comes to Cincinnati. He can eat hamburgers like everybody else. We are not going to stink up our restaurants with any of your d*mned old fish." In response to his CEO's blasphemy, Groen swayed other McDonald's executives, and the chain went to work developing the sandwich. 

To gauge customer response, Kroc staged a battle (on Good Friday, no less), pitting his favorite Hula Burger — grilled pineapple with cheese on a toasted bun – against Groen's Filet-O-Fish. Groen won out. Following a limited release in 1963, McDonald's rolled out the Filet-O-Fish nationwide in 1965, making it the first sandwich on the menu that wasn't a hamburger.