The California City Where McDonald's Famous Egg McMuffin Was Created

Millions of people start their mornings with a McDonald's breakfast, but few know the story of its superstar, the Egg McMuffin — or where it was created. The Egg McMuffin was dreamt up by franchisee Herb Peterson who, at one time, owned all six Santa Barbara, California-area locations. Peterson was a big fan of eggs Benedict and wanted to create a handheld version that fit the fast-food model, and some suggest he may have consulted his friend and fellow Santa Barbaran, celebrity chef Julia Child. In 1971, he came up with the Egg McMuffin — an English muffin topped with fried egg, Canadian bacon, and a slice of American cheese to replace the messy Hollandaise sauce. Peterson even invented a Teflon-coated ring for the grill to give the eggs a round shape to better fit an English muffin.

After impressing McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc with a prototype, which was originally served open-face with honey or jam, according to McDonald's, the fast food giant tested the breakfast sandwich in select local restaurants in 1972, leading to a nationwide rollout by 1975. While Peterson wanted to call his creation "The Fast Break" (via WGN-TV), he learned someone already had a claim to the name. Then, Patty Turner, wife of McDonald's executive Fred Turner, suggested "Egg McMuffin" (via Time).

Coming up with a breakfast option was no small feat, however, as breakfast wasn't served at fast-food restaurants back then, and McDonald's didn't open until 10:30 a.m. But with the success of the Egg McMuffin, McDonald's launched its inaugural breakfast menu in 1977, also cementing Santa Barbara as the birthplace of McDonald's breakfast. Today, breakfast makes up around 35% of McDonald's business (via KCLU), which is quite a legacy for Peterson, who died at age 89 in 2008.

More than 50 years since the Egg McMuffin's creation, Santa Barbara is still a McDonald's hotspot. There are three locations in Santa Barbara proper, with another three in nearby Goleta and Carpinteria. Both the upper State Street restaurant in Santa Barbara and the Fairview Avenue restaurant in Goleta played a major role in the origin of the Egg McMuffin. While the Goleta location was where Herb Peterson came up with the breakfast sandwich, the State Street restaurant was the first to sell it, and even has a historical marker to commemorate its introduction.

The Egg McMuffin is still a popular menu item for the area, particularly on Fairview Avenue. In 2023, KCLU reported that the location makes around 100 Egg McMuffins every morning due to a constant stream of customers. Breakfast orders there consistently outpace other McDonald's locations along California's Central Coast, with the Santa Barbara Visitor's Guide reporting it had 241 drive-thru customers before 9 a.m. during a January 2026 tour. Despite the constant traffic, Yelp reviews of the Santa Barbara locations are mixed with some customers complimenting friendly employees and good service during breakfast while others mention poor food quality and order inaccuracies.

Even so, the Santa Barbara-area McDonald's restaurants continue to honor Herb Peterson with annual Herb Day celebrations, complete with discounted Egg McMuffins. The sandwich's enduring popularity also helped pave the way for milestones like McDonald's all-day breakfast menu in 2015. From a portable take on eggs Benedict to a global fast-food icon, the Egg McMuffin remains one of Santa Barbara, California's most enduring culinary creations.