The Filet-O-Fish is one of McDonald’s most successful sandwiches and is a staple of many hungry Catholics during the season of Lent. But it wasn’t always on the menu. It was created by an entrepreneurial Catholic who had a big problem and won a legendary wager.
In 1962, Lou Groen had opened the first McDonald’s franchise in Cincinnati, Ohio, but was struggling to make a profit. He quickly realized his problem: His restaurant was located in a Catholic neighborhood (Groen himself was also Catholic), Catholics didn’t eat meat on Fridays, and McDonald’s only served entrées with meat.
So Groen came up with his own recipe for a fish sandwich and took it to Ray Kroc, the CEO of the company for approval. As the story goes, Kroc was also working on a meatless sandwich, the Hula Burger, which substituted a pineapple slice for the burger.
Kroc made Groen a wager: they would make Groen’s fish sandwich and Kroc’s Hula Burger available for one Friday at one location, and whichever sold more would be added to the national menu. The final tally was Filet-O-Fish, 350; Hula Burger, 6.
The sandwich went on to be a successful seller for McDonald’s and for Groen. When he finally sold his franchise, Groen had grown his business to 43 McDonald’s restaurants.
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