You could say we have the Catholic Church to thank for one of McDonald’s most famous sandwiches.
The Filet-O-Fish exists, at least in part, because Catholics wouldn't eat hamburgers on Fridays during Lent.
The story was told by John Lavenburg (in Crux), who spoke with Erica Shadoin, granddaughter of Lou Groen, the Catholic McDonald’s franchise owner who created the Filet-O-Fish.
The story begins in Cincinnati in 1959.
Groen had opened a McDonald’s on the heavily Catholic west side of the city. There was just one problem. When Fridays during Lent rolled around, his Catholic customers stopped coming in for hamburgers. Instead, they headed to a nearby Frisch’s Big Boy, where they could get a fish sandwich.
For Groen, this became a big problem because at the time, according to his granddaughter, he was in danger of losing his franchise. He knew his customers, and he knew he needed something they could eat on Lenten Fridays, his granddaughter told Crux.
So Groen came up with a fish sandwich. He worked on his recipe for weeks, eventually settling on breaded halibut with his own tartar sauce on a steamed bun. According to the family story, the cheese came later, after Groen spotted an employee adding a slice to his own fish sandwich and liked the idea.
Then Groen had to convince McDonald’s leadership. Apparently, Ray Kroc wasn't enthusiastic about putting fish in his hamburger restaurants. But eventually he and Groen agreed to a rather unusual competition.
On a Friday during Lent, they would test two meatless sandwiches.
Groen would sell his fish sandwich. And Kroc would sell his own invention: the Hula Burger, consisting of a slice of grilled pineapple and cheese on a bun.
You can probably guess what happened.
“My grandfather said as soon as he heard Ray’s idea he knew immediately that his would win out,” Shadoin told Crux.
It did. On Good Friday in 1962, Groen sold 350 fish sandwiches for 25 cents apiece. By 1963, the sandwich had done well enough that McDonald’s rolled it out across the system.
All because Catholics didn't eat meat on Friday
Today the Filet-O-Fish is made with Alaskan pollock rather than Groen’s original halibut, and it uses half a slice of cheese instead of a full one. But the basic idea is still remarkably close to Groen's original: breaded fish, tartar sauce, cheese, and a steamed bun.
And the restaurant where it all began is still there. According to Shadoin, that original Cincinnati McDonald’s sells close to 800 Filet-O-Fish sandwiches on Good Friday alone. A tribute to her grandfather and his famous invention hangs on the wall.
Lou Groen wasn't trying to make Catholic history. He was trying to keep his restaurant open. But because Catholics in Cincinnati took their Friday abstinence seriously enough to change where they ate, McDonald’s eventually changed what it served.
And more than sixty years later, the Filet-O-Fish is still on the menu.
You can read John Lavenburg's complete story, including his interview with Groen's granddaughter, in Crux: “Origins of the Filet-O-Fish: Created to Serve a Local Catholic Community.”
And while we're talking fish, our Gone Fishing T-Shirt celebrates a more famous Catholic fisherman: St. Peter. Featuring a fish at the center of its design, it's a fun nod to our first Pope, the fisherman Christ called to become a “fisher of men.” Find yours today at The Catholic Company!
