The McRib sandwich is a barbecue-flavored pork sandwich regularly sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was first introduced to the McDonald's menu in 1981, following trial marketing the previous year. The inspiration for the McRib came from Southern BBQ, as McDonald's was trying to capture the flavor of the shredded pork sandwiches they had enjoyed in South Carolina. However, the challenge was to make it easier and less complicated to serve on a larger scale.
The McRib was originally created as a way to stand out against fast-growing chains Burger King and Wendy's. There were also chicken shortages across the country, so McDonald's suddenly had to stop serving chicken McNuggets. After testing the McRib in Kansas City in 1981, they took it to other markets in early 1982. A group of people who liked this barbecue on a roll began to notice when McDonald's revived the McRib for a limited time. This led to the creation of a website where people could report and find McRib, which has since become a clearinghouse for everything McRib with updated news on launches and a Facebook community with more than 15,000 followers.
So what about McDonald's McRib? Why does it cause such a stir and is it really worthy of all the hype? Is it really rib meat, and why can't they leave it on the menu? You may think you know what goes on between those buns, but you don't really know the whole story of the famous McRib. After a few false starts in the early 2000s, McDonald's announced a farewell tour for Beloved McRib. The guy who came up with all the food ideas at McDonald's didn't start out as a fry cook and work his way through. Instead, he discovered seitan at Earwax and even started buying it from time to time when he lived near the Green Grocer in Grand, which sells a good tasting seitan.
