Saturday 24 September 2022, 9:45 pm
–
3195 readings
–
When we say McDonald’s we think of burgers first, but the history of the fast food chain didn’t start like that. About eight decades ago, the McDonald brothers opened their restaurant with a very different vision than it would eventually become.
The first restaurant opened in 1940 and the menu focused on barbecue, burgers being an idea that appeared much later. Even so, the restaurant became popular very quickly, fittingly Mashed.com.
In 1948 another menu appears. The first location was successful, but not for the grilled meat. The burger alone on the menu accounted for 80% of the restaurant’s sales.
Then, the second location was a self-service restaurant that only sold burgers, cheeseburgers, sodas, milk, coffee, chips and one type of cake. All efforts were focused on the burgers, so that they were prepared as quickly as possible and customers waited as little as possible.
French fries increased in popularity
French fries weren’t always on the menu, even after McDonald’s was renamed from barbecue to burger. However, when French fries were replaced by French fries, sales increased.
The Big Mac becomes a staple in 1967
The Big Mac became a restaurant signature in 1967. The final ingredient was a sauce that stays in secret including today, although it is believed to be an interpretation of Thousand Island sauce. The restaurant chain estimated in 2007 that it sold around 550 million Big Macs in the United States each year.
Happy Meal appears in 1979
In 1979, Dick Brams, an advertising executive, came up with the idea of creating a special children’s menu that included a burger, fries, cookie and soda.
The last and most important element was the toy. At the time, children received wallets, bracelets, wallets, locks or tires. Currently, the toys change weekly. The most notable update came in 1987, when Disney character toys first appeared.
To ease parental concerns, McDonald’s began offering milk, apple slices, and boxes of juice in the early 2000s with Happy Meal.
Chicken McNuggets take center stage
Since 1980, McDonald’s has faced a very difficult challenge: a change in consumer behavior. During this time, the government advised people to eat less red meat due to its high fat and cholesterol content.
Wanting to keep customers eating less beef, the restaurant turned to chicken for help. Their first ideas, including fried chicken and fried chicken pie, failed. Eventually they decided to simplify the idea and cut the chicken into pieces, knead it and fry it. Just five months later, in 1980, McDonald’s served the first Chicken McNuggets in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Over the years, the restaurant has diversified the menu, introduced new items either across the global chain or just at the specific country level. Some have remained to this day, some have not. For example, salads were introduced in 1986 and are still around today. Few people know that pizza appeared on the menu way back in 1986, but it was quickly removed because not all restaurants had the necessary equipment to prepare it and the waiting times were too long.
–
