McDonald’s McRib To Return Nationwide For First Time Since 2012

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McDonald’s announced Friday (Oct 30) that they will be bringing back their popular barbecue sandwich, the McRib, for a limited amount of time starting on December 2nd.

“The McRib has been a beloved menu item at McDonald’s since its inception nearly 40 years ago,”  McDonald’s vice president of menu innovation, Linda VanGosen told USA Today. 

The McRib first made its debut appearance in 1981 but after poor sales, it was taken it off of the menu in 1985. However, it was reintroduced back in 1989 and then stayed until 2005 and from 2006 to 2019 it has made limited-time appearances typically during the fall season.

Fun Fact: The McRib has always been a permanent item on the menu in Germany.

McDonald’s first Executive Chef, René Arend, who invented the Chicken McNuggets, said that in 1981 the McNuggets were selling so well they were running out of supplies and had to invent another menu item to redirect attention towards.

“There wasn’t a system to supply enough chicken. We had to come up with something to give the other franchises as a new product. So the McRib came about because of the shortage of chickens,”  Chef Arend said, according to The Cult of the McRib.

McDonald’s is not in shortage of chicken anymore but we are definitely in the times of the coronavirus pandemic, so to warm things up a bit, drive down to your local McDonald’s on December 2nd and enjoy that steamy hot McRib again.