McDonald’s Brings Back the McRib to Select Locations

Since the McRib was first introduced in 1981, the fan-favorite sandwich has been on and off the fast-food chain’s menu several times. McDonald’s even had a “farewell tour” for the saucy pork meal in November 2022.

However, despite McDonald’s best efforts to convince fans the sandwich would head the way of some of its other food items, including the McLean Deluxe, the Arch Deluxe, the McDLT, and Salad Shakers, fans knew the McRib would return. It always does.

According to USA Today, McDonald’s revealed that “some lucky fans may find their favorite elusive saucy sandwich at their local McDonald’s restaurants this November.” However, they encourage patrons to check ahead at their local restaurant to see if it’s available, as not every market will reintroduce the meal to its menu.

Rumors regarding the McRib sandwich’s return began circulating in late September when the social media account Snakolator posted about it. The Instagram account, which follows the comings and goings of favorite fast-food items, wrote the following message on a recent post: “It was just last fall that the McRib went on a ‘Farewell Tour,’ but it’s coming back! The McRib will return in *participating markets* on November 13th, and I know a lot of people are going to be very happy about this,” the caption read. “Much like other limited items recently (Cookies and Creme Pie, Spicy McNuggets, etc), this will not be in every market of the country, but should make a lot of fans happy.”

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Per McDonald’s, the McRib sandwich starts with seasoned boneless pork dipped in a tangy BBQ sauce, topped with slivered onions and dill pickles on a toasted homestyle bun. “When everything combines you have BBQ pork sandwich perfection,” the official description states.

The McRib has caused a great divide among McDonald’s customers over the years. Either they love it or they hate it. After its 1981 introduction, the sandwich was retired in 1985. It returned in 1989, and then in November 2005, McDonald’s announced the first of many farewell tours for the sandwich. However, the last time the McRib sandwich was a regular menu item at McDonald’s was in 2012.

The McRib was created when there weren’t enough chickens to keep up with the wild success of Chicken McNuggets. McDonald’s needed another hot item to promote in 1981. Therefore, René Arend, the executive chef for McDonald’s, invented the McRib.

“The McNuggets were so well received that every franchise wanted them. There wasn’t a system to supply enough chicken,” said Arend to Maxim in 2009. “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.”