How Catholics Gave Us the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 12, 2026 · 9 MIN

How Catholics Gave Us the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish

from Our American Stories · host iHeartPodcasts

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1960, McDonald's franchise owner Lou Groen had a problem. His Cincinnati, Ohio, restaurant sat in a neighborhood that was 87 percent Catholic, and on Fridays, when many Catholics abstained from eating meat, his hamburger sales collapsed. With his struggling restaurant and his family's livelihood on the line, Groen came up with an idea: sell fish.Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out and the Brain Food Show shares how Groen's creation helped turn a struggling Ohio franchisee into the owner of 43 McDonald's restaurants. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 12, 2026

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