The “McRib Season” is upon us.
McDonald’s announced last Thursday that its fan-favorite barbecue sandwich is coming back to participating locations across the U.S. for a limited time starting November 1st.
First launched regionally in Kansas City, Kansas in 1981 before its national debut the following year, the McRib is a seasoned boneless pork patty smothered in barbecue sauce and topped with pickles and onions on a hoagie-style bun.
In a statement announcing the return of the McRib, Mike Bullington, McDonald’s senior archives manager, said that the iconic sandwich is meant to be “enjoyed during the colder seasons.”
“Whether you’re a McRib loyalist or first timer, there is no denying that the McRib is one of the most iconic sandwiches of the last four decades and we have thousands of emails and tweets from fans to prove it,” Bullington added.
Furthermore, the fast-food restaurant chain credited the internet and social media for solidifying “the McRib’s icon status” and the birth of the phrase “McRib Season.”
McDonald’s brings back the McRib every year. But for the first time since 2012, the elusive menu item was sold to all of the chain’s 14,400 locations nationwide in December 2020. In the same year, McDonald’s also gave away 10,000 McRib sandwiches to fans for free via its Shave 4 McRib Sweepstakes.
The McRib was created by McDonald’s first executive chef and McNuggets inventor Rene Arend after feasting on pulled-pork sandwiches on a trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Though it was favorably received by fast food lovers at the time of its initial release, it didn’t become as popular as the McNuggets, so McDonald’s decided that the sandwich would work best as a limited-time item.