Please help me? (The Elusive McDonald’s McRib)

Posted on by derryX

I need you to help me.

I used to eat a lot of McDonald’s in high school. It was all by choice. Well, kind of. I had a high school friend who worked at a nearby McDonald’s. He would bury cheeseburgers I didn’t order under the fries; I ate them because of the thrill of getting something free. I was also sucked into the Arch Deluxe advertising craze around the same time. I also was mesmerized by McDonald’s Monopoly, even though I knew the chances of winning were ridiculous. Whatever. You probably were too. Don’t judge.

Back in the early 90’s, I remember my cousins going crazy about a limited release of the McRib sandwich. And, to this day, I still don’t get it.

Essentially, the McRib is a pork burger bathed in BBQ sauce, shaped like a rounded rectangle with “ribs” sticking out, and served with onions and pickles. I diciphered this from the ingredients list on the McDonald’s webpage. As the above image is a McDonald’s promotional shot, I feel the need to show what this sandwich looks like in our reality.

I ate one, sometime in the mid 90s. I was underwhelmed, and, yes, I was comparing it to other things from McDonald’s.

There are movements of people who are petitioning to get the McRib back and back for good.

There are people trying to copycat the recipe at home. A @tigheklory guy from the capital region of NY even made a video of it, just for me, a while back.

Frozen dinner manufacturer, Hungry Man, has their very own version.

But why?

On paper, this doesn’t even sound good. Of course, you can’t go wrong with BBQ sauce and a bun, but you’re starting with meat that looks like this:

What is that shape supposed to be? Ribs? The person who designed this patty obviously forgot that when you eat ribs, you actually eat around the protruding part, otherwise called a bone. Why is this appetizing?

Ok, so you bathe this weird looking ground pork patty with BBQ sauce, throw it on a bun, and it’s the greatest thing since matzoh?

I need your help to understand this.

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18 thoughts on “Please help me? (The Elusive McDonald’s McRib)”

  • Jeff

    It’s the same thing as Domino’s / Pizza Hut Pizza. When you want one of them, you don’t want it because it’s Pizza, you want it because it’s Pizza Hut / Domino’s (not saying that Pizza Hut and Domino’s are Pizza, just don’t have a better term, but I think you know what I mean).

    In fact, all of fast food (with one exception) can be summed up this way. You eat it when you want to eat garbage. I can go eat some tacos at my local Mexican restaurant, or I can go eat Taco Bell, which is a greasy shell with meat squirted out of a gun. It has two totally different tastes, and some people prefer “meat gun” taste, just as some people prefer the “rib patty” taste.

    The one exception is of course Arby’s, as that is the highest quality and you’d have to be crazy not to like it.


    • dotmap

      Not calling pizza hut or domino’s “pizza” is complete food snobbery. Its crust with sauce and cheese, sounds like pizza to me. The post is about meat (maybe) mushed into the shape of ribs, that’s completely different than getting a cheap or expensive pizza. I’m sick of it and I’m sick of you. Good-bye, sir.


  • Shannon

    I’ve never tried the McRib simply because I couldn’t get past eating something that looks like it’s still full of bones. Gross.


    • derryX

      That’s what I’m trying to say (!).


      • Jeff

        I’ve had one.

        It was better than my expectations (that being said, my expectations were incredibly low).

        I mean, it wasn’t great, but for something that looks like some vomited on a bun, it was decent.

        I don’t think I’ll be ordering another, though.


  • Darth

    You’re all crazy – the McRib is the best thing ever. It’s Arby’s times 1000. If you don’t understand it, you don’t deserve to eat it. BTW – I don’t understand why you are writing a McRib article now, when McDonald’s brought it back for a while several months ago. It was my goal to eat 100 of them within the 5-6 weeks they brought them back . . . but after 30 or so I got tired of them. Also – make sure you are comparing it to the real McRib in the 90’s . . . they offered a McRib Jr. as well in the 90’s which was mediocre compared to its big brother. And if you are looking for something close to the McRib – go to Subway and get a rib patty sandwich with onions, pickles, and BBQ sauce – it’s similar.


  • Darth

    Have you ever had an Arby’s Turkey Rueben? It’s terrible. I don’t even know why they sell it. Infact, I don’t know why they sell anything other than roast beef and curly fries . . . because everything else there sthuks. But the Big Montana makes me cream myself. Then again – most of the crap at McDonald’s blows chunks, so it’s about even.


  • Darth

    Wow – you know absolutely nothing about Ruebens.


    • Jeff

      No, I know about reubens, I just don’t know how to read your posts.

      For some reason I thought you said “Turkey Pastrami” instead of “Turkey Reuben”.

      That being said, A Reuben can have either Pastrami or Corned Beef (or both).

      And my point is still valid, you’re insane if you eat Turkey at Arby’s.


      • derryX

        Alright guys, lets leave the further Arbys talk for the upcoming post you both are going to help me with about Arbys.

        Any more McRib feedback is appreciated at this point.


  • Meghan

    @ Jeff – “meat gun taste” LOL!


  • SDC

    Yeah I tried to sell ‘Food and fun from the barrel of a caulk gun’ to Taco Bell as a slogan, but they weren’t buying.


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