While the McDonald’s (MCD) Filet-O-Fish has a long history that goes back to when a franchise owner in the 1960s was racking his brain for something to serve his Catholic customers on Fridays, the chain is otherwise not known for its fish offering.
While certain locations in Asia sell some sandwiches with shrimp, one of the only times fish appeared on McDonald’s menus in the U.S. in recent years was in 2022 when the chain launched a temporary promotion in which the “Surf And Turf” sandwich that some fans have long ordered as a “secret menu hack” was promoted as a real item.
Related: McDonald's Real Menu Adds an Item From Its Secret Menu
While that promotion gave customers one Filet-O-Fish and one Double Cheeseburger to stack on top of one another, the latest version of the McDonald’s “Surf And Turf” has reappeared in Canada as a single sandwich in which a piece of battered Alaska Pollock is placed underneath two beef patties, cheese slices, pickles and burger sauce.
McDonald's
Here is what you’ll be able to find in the McDonald’s new ‘Remix Menu’
What the chain is calling its “Remix Menu” will be sold at Canadian locations throughout April and also includes a Chicken Cheeseburger that combines the chain’s burger and chicken sandwich and the Sweet Chili Junior Chicken sandwich in which the battered chicken is combined with sweet chili Thai sauce and mayo. For dessert, the chain combines two favorite classics with the Apple Pie McFlurry.
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“We hope these new takes on the McDonald’s Menu Song, brought to life by Lil Yachty and Mike Clay, will evoke the excitement Canadians felt for McDonald’s the first time they heard the song, and look forward to introducing it to a new generation of fans,” Alyssa Buetikofer, who heads marketing for McDonald’s Canada, said in a statement that references the fact that the chain has partnered with artists to create a remix of the 1989 McDonald’s Menu Song.to accompany the menu in both English and French (Canada’s two national languages.) “It is also a celebration of the love Canadians have for our iconic menu items.”
Here is why the Filet-O-Fish stood the test of time as a McDonald’s classic
Any fish items McDonald’s released in the past have, like with this Canadian Surf and Turf sandwich, been different ways of serving the patty that goes into the Filet-O-Fish. It has not, in the seven decades that it has been in existence, declined in popularity even though Lou Groen invented it at a time when Americans were significantly more religious and more people followed traditional Catholic rules of not eating meat on Fridays.
It is still a significant source of profit for the chain during Lent in particular — one estimate found that 75 million out of every 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches sold each year get purchased during Lent — but also has a cult following during regular times.
“McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish is always there for you,” Bailey Fink once wrote for AllRecipes. “As with most McDonald’s food, it’s comforting and nostalgic, which makes you want to order it more — and also makes it taste better when there’s a memory of getting fish sandwiches with your grandparents associated with it.”
