This column is going to sound fishy. That’s a rather cliche way to begin, but hopefully you’ll be reeled in.
OK, enough of the cute word play. Sometimes it’s hard to resist.
But what follows is actually a true story about fish and not an embellished old yarn about catching a whopper.
Why fish? Because it’s Lent and many Catholics eat fish on Fridays when the Church asks the faithful to abstain from red meat.
In the Diocese of Columbus, Bishop Earl Fernandes has called for abstinence or a penitential sacrifice to be made not just during the Lenten season but throughout the year. That had been the practice of the Church for centuries until the laws were relaxed after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
One of the enduring Catholic traditions is the Friday fish fry during Lent. Fish fries, pasta dinners or other types of meatless meals are offered every year by parishes, schools or groups throughout the diocese – and the participation from countless volunteers and the support of patrons is always impressive.
When Catholics aren’t going to a fish fry or eating at home on Fridays during Lent, one of the most popular options is to order a sandwich that originated here in Ohio more than 60 years ago.
In 1962, a Catholic franchise owner-operator in Cincinnati watched his customers visiting other restaurants that offered fish and other non-meat options on Fridays during Lent. Looking for a way to lure them back, he came up with an idea.
He created a fish sandwich that he wanted to add it to his menu. When he presented his creation to the founder of the burgeoning restaurant chain, the fish sandwich wasn’t accepted at first.
But the franchisee was persistent and the founder came up with a challenge. He would put his creation called a Hula burger, a sandwich made with pineapple, up against the fish sandwich on a designated day in stores across the country and the one that had the most sales would be added to the menu permanently.
The fish sandwich won and was added to the menu permanently, and today the Filet-O-Fish is sold worldwide throughout the year at McDonald’s.
The franchise owner was Lou Groen, who operated the first McDonald’s in Ohio starting in 1959 and the 66th in the highly successful chain founded by Ray Kroc, the creator of the short-lived pineapple sandwich. Today, McDonald’s has more than 40,000 restaurants worldwide and the fish sandwich is sold everywhere.
Groen’s original restaurant, located at 5425 W. North Bend Road on Cincinnati’s west side, still exists today and is operated by his granddaughter, Erica Shadoin. She and her brother, Grant Groen, own and operate 31 McDonald’s locations in the Cincinnati area and northern Kentucky.
The grandchildren are third-generation owner-operators. Their father, Paul, owned multiple franchises in the Cincinnati area before he retired. Grant was approved as a McDonald’s owner in 2011 and his sister followed him in 2014. The two siblings grew up working at the restaurants in high school and through college.
Grant’s grandfather died in 2011, the year Grant secured his first franchise, but he had heard the story about the creation of the fish sandwich plenty of times and “it’s now kind of cool that we’ve been able to share that.”
“Cincinnati was a heavily Catholic area and his restaurants were struggling during Lent because McDonald’s at the time had a much simpler menu and they didn’t have a meatless option,” Grant recalled in a recent interview. “And he basically came up with the idea to sell fish in his restaurants during Lent on Fridays.
“And Ray Kroc at the time wasn’t super crazy about the idea. I think the quote my grandpa gave for him – he and Ray were pretty close back in those days – was ‘I don’t want fish stinking up my restaurants.’
“And so they came up with a little wager. Ray had the idea of creating what he called a hula burger, which doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it was a piece of pineapple on a bun. And he was going to put that sandwich up against my grandfather’s fish sandwich, and whichever sandwich sold more on a particular Friday during the Lenten season in 1962, it would become a permanent fixture on McDonald’s menu.
“And I believe the final tally was 350 fish were sold versus six hula burgers, and the rest is history.”
The Filet-O-Fish has remained relatively the same other than the type of fish, which has evolved from halibut to Atlantic cod to Alaskan pollock. The sandwich continues to be topped with a half-slice of cheese and tartar sauce.
Grant, a practicing Catholic who graduated from Cincinnati Summit Country Day School, believes the fish sandwich has endured for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is Catholics seem to gravitate toward it, particularly during Lent.
“We definitely see a spike in unit movement this time of year for that reason,” Grant said. “It’s a lower-calorie option as well and it’s also a healthier option during the non-Lenten season.
“It’s just been something our customers, for whatever reason, have loved since the first year it was introduced.”
He said the Filet-O-Fish netted approximately $19 million in sales during its first year and “and now it’s consumed at a rate of over 300 million and more.”
Demand is so great during Lent, particularly on Fridays and Ash Wednesday, that Grant and Erica’s stores increase their staffing to keep up with demand. Many of Erica’s restaurants are located on the heavily Catholic west side of Cincinnati and do a high volume of sales this time of year.
Erica told the National Catholic Register in a 2019 interview that the original McDonald’s location, which she was able to purchase, sold more than 500 fish sandwiches a day during Lent, accounting for 19 percent of receipts.
“It’s definitely a staple in the community over there,” Grant said. “And I know the McDonald’s franchisees in the state of Ohio are super proud of the Filet-O-Fish.”
The next time you order the filet, you’ll know it’s an Ohio original with a strong Catholic connection.