# Is the Big Mac actually big in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378 "2018-02-07T17:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/1 "2018-02-07T17:46:01Z")
It’s a simple question. I’ve had one occasionally in the UK, and they are absolutely tiny. Might be stacked burgers but barely a couple of inches across in size. Is it just an act of blatant misadvertising which has become accepted over the years, or do they actually make it a LOT bigger in the US? I can’t believe with the relatively large sandwiches and massive bagels I’ve had in the states, that this goes uncommented on… They’re doing a campaign in the US for a Grand Mac, to make it bigger. If less than 50% bigger, then it still won’t be big. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/2 "2018-02-07T17:48:47Z")
Nope, two patties that are each 1/10th of a pound. The only thing that really makes it look big is the middle bun. The Grand Mac is 2 quarter pound patties. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/3 "2018-02-07T17:53:25Z")
The Big Mac is a legacy sandwich from before the days where any meal unfit for a Viking is considered laughable. It’s always had two 1/10 pound patties, the same size used in the (then much more popular) basic hamburgers and cheeseburgers. So it was twice as much meat (and 150% the bread) as the cheeseburger and legitimately “big” in comparison. Plus the extra toppings and heavier bun. These days I assume the best selling burger is the Quarter Pounder so the Big Mac seems anemic in comparison from a meat perspective. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/4 "2018-02-07T18:11:20Z")
In 1967 - when it was introduced - the Big Mac was a pretty good sized burger. It was actually invented by a franchise owner to compete with comparable products at other restaurants, as McDonald hamburgers were being outsized by the competition. A Big Mac meal with a regular drink has about a thousand calories, half of which is the Big Mac. That’s a big lunch. You simply do not need a thousand calories at every meal, unless you’re exercising a lot. However, everyone else is selling incredible amounts of food now so the Big Mac looks small by comparison. In the last couple of generations, portion sizes in North America have gotten grotesquely large. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/5 "2018-02-07T18:13:08Z")
McDonald’s Big Mac UK: 508 calories > **[Big Mac® - 100% Beef Burger](https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/big-mac.html)** > > The McDonald's Big Mac®. Two patties made from 100% beef, stacked on cheese, lettuce, onion and pickles, with our famous Big Mac® sauce. McDonald’s Big Mac US: 540 calories > **[Big Mac®: Calories and Nutrition | McDonald's](https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/big-mac.html)** > > Grab a Big Mac® for a burger experience only McDonald's can offer: made with two all beef patties, Big Mac® sauce, shredded lettuce & more. Get it in the app! We’re fatter. We win! USA! USA! ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/6 "2018-02-07T18:15:57Z")
It is certainly not popular like it used to be. It was different when it came along because of that middle bun and it seemed big in comparison. And has been said, portion sizes were much smaller then. And the catchy jingle didn’t hurt, either. What we now consider a child’s portion was a normal adult portion in the 50s and 60s. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/7 "2018-02-07T18:16:49Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > McDonald’s Big Mac UK: 508 calories > [Big Mac® - 100% Beef Burger](https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/big-mac.html) > McDonald’s Big Mac US: 540 calories > [Big Mac®: Calories and Nutrition | McDonald's](https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/big-mac.html) > > We’re fatter. We win! USA! USA! Much different special sauce ingredients, and different cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/8 "2018-02-07T18:20:02Z")
I can eat a Big Mac and need more food. It’s not that big. I haven’t had one in forever. I had them in China and they seemed identical to the US ones. Online says 530 kcal, so that’s pretty much right on. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/9 "2018-02-07T18:51:03Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > … > > What we now consider a child’s portion was a normal adult portion in the 50s and 60s. Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/10 "2018-02-07T18:57:03Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > The Big Mac is a legacy sandwich from before the days where any meal unfit for a Viking is considered laughable. It’s always had two 1/10 pound patties, the same size used in the (then much more popular) basic hamburgers and cheeseburgers. So it was twice as much meat (and 150% the bread) as the cheeseburger and legitimately “big” in comparison. Plus the extra toppings and heavier bun. And the extra middle section of the bun, which makes it taller than it would otherwise be. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/11 "2018-02-07T18:58:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. Everything I can find says the basic hamburger patties have always been 1/10th of a pound. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/12 "2018-02-07T19:00:22Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. I can’t find any evidence of that. McDonald’s, at least, claims to use the same size patty. [Here they say it was definitely a 10-to-1 in 1982](https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/answer/what-was-the-actual-size-spec-for-the-big-mac-patty-30-years-ago-and-what-is-it-today/). I know it’s a site from McDonald’s itself, but I can’t find anything from a neutral source. From my memories, at least, of the 80s, the Big Mac does not seem any smaller than it was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/13 "2018-02-07T19:00:51Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. According to Mcdonalds themselves they haven’t: [https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/answer/why-are-your-burger-patties-getting-smaller/](https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/answer/why-are-your-burger-patties-getting-smaller/) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/14 "2018-02-07T19:02:08Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. [Nope](https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/answer/what-was-the-actual-size-spec-for-the-big-mac-patty-30-years-ago-and-what-is-it-today/). Granted, that’s from McDonald’s Canada but it’s always been a 1:10 patty. For sake of mechanical efficiency, the patty sizes have always been 1:10 for hamburgers, cheeseburgers (and variants) and the Big Mac and a quarter pound patty for the Quarter Pounder. Edit: Heh, multiple link ninja ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/15 "2018-02-07T19:04:17Z")
OK, [here’s a snippet from Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=VBIHAQAAIAAJ&q=mcdonalds+patties+size&dq=mcdonalds+patties+size&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZpaTjvpTZAhVQslMKHfk9AGsQ6AEILTAB) from a 1961 issue of _Time_ magazine, so pre-Big Mac days, that say a McDonalds hamburger patty was 1.6 oz back then. > [@](#): > > Textbook is the 81-page _McDonald’s Manual_, which specifies every operation in detail, _e.g._, hamburgers must be locally purchased “commercial” grade chuck (fat content 17% to 20%), formed into 1.6-oz pattes … So, I think that should suffice, unless you think they used different patties than their standard ones on the Big Mac when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/16 "2018-02-07T19:08:38Z")
Googling around, I saw people suggesting that McD’s made the buns smaller in the 80s to make the meat look larger (in response to Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” campaign) which makes more sense, if true, than shrinking the patties from their standard. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/17 "2018-02-07T19:17:31Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Cite please, I am under the impression that the Big Mac patty has shrunk over the years, thus the child sized portion you speak of would have included a larger beef patty back then and now it’s all a larger drink and fries but less beef. A child’s portion now consists of a “regular” burger, and as others have already pointed out with cites, (thank you!) the “regular” burgers are the same then as now. I would venture to say most American adults today wouldn’t consider that regular burger big enough, but it was obviously big enough for a an adult in the 1950s. And you have to take into account that the fries and drink sizes were smaller then, too since it was before all the biggie, mega, extra lingo. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/18 "2018-02-07T19:20:56Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > It is certainly not popular like it used to be. When I was a kid, I _loved_ the [Bonus Jack](http://aht.seriouseats.com/2010/11/reality-check-jack-in-the-boxs-bonus-jack.html) from Jack In The Box. We ‘never’ went to McDonalds. The Bonus Jack was discontinued in the early-'80s. By then I was eating Carl’s Jr.'s Super Star With Cheese. Since Carl’s Jr. is almost 80 miles away, I rarely go there. Actually, I rarely eat fast-food burgers. But I do like the Big Mac when I want a Badburger. (Sometimes you just have to go with crap – like Jack In The Box’s tacos or Wienerschnitzel’s Chili Cheese Dogs.) JITB did reintroduce the Bonus Jack for a short time nearly a decade ago. I had them a few times. They were not nearly as good as I remembered from childhood, and they were always dry as if the buns had been left out too long. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/19 "2018-02-07T19:26:27Z")
Big Macs are always what I get when I go to McDonalds but I’m not THAT particularly hungry. My normal is a DQP. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378/20 "2018-02-07T19:52:58Z")
It did seem larger when it was wrapped in paper, surrounded by a cardboard ring and packaged in a cardboard box. It was just a tiny bit less complex than the gift wrap Rowen Atkinson was doing in _Love Actually_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-mac-actually-big-in-the-us/808378.md?page=2)