# Is the McRib good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268 "2008-01-28T03:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/21 "2008-01-28T06:01:15Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] I’m biased, I have actually lovingly made many hundreds of McD’s Chedder melt (Otherwise known as Manna), but the McRib was introduced shortly after I fleed the clown. I like a McRib, nothing wrong with that, I think. [/QUOTE] The Cheddar Melt was the greatest McDonald’s sandwich ever. When I was a kid, it was one of the few times I would beg my mom to take me to McD’s. I would almost be afraid to try it now and fear ruining my perfect memory of this glorious burger. Have they ever offered it in the last, oh, dozen years or so? I haven’t seen it since the late 80s, early 90s. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/22 "2008-01-28T06:03:04Z")
[QUOTE=Montgomery0] except with cow [/QUOTE] Pig. Before the name McRib was settled on, apparently “Pig Mac” was in the running. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/23 "2008-01-28T06:23:50Z")
I vote for “yum”. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/24 "2008-01-28T06:29:44Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Pig. Before the name McRib was settled on, apparently “Pig Mac” was in the running. [/QUOTE] [Krusty] You’re thinking way too many legs. [/Krusty] ---
**Author:** ![Pithy\_Moniker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Pithy\_Moniker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithy_Moniker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/25 "2008-01-28T13:30:14Z")
I think part of the McRib’s appeal is the context that you see it in. Next to the rest of McD’s food, it’s different and pretty good. Next to sandwich from a real BBQ place (preferably one being operated out of a house trailer) it pales like processed foodstuff that it is. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/26 "2008-01-28T13:31:17Z")
[Krusty] I don’t mind the taste! [/Krusty] ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/27 "2008-01-28T14:01:06Z")
The barbecue episode of _America Eats_ called it **faux-Q**. I don’t get McDonald’s often. (Actually, I don’t get any drive-through food very often.) But sometimes you just have to have a Big Mac. And I like their fish sandwiches. But as for the McRib, in the immortal words of Mr. Horse: ‘No, sir. I don’t like it.’ ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/28 "2008-01-28T15:06:04Z")
I too like the institutional cafeteria type “Rib-e-que” sandwiches, although I don’t pretend that they’re anything other than what they are. I used to like the McD’s ones, however the last time I got one it seems that they’ve toned it down somewhat, and I hate the new wheat buns that McDonalds is using on all of the non burger sandwiches. I’ve always liked the BBQ sauce that they give for the McNuggets better than the goo that they simmer the McRib in. I wish there was a way to swap the two. Oh, and when I was down for the clown we called them McFetuses. I know. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/29 "2008-01-28T15:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=Jophiel] I used to work at a McD’s and the McRib was the only sandwich I never touched again after seeing them prepared. Namely, they spent the day soaking in a vat of luke-warm luminescent orange goo. [/QUOTE] Did you work there during the Buffalo Chicken sandwich promotion? Talk about fluorescence. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/30 "2008-01-28T15:24:21Z")
I was never a fan. A friend who worked at McDonald’s made some comments which made me suspicious of the sauce. If they are now prepared in a microwave, as many McDonalds items seem to be I doubt they’re even as good as they used to be. A fast food item has to be pretty bad for me not to even give it a try but I am not one to drive across town during the “limited time” they show up for. For some strange reason though, I recall learning in an interview tha Jenny McCarthy is. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/31 "2008-01-28T15:30:48Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] [Krusty] You’re thinking way too many legs. [/Krusty] [/QUOTE] **Krusty** : Look, about the Ribwich… There aren’t gonna be any more. The animals we made them from are now extinct. **Homer** : The pig? **Otto** : The cow? **Krusty** : You’re way off. Think _smaller_… Think more legs. Eeewww. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/32 "2008-01-28T15:38:07Z")
I love the things. It’s not real bbq, and I’m not even sure it’s real meat, but every time they come back I just have to get some. There’s a part of me that knows I should be more wary of an injection molded meat product, and that if I saw them being made I’d probably hurl, but the McRib overcomes my inner voice of reason. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/33 "2008-01-28T17:13:11Z")
The fake rib patty as a presentation for meat is passable. I’ve eaten TV dinners that used them. But I’m not that thrilled with the McRib, and I generally don’t go for McDonalds anyway. Other fast food joints produce tastier food in general. According to my sister, who went through some of McDonald’s management training, it is the corporate view that the McRib just wouldn’t sell if they kept it available all the time. I can attest, for what it’s worth, that my own eagerness for KFC’s Honey Barbecue Wings diminished when they started offering them at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/34 "2008-01-28T17:26:25Z")
The sauce is marginally appealing if you like sweet sauces with a bit of tanginess. But the meat is horrible. It’s fatty, gristly, and chewy. But I never was a ribs fan anyway because that’s what ribs are like. You gnaw what the lions have left on the bone. Big woop. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/35 "2008-01-28T17:40:49Z")
Back in my days as a McEmployee, we used to refer to it as “pork fat 'n jelly”. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/36 "2008-01-28T17:42:04Z")
I was a McDrone when this thing was introduced (1981). Very obnoxious to cook, had to set aside a separate grill to cook them on, find room in the kitchen for the sauce vats, and so on. We also introduced the McNugget when I was there (1980) - another menu item that required special equipment. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/37 "2008-01-28T17:48:06Z")
No, no, no. IMHO, of course ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/38 "2008-01-28T17:51:35Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Angel] According to my sister, who went through some of McDonald’s management training, it is the corporate view that the McRib just wouldn’t sell if they kept it available all the time. [/QUOTE] In Germany it is on the menu all the time (and has been as long as I can remember.) I have no idea why it works here but over the years they took all kinds of items off the menu. If sales had been that bad the McRib certainly would have been canceled as well. Unfortunately I am a vegetarian and I have never eaten one. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/39 "2008-01-28T17:53:01Z")
God, no. You can get the same results chugging barbecue sauce out of the bottle, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268/40 "2008-01-28T19:31:24Z")
[QUOTE=omgzebras] I love the things. It’s not real bbq, and I’m not even sure it’s real meat, but every time they come back I just have to get some. There’s a part of me that knows I should be more wary of an injection molded meat product, and that if I saw them being made I’d probably hurl, but the McRib overcomes my inner voice of reason. [/QUOTE] Amen on all counts. Is it good? Probably not. But I do love 'em (they’re the only reason I’ll visit a McD’s). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-mcrib-good/435268.md?page=3)