Millions of people start their mornings with a McDonald’s breakfast, but few know the story of its superstar, the Egg McMuffin — or where it was created. The Egg McMuffin was dreamt up by franchisee Herb Peterson who, at one time, owned all six Santa Barbara, California-area locations. Peterson was a big fan of eggs Benedict and wanted to create a handheld version that fit the fast-food model, and some suggest he may have consulted his friend and fellow Santa Barbaran, celebrity chef Julia Child. In 1971, he came up with the Egg McMuffin — an English muffin topped with fried egg, Canadian bacon, and a slice of American cheese to replace the messy Hollandaise sauce. Peterson even invented a Teflon-coated ring for the grill to give the eggs a round shape to better fit an English muffin.
After impressing McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc with a prototype, which was originally served open-face with honey or jam, according to McDonald’s, the fast food giant tested the breakfast sandwich in select local restaurants in 1972, leading to a nationwide rollout by 1975. While Peterson wanted to call his creation “The Fast Break” (via WGN-TV), he learned someone already had a claim to the name. Then, Patty Turner, wife of McDonald’s executive Fred Turner, suggested “Egg McMuffin” (via Time).
Coming up with a breakfast option was no small feat, however, as breakfast wasn’t served at fast-food restaurants back then, and McDonald’s didn’t open until 10:30 a.m. But with the success of the Egg McMuffin, McDonald’s launched its inaugural breakfast menu in 1977, also cementing Santa Barbara as the birthplace of McDonald’s breakfast. Today, breakfast makes up around 35% of McDonald’s business (via KCLU), which is quite a legacy for Peterson, who died at age 89 in 2008.
Santa Barbara’s egg McMuffin legacy
More than 50 years since the Egg McMuffin’s creation, Santa Barbara is still a McDonald’s hotspot. There are three locations in Santa Barbara proper, with another three in nearby Goleta and Carpinteria. Both the upper State Street restaurant in Santa Barbara and the Fairview Avenue restaurant in Goleta played a major role in the origin of the Egg McMuffin. While the Goleta location was where Herb Peterson came up with the breakfast sandwich, the State Street restaurant was the first to sell it, and even has a historical marker to commemorate its introduction…