9 Facts You Didn't Know About McDonald's Quarter Pounder

Most burger joints have one signature sandwich, but McDonald's has managed to popularize a few. There's the Big Mac, the McDouble, and the most filling of all — the Quarter Pounder. The juicy burger is named after its hefty size, featuring a quarter-pound beef patty, onions, pickles, mustard, and ketchup on a fluffy sesame seed bun. While the original is cheeseless, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is a popular option, complete with two slices of gooey orange American cheddar.

The Quarter Pounder has been around for over half a century now, making it a huge piece of McDonalds' long history. It has only grown in popularity, cruising on the sidelines as dozens of other limited-edition items and concepts have come and gone from the fast food menu. The Quarter Pounder proves that simple doesn't mean boring, and there are plenty of obscure facts about the beloved burger to back that up.

The iconic sandwich's creator, Al Bernardin, was known in Fremont as the "hamburger king". It was 1971 when he had the genius idea of beefing up the burger to a quarter-pound at his Californian franchise. Bernardin wasn't someone who just stumbled into franchise ownership — he was dedicated from day one. Before owning his very own franchise, he worked his way up the McDonald's corporate ladder. He kicked off his McDonald's career at the Illinois headquarters in 1960 where he went on to become dean of Hamburger University.

When asked about the inspiration behind the juicy burger, the hamburger king responded (via Inside Bay Area), "I felt there was a void in our menu vis-à-vis the adult who wanted a higher ratio of meat to bun." He was confident in his creation, serving the burgers up with the slogan: "Today Fremont, tomorrow the world." He was spot on, as the Quarter Pounder went on to become one of McDonalds' claims to fame. Bernardin passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on through the beloved burger.

Just as Al Bernardin expected, the Quarter Pounder saw the world. In 1973, just two years after he created the flawless burger, it hit McDonalds' national menu. It was an instant hit, especially given the fast food chain's somewhat limited menu at the time. The 4-ounce patty was a big step up from the classic cheeseburger and even the Big Mac, which may have 2 beef patties, but they're only 1.6 ounces each. The Quarter Pounder is also just a simpler burger, whereas the Big Mac has layers of toppings and a third sesame seed bun.

This heartier option helped move McDonald's into another domain. With a growing menu of filling meals, more and more folks were heading to the fast food joint for family dinner. Its popularity was on the rise, and it wasn't long before the Quarter Pounder started popping up on menus all over the world.

While the Quarter Pounder's taste can be identified regardless of the region, the burger's name may not be as recognizable. It's labeled after its weight in America, but as one of the few countries still rocking the imperial system, "Quarter Pounder" doesn't really work in areas using the metric system. Some non-English speaking countries just translate the original name. In Japan, before it was discontinued, the burger was called Kwōtā Paundā, a direct translation, as is the Mexican Quarter Pounder, Cuarto de Libra. "Quarter Pounder" is gibberish to those over in the Pacific region, so while Australia and New Zealand still refer to it as such, they're sure to include a measurement that's easy for folks to understand — 113 grams.

Meanwhile, over in France, the tasty burger avoids the original title and weight altogether, "titled the "Royal Cheeseburger," previously "le Royal Cheese." This proper name was widely accepted after Samuel L. Jackson shared the fun fact with John Travolta in the 1994 cult film "Pulp Fiction," highlighting the cultural chokehold McDonald's had on the entire globe. The 4-ounce burger patty is consistently delicious regardless of what zip code it comes from, but the ingredients aren't all sourced from the same place.

There's no false advertising when it comes to this burger's name, as it's proven to weigh a quarter pound, but that's before being tossed on the grill. After being flipped to perfection, it only ends up weighing 2.8 ounces. That's not to say it's not substantial, still coming in much bigger than the other patties on the menu. The Big Mac features two much thinner patties, as does the McDouble.

While it comes off as a tad bit sneaky, the shrinkage has a simple scientific reason behind it. Ground beef contains more water than one may expect, and once the heat is cranked up, any residual water evaporates. The beef's fat content also matters, as it similarly shrinks when cooked at a certain temperature. In 2015, the burger got even bigger. McDonald's appealed to hungry patrons by adding an extra ¼ ounce to the hefty patty, putting the new burger at 4.25 ounces before being knocked down a tad on the grill.

Natural, preservative-free items probably aren't exactly what springs to mind when you think of fast food. It's often associated with "junk" food, and rightly so given the high sodium and cholesterol levels in most items. But that doesn't mean the flavors are artificial (that's one myth about fast food restaurants you can stop believing). In the U.S., McDonald's prides itself on the use of genuine ingredients, right down to everything but the pickles.

With the exception of the pickles, the menu's classic burgers — including the OG hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Big Mac, and the one and only Quarter Pounder — are all free of artificial preservatives, flavors, and even colors. We're talking fluffy sesame seed buns, melty cheese, and all-time favorite condiments — they're all the real deal. "The only thing we ever add is a touch of salt and pepper when the patties are sizzling hot on the grill," McDonald's says.

With the elimination of preservatives, there's no doubt that the conglomerate started taking the health of its consumers more seriously. As McDonald's VP of Menu Innovation shared in 2018, "We understand that now more than ever, people care about their food — where it comes from, what goes into it and how it is prepared — and we are committed to make changes to our menu our guests feel good about."

McDonald's isn't just concerned with natural ingredients, but fresh ones as well. If you noticed your Quarter Pounder started tasting even better as of 2018, it's not all in your head. In the U.S., the legendary burger is now made with never-frozen, 100% fresh beef. The switch wasn't easy, taking upwards of three years to accomplish, but McDonalds' determined team made it happen. The conglomerate saw sales soar after abandoning frozen beef, with 40 million more Quarter Pounders selling within just 3 months of 2019 than the same period of the previous year.

The love for McDonald's Quarter Pounder runs deep. The numbers prove that, but it was made even more evident in 2018 when the company formed a fan club dedicated to the juicy burger. A brand as huge as McDonald's can afford to take chances with bold marketing campaigns (remember when Grimace brought the company big sales growth?), and this was another successful one that connected Quarter Pounder fans all over the map. It wasn't just about burger camaraderie but also burger-related goods. The VIP fan club went live with the usual T-shirts and stickers, and they got creative with mittens, candles, calendars, and even jewelry.

The golden heart locket is a true love letter to the Quarter Pounder, as it unfolds to reveal a glistening burger photograph and an inscription, "Quarter Pounder with Love." The colorful candles are one of the quirkier fan club products, with six different scents representing each of the burger's flavors — 100% beef, cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, and sesame seed bun. They were sold in a set for a very reasonable price of $40. Sadly (but not surprisingly), all of the limited-edition merch sold out quickly, but the fans stand strong.

It's hard to imagine a world where you could buy a burger for 60 cents, but when the Quarter Pounder hit the national menu in 1973, that was the price. For only 10 cents more, you could add cheese. Today, most McDonald's menus don't even bother advertising the Quarter Pounder sans cheese, though you can still skip it.

Back in the '70s, purchasing dinner with pocket change was the standard, and compared to today's $6.39 price tag, it seems like a bargain. In the good old days, you couldn't find anything on the McDonald's menu for more than a dollar. The standard hamburger was 28 cents, a cheeseburger was a nickel more, shakes were a mere 35 cents each, and a cup of coffee only cost you 15 cents. In 2021, Simple Thrifty Living data showed that even making a burger at home was over $2 on average, as CNBC reported.

As far as burgers go, the McDonald's Quarter Pounder has reached the pinnacle of fast food success. Even in its early days, it quickly became one of the menu's classic items, and folks would drive far and wide to secure a juicy quarter-pound beef patty. McDonald's set the stage for fast food establishments with its boosted burger patty. Though plenty of competitors tried to measure up, we saw more failures than success stories. 

Today, A&W may be associated closer with its root beer line, but in the 1980s, it was one of America's most happenin' restaurants. The company thought it was clever when introducing the even heftier third-pound burger in the 1980s, but as it turns out, they had a little too much faith in the country's grasp on fractions. Apparently, at a quick glance, many consumers were thrown by the number three and assumed it was actually smaller than the quarter-pound burger at nearby McDonald's. This led to one of the restaurant's biggest marketing embarrassments. The company tried again in 2021 and had better luck leaning more on visual marketing.