On Tuesday, January 21, participating local McDonald’s restaurants will celebrate the creation of the iconic breakfast item, the Egg McMuffin, with a $2 offer all day with a maximum of 5. The Egg McMuffin was invented more than 50 years ago by the late Central Coast franchisee owner Herb Peterson.
“My dad made the first Egg McMuffin sandwiches with freshly cracked eggs in the early 1970s and that’s the exact same way we make every order today, all-day long,” said Herb’s son David Peterson and a local owner and operator. “The Egg McMuffin revolutionized the breakfast industry and we are proud to honor and celebrate this tasty innovation that is enjoyed around the world and started right here in our own backyard. As a kid, I remember watching my dad inventing it in the kitchen and coming home from the blacksmith’s with the first ‘egg ring’ that makes the fresh cracked eggs cook perfectly round for the sandwich. He was, just as we are today, proud to serve it each morning to customers but today, we are cracking eggs throughout the day as the Egg McMuffin is available on the All Day Breakfast menu.”
In 1968, Herb Peterson, at the age of 53, embarked on a new career opening his first McDonald’s restaurant in Santa Barbara. At the time, no other quick service restaurant offered breakfast. He saw that customers wanted a breakfast option they could eat on the go, and he was determined to provide it. Modeled after Peterson’s personal breakfast favorite, Eggs Benedict, he asked a local blacksmith to make an iron ‘egg ring’ to keep eggs round and tidy as they were cooked for a hand-held sandwich. Convinced his creation would be a game-changer, he presented his breakfast product idea to McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc to rave reviews in 1971. The following year, the Egg McMuffin became the first-ever McDonald’s breakfast item.
There has been some confusion as to which South Coast McDonald’s served the very first Egg McMuffin in the world because several locations including Milpas, upper State Street, and Fairview have plaques claiming the title. David Peterson says that McDonald’s at 146 South Fairview Avenue in Goleta was the first!
