McDonald’s quietly confirms return of fan favorite sandwich – but it will only be around for four weeks

A McDonald’s sandwich with a cult status is coming back.

The McRib – seasoned, boneless pork dipped in spicy BBQ sauce and topped with chopped onions and pickles – returns to America on November 27.

The return will be McDonald’s latest weapon, along with the $5 meal deal and the Chicken Big Mac finally coming to the US, in the battle to win back customers in 2024.

The McRib, which has been axed and then re-added to American menus dozens of times over the years, is polarizing fast food fans. Some love it, but others hate it.

But McDonald’s knows the McRib brings customers to restaurants and drive-thrus – useful at a time when the company is trying to boost sales, which fell in the summer for the first time in years.

President Joe Erlinger had hinted that the McRib would return earlier this summer.

McDonald’s president Joe Erlinger has been behind new deals and new products this year — including the $5 meal deal, the Big Arches — a larger burger — and the return of the McRib

And a McDonald’s source told DailyMail.com on Friday that the McRib will be back for four weeks at the end of November.

McDonald’s is also bringing the McRib back to restaurants in Britain, but a month earlier, on October 16.

McRib – which has been described as the “fast food sandwich that went viral before viral was a thing” – debuted nationally at the UCooS in 1982.

It was discontinued in 1985 after low sales, but then returned in 1989 and was widely available in the US and other countries until 2005.

It was then reintroduced periodically until it disappeared again in 2012 for eight years. It didn’t return until December 2020, when it came back for a limited time.

At the time, it was an effort to lure customers back after the pandemic left dining rooms sparsely populated or closed.

The McRib is an elusive prize for fans who scour the internet for reports of it popping up in limited locations for a short time.

In the past, the McRib has been credited with bringing in customers and boosting sales for the chain.

For example, a ‘farewell tour’ for the cult favorite in November 2022 resulted in a double-digit increase in sales.

Bosses said this would be the last time the McRib was sold. But it also returned in November 2023.

“Bringing back the McRib for a limited time will stimulate some interest and footfall for McDonald’s at a time when performance is declining,” retail expert Neil Saunders, managing director of Global Data, recently told DailyMail.com.

But he explained that McDonald’s is only selling it for a limited period of time – rather than having it permanently on the menu – because “the increase is usually only temporary.”

It’s not impossible to get a McRib whenever you want, but you do have to travel. Germany has been on the menu all year round for some time now. It was returned to Canada in January this year.

McDonald’s has worked hard to lure customers back with lower prices and new products.

In June, McDonald’s launched a $5 meal deal that includes a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. It recently extended it until December.

Fan was happy when the McRib returned in 2020 for the first time in eight years

McRib will be back later in 2024

Then in August, the chain announced that an all-new, larger burger called The Big Arch would be coming to the US later this year. It’s already in Canada.

It will be the fast food giant’s first new permanent global product since Chicken McNuggets in 1983.

Earlier this week, the chain finally set the date when the Chicken Big Mac would come to the US. After years of being sold on and off in Europe, it will go on sale from October 10.

McDonald’s has also become that fan favorite bagels return to breakfast menus after four years.

Bagels were first introduced at McDonald’s in late 2019, but were quickly cut when bosses simplified the menu in spring 2020 amid the pandemic.