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Another season of McRibs came and went. What is this that I’m feeling? Anger? Sorrow? Regret? Heart burn? I’m not entirely sure.

All I know is, whatever it may be, it doesn’t hurt as much as the first time.

It’s like your first love. The world seems to stop when it ends, but comes the second, and third, and all the others following just don’t seem to matter so much.

All the same, I am dedicating this post to the end of another season of McRib in Canada. I hope you’ll come back again. But even if you don’t, I think I’ll live.

Brief History

The McRib was first introduced in 1981, but due to lack of popularity, it was discontinued only a few years later. With the exception of being a permanent item in Germany, the McRib has only made sporadic appearances since then. Having appeared in the Simpsons (as Ribwich) and other places in popular culture, it’s a relatively well-known item.

The Sandwich 

McRib

Visually speaking the patty is now just a rectangular block, whereas (if I remember correctly) before, it took on the shape of a slab of ribs. Some might say that’s disturbing, but I thought the shape of it added charm. Now it’s just boring.

The bun seems to be a slight improvement on whatever they use for regular sandwiches. There’s more texture and substance to them. The patty is very saucy, making it messy to eat and difficult to grab on to (the meat likes to slide).

Maybe it’s because my mind embellished my memories of it, or I was really hungry when I had it two years ago, but the first bite this time around didn’t quite live up my expectations. The sauce with the pickles made it a bit too acidic. The meat seemed to be substandard as well. It tasted rather fatty and bland. The few pieces of onions didn’t add much to it. Overall it’s not horrible, but far from the best thing on McDonald’s menu.

Conclusion

Maybe my tastes have matured over the last few years, maybe the sandwich really did go down in quality. Whatever it was, I felt it was more gimmicky than delicious.

Would I order it again? Yeah probably. I like the concept enough to give it another chance. But if the sandwich can be anything like how it is in my memories, then I hope McDonald’s will bring it back once again.