Lou Groen

Who is Lou Groen?

Lou Groen was a businessman of Cincinnati, Ohio who invented the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1962. He invented the sandwich at his floundering McDonald's restaurant to satisfy his customers. At the time, most of his customers were Roman Catholic, who had to abstain from eating meat on Friday. His invention, served with cheese and tartar sauce, is now served at McDonald's restaurants throughout the world.

In addition, at age 80, Groen, along with two other individuals entered into a new business venture called Stop Stick, Ltd., which is in the business of producing and selling devices which immobilize motor vehicles by causing their tires to become deflated.

Groen graduated from North College Hill High School in 1935. At his peak, Groen owned 43 McDonald's restaurants in the Ohio and northern Kentucky region, eventually selling them back to the McDonald's corporation, including a longtime business partner Ed Cummings's brother and son. He held on to two, in Northgate and Tylersville, until his own son Paul took them over in 1994. Groen died peacefully of natural causes on May 30, 2011 in Cincinnati.