‘Birthplace of the Big Mac’ celebrates its place in history
Matt Alamo only had a slight awareness of the history of the McDonald’s location on Morgantown Street in Uniontown when his group took ownership eight years ago.
He’s gotten an education since then — from the family of the past owner, and from the long line of visitors who come for a meal and pose by the sign along the road: “Birthplace of the Big Mac.”
Alamo’s expecting another bump in visitors Sunday, which is celebrated as Big Mac Day. It honors the birthday of Jim Delligatti, who invented the double-decker burger there in 1967.
Since Alamo bought the restaurant, he’s become friends with the Delligattis, “a really awesome, down-to-earth group of people that just so happened to have invented the most iconic sandwich in the world.” He’s closest with fourth-generation McDonald’s owner Nick Delligatti, who told him about the Big Mac’s history.
Sitting in a booth in the Uniontown restaurant, Alamo said the chain’s flagship burger was invented not just in the city, but because of it.
The number totals on the sign outside were skyrocketing toward today’s billions, even with the thinner hamburgers and cheeseburgers on the menu in the 1960s. But the miners and steelworkers stopping by needed something more substantial.
Enter Delligatti’s brainchild.
“I don’t think there’s probably a more popular sandwich in the world than the Big Mac,” Alamo said. “So it’s pretty cool.”
It was a driving force in not just the company’s fortunes, but in the Delligattis. To keep up with demand, they had to move from the original site elsewhere at the same shopping center to the larger one it now occupies.
Aside from the sign outside, nothing marks it as the home of the Big Mac.
That honor is left to the Delligattis, who’ve paid tribute to the burger with their Big Mac Museum in Irwin, including video interviews with Jim Delligatti and a 30-foot-high Big Mac in the Playland.
On Sunday, the museum is also offering a buy-one, get-one-free deal.
There, too, Alamo is leaving any special displays to the Delligattis.
“I feel like that’s the right thing to do as a peer and friend of that family,” he said. “But we are so honored, and I would venture to guess we are going to sell a few extra.”
Over the past 365 days, the restaurant has sold 10,664 Big Macs, many to people intent on buying one where it all started.
Even with a more muted display, the historic nature of the site makes it a continual draw for people making a pilgrimage to the birthplace of an American icon.
“Between Pittsburgh and West Virginia and Philadelphia, you just have so much history, and we often get folks that stop in,” Alamo said. “They’ll take a picture down by the sign, and they’ll let us know they were passing through, and it’s coming up in travel destinations that this is where the Big Mac was invented, and they wanted to stop by.”
It’s not a formal part of the orientation, but Alamo doubts anyone who works at the store goes long without knowing its place in history.
The 50 employees are “thrilled and proud” of it, Alamo said.
“Honestly, it’s kind of cool,” said Jesse Myers, who just started as the restaurant’s general manager. “It’s something different.”
For Alamo, it’s coupled with an appreciation of the burger’s uniqueness — even today, a double bun is rare. He also brings a foodmaker’s appreciation of the flavor profile: tangy sauce, crisp lettuce, vinegary pickles.
“Oh, it’s just perfect,” he said. “I think it was just such a good product at a time in the world where you did not find anything unique like that. So then, the largest burger brand gives you something unique and wonderful, and it just took off.”
He also takes pride in the way McDonald’s has maintained the Big Mac’s integrity — not selling it in stores, and only rarely using it for dishes outside the Big Mac itself.
“It’s a secret for a reason, and if you want that specialness, you have to come and have the experience here with us,” he said.