How Chefs Really Feel About McDonald's Big Mac

It was nearly called the "Aristocrat." And, you know what? It should've been. It's a great name for a burger. However, it's nigh impossible to now think of the Big Mac — which annually sells in numbers greater than the American population — being called anything else other than the Big Mac. It's like imagining the iPhone was almost named the "Pierogi," or Godzilla was going to be called Glenn. Just too much mental dissonance there. The Big Mac is such an indelible part of America itself that even those in the elite levels of food-making have particular feelings about the mass-produced cheeseburger.

We spoke to a number of notable chefs during the 2026 Food Network New York Wine & Food Fest. And yes, amid all the cutting-edge scrumptiousness, we brought up the subject of McDonald's. Instead of getting scoffed at (at least to our faces), these pros happily gave their views on perhaps the world's most famous fast-food item. 

High-level cooks often seek the lowbrow in their off-hours, probably just as a mental break from having to be "on" with cuisine all day, every day. Thus, the Big Mac opinions varied across these several top food minds — except when they didn't. Some were damning. Others were fawning. And one subverted the Big Mac's construction entirely. Needless to say, the drama was hot. You might even say it was flame-grilled. Oh, wait, that's the Whopper.

Nothing's a secret anymore. Everybody knows everything. The Colonel's recipe, In-N-Out's dark menu, Banksy's identity. The Big Mac's special sauce was at one time, long ago, something of an enigma — pre-internet, pre-actually caring about what was in the stuff we ate. Regardless, for experts like Tom Gardner of Watch Hill Oysters, the drippings are still the main draw. "It's a damn good sauce on that. It's a damn good sauce, and I have tried many times to replicate it."

Gardner's not alone in either the admiration or the imitation. There is no shortage of copycat attempts on the web, and the condiment concoction might be the key to the burger's appeal. "I think that Big Mac is vital because they've used a special sauce," affirmed Jackie Carnesi, executive chef at Bar Susanne. "Special sauce is the best condiment." 

Independent of the sauce's esteem, Jet Tila has his own personal Big Mac ritual, and it involves a classic de-middling. "I take out the mid-bun, and that's how I eat a Big Mac." And why? "Middle bun's too much. It's like when I do the same thing with a club sandwich." With respect, is it a club sandwich at that point? (Also, does he know about the steamed bun switch-out hack for Big Macs?) Regardless, chef Tila — who actually ranks the Quarter Pounder with cheese first on his Mickey D's list — holds the Big Mac in high regard. "I think [a] Big Mac is delicious. I love it."

"I love the Big Mac," echoed Andrew Rea of The Babish Culinary Universe, before dropping an uncomfortable truth bomb of a but. "I made the mistake of trying a Whopper for the first time in my life about two years ago, and it is better." He did insist the Big Mac would always have a place in his heart, despite the Burger King-tinged revelations. Hey, at least he didn't equate McDonald's meat to a toxin.

Cue Andrew Zimmern, who came down a tad harder on the Arches' signature patty mountain, and a bit more decisively. "I don't eat McDonald's," he insisted. "Yeah, when it first came out, boy, it was delicious before they started serving poisonous meat." Instead, it's another burger chain closer to home that's closer to his heart. "I'm very passionate as a Minnesotan about Culver's, which I think is the best. They don't serve frozen meat. They slice their tomatoes and lettuce in the stores. A Culver's ButterBurger is the best chain burger in America."

Although recipe maker and content creator Ham El-Waylly also passes on a Big Mac ("It's a bit of a slop fest; it gets too wet"), he goes in for different Mickey D's selections. "I love the double cheeseburger ... double cheeseburger, chicken nuggets. That's it." Maybe El-Waylly would feel differently with a homemade Big Mac bowl.

Fast food and late night just go together. Chefs often work well into the evening. Therefore, Big Macs and the like are often had by kitchen runners past the witching hour. At least that was the case with two experts we spoke with at the fest. "Only after 1:00 a.m.," was Tom Gardner's response when asked if he ever enjoyed McDonald's. Gardner is certainly on to something, as Big Macs are just one of the many things that are savored more in the wee hours.

For another food maven, the one and only big Big Mac she ever had was during the graveyard-shift quadrant of the night. "So when I first moved here 15 years ago," began Jackie Carnesi, "I mentioned to one of my old cooks that I had never had a Big Mac. So I think at 2:00 in the morning we went to McDonald's. And I had a Big Mac." What did she think of it in that watershed moment? "This is fine." A muted response — or a coy one?

Despite her one-and-done, Carnesi still gives props to the Mac. However, is the flagship's draw down to something else entirely? "The main reason for eating McDonald's is for the fries," declared Andrew Rea. "It's the best fries in America." Judging by pure sales numbers, America certainly seems to think so. Hey, whatever gateways you to the Big Mac — extreme sodium levels, be damned. (Actually, don't ignore those.)