May 16, 2007 1 min read

IRWIN, Pa. (AP) – A new Pittsburgh-area McDonald’s will pay tribute to the Uniontown businessman who made food history 40 years ago when he brought the world the Big Mac. Jim Delligatti, one of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc’s first franchisees, invented the fast food store’s signature burger and also brought Pittsburgh its first McDonald’s in 1957. At one time Delligatti owned nearly three dozen McDonald’s.

Delligatti invented the Big Mac in 1967 at his store in the Uniontown Shopping Center on Morgantown Road.

The tribute McDonald’s, going up in place of a recently demolished restaurant, will be about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The location is a “gateway to the city,” making it the perfect spot for a tribute, said Chuck Hallstein, vice president of M&J Management, which owns and operates 18 McDonald’s restaurants in Pennsylvania.

The new eatery’s final design isn’t complete, but Hallstein said it would be both nostalgic and modern.