--- description: A meaty gem from the archives of TIME: In 1973, the magazine asked the world's top food experts to review McDonald's. Here's what they said. title: What Julia Child Said About the Big Mac image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefffd3061e8fbacb/698894cf3c163983c045d63f/burger.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Food & Drink](/tag/food-drink/) ## Food & Drink Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is What Julia Child Said About the Big Mac  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2016 3:30 PM CUT  A Big Mac on an American flag napkin A Big Mac on an American flag napkinUlrich Baumgarten—Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2016 3:30 PM CUT As far as food holidays go, National Hamburger Day—which falls on Saturday—isn’t exactly the fanciest out there. (National Truffle Day, for example, fell at the beginning of the month.) But in 1973, when TIME took a look at the [McDonald’s](http://time.com/3817181/mcdonalds-history-gallery/ "undefined") “hamburger empire” in a [cover story](http://time.com/vault/issue/1973-09-17/page/1/ "undefined"), that didn’t stop the magazine from giving the iconic sandwich its due. At the time, the fast-food chain had just recently surpassed the U.S. Army as the nation’s “biggest dispenser of meals,” even though some people saw that success as what TIME called “a devastating comment on American values.” So, the magazine asked the nation’s top voices on food to render a verdict on [McDonald’](http://time.com/4053832/history-egg-mcmuffin-mcdonalds-breakfast/ "undefined")s once and for all. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") Instructed to keep in mind that they were eating samples from a fast-food joint and not from “an aspirant to _Guide Michelin_ accolades,” they were given a chance to weigh in on whether popularity corresponded to taste. Here’s what Julia Child had to say: --- > “” --- The other reviewers were Craig Claiborne, James Beard and Gael Greene. **_Read the rest of the reviews, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Ratings From the Gourmets](http://time.com/vault/issue/1973-09-17/page/102/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4347115/julia-child-big-mac-hamburger-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4347115/julia-child-big-mac-hamburger-day/"},"headline":"This Is What Julia Child Said About the Big Mac","datePublished":"2016-05-27T15:30:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:41.869Z","description":"A meaty gem from the archives of TIME, in honor of National Hamburger Day","url":"https://time.com/4347115/julia-child-big-mac-hamburger-day/","keywords":["Food & Drink","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefffd3061e8fbacb/698894cf3c163983c045d63f/burger.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefffd3061e8fbacb/698894cf3c163983c045d63f/burger.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hamburger","caption":"Hamburger ( Big Mac from Mc Donalds ) on an American flag, Feature: fastfood, American fastfood,,.","creditText":"Ulrich Baumgarten—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/food-drink/","name":"Food & Drink"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4347115/julia-child-big-mac-hamburger-day/","name":"This Is What Julia Child Said About the Big Mac"}}]}] ```