It's hard to imagine going to your favorite fast-food chain without ordering a value meal, or at the very least seeing it on those overhead menus. You probably nurse your favorite's order number and you know how to customize it as well.
But there was a time this was considered revolutionary. In a story on Munchies by VICE, Angela Dimayuga, chef of Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco and New York, reveals that her father Alan Dimayuga actually invented the Extra Value Meal at McDonald's, which changed the landscape of fast casual eating–forever.
Alan, an immigrant from the Philippines, worked as a manager for a McDonald's in San Francisco for 17 years, and he was constantly thinking of ideas for improving service. "Before, if someone wanted to order a Coke, fries, and a cheeseburger, they had to order from several different parts of the menu," Angela shares on Munchies. "He made it much easier to order these items in sets. [...] And he numbered the meals one through six, so customers could order by number instead of piecemeal."
It makes so much sense now, but executives before couldn't understand the system. Soon enough, McDonald's recognized how Alan's invention made service quicker and much more efficient, with other chains soon following suit with their own bundled meals. So, the next time you order a set meal with extra-large fries and soda, you know you have a Pinoy to thank.
This story originally appeared on Spot.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
