McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Vs Long John Silver's Fish Sandwich: Here's The Actual Difference

After all, restaurant fish sandwiches taste so much better than homemade, and you can sail through a drive-thru and have one in your hand faster than you can say Captain Ahab. When you're fishing for a fast food seafood sando, McDonald's and Long John Silver's are top-of-mind options.

But is it all the same underwater fare between the two restaurants, or are their fish sandwiches different enough that it matters which you go to? There are some definite similarities between Mickey D's Filet-O-Fish — ranked one of the best fast food fish sandwiches by customers — and the Fish Sandwich at Long John Silver's.

Each sammie stands alone as its brand's sole (pun intended) permanently offered sando, each one features wild-caught Alaskan pollock, and each comes slathered with tartar sauce. You also pay about the same price at either restaurant, but that's more or less where their similarities end.

Each chain's sammich hits in the $5 to over $7 range, depending on location (though the occasional McDonald's location offers a Filet-O-Fish for under $4). The LJS sammie is larger and meatier, so it could be a better value. For many, though, McD's Filet-O-Fish is a legendary nosh that's in a school by itself (another seafood pun), so being smaller doesn't diminish the classic McFeasting experience.

Sail on for a full breakdown of the differences between these two fishy contenders to help you determine which fish burger belongs in your net, and which you should throw back.

A deeper dive into the Filet-O-Fish

Every deep dive begins at the surface, so we're starting with the buns. Comparing McDonald's Filet-O-Fish to Long John Silver's Fish Sandwich makes it clear the Filet-O-Fish is a lighter-weight nosh.

The sando's iconic square-shaped patty fits easily inside the round perimeter of the same standard bun used for Mickey D's smallest, cheapest burger (the basic hamburger), with little or no overlap. In contrast, the LJS sammie's filet overruns the edge of the bun on multiple sides.

A peek under said buns also shows distinct topping differences. The Filet-O-Fish features just the pollock patty, tartar sauce, and a half-slice of American cheese. That half-slice is one of the biggest oddities in fast food.

McDonald's U.S. states it's more or less a matter of tradition (the first Filet-O-Fish in 1961 had only a half-slice) while a McDonald's Canada rep once said any more cheese would capsize the balance of the sandwich and overpower the light-flavored pollock. Another standout Filet-O-Fish feature, which differs from the Long John Silver's sandwich (and also from every other McDonald's sando), is that the Filet-O-Fish's buns are steamed, giving them a soft, pillowy mouthfeel. The chain has special steaming machines installed exclusively for the Filet-O-Fish, into which the bun halves get popped for a handful of seconds until they're nice and fluffy.

A longer look at the Long John Silver's Fish Sandwich

Long John Silver's website offers allergen and nutrition information, but the chain doesn't publish an ingredient list breaking down what each menu item contains, so we can't swim too deeply into the differences between its Fish Sandwich and McDonald's Filet-O-Fish.

The nutrition guide does further affirm, though, what is visually apparent: The LJS Fish Sandwich is more robust. It has 458 total calories compared to the Filet-O-Fish's 380; 17 grams of protein versus 16; 2 grams of fiber compared to 1; and 50 grams of carbohydrates as opposed to 38.

Unlike Filet-O-Fish's uniformly square pollock patty, which is manufactured into geometric conformity, the Long John Silver's Fish Sandwich retains larger, organic fillet shapes that give a meatier bite. Where the Filet-O-Fish's patty has a wheat-based breading, the LJS sando is batter-dipped for classic crispness.

In terms of toppings, LJS's sammich features just tartar sauce and pickles. Though LJS doesn't specify this, the bun also definitely isn't steamed; some sources state it's toasted, others declare it's not, and consumers have complained on social media of both cold bread and receiving rubbery, microwaved buns. While diehard fans always prefer the nostalgic Filet-O-Fish, many find LJS's offering to be a much better catch.

Enthusiasts also share an inside tip for upgrading it: adding coleslaw as an extra topping, which LJS offers. Mickey D's doesn't, further distinguishing the LJS sandwich.