Is it true? Is the McRib back? In New York, at least, the answer is no.

The McRib sandwich, introduced in 1981, had been a short-lived but glorious pork addition to the McDonald’s menu. It supposedly featured a four-ounce portion of pork from the front shoulder (not rib, despite its name) of the hog drenched in a sweet barbecue sauce and topped with raw white onions and slices of pickle, all within a white bun. Upon closer examination, it’s not exactly solid pork (see this picture of the McRib innards on Foodfacts).

The McRib was added on a permanent basis in 1989, but then removed. (The reasons remain somewhat of a mystery.)

Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday, New Yorkers who got on a plane to attend gatherings with family and friends out of town might have heard radio commercials for the McRib. For the McRib aficionado, it made the heart go aflutter. But the fact remains, the McDonald’s faithful in New York are still out of McLuck when it comes to the McRib.

In the last few years, McDonald’s has teased us by bringing it back here and there. Last we heard, the McRib was heading off on a farewell tour in 2005, accompanied by a fake protest by the Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America (could someone tell the association not to use Flash on its Web site?), where pig farmers explained the economic impact of its demise. Then there were fervent petitions for and against the continuation of the McRib.

The more we did research, the more we discovered that yes, it seems the McRib has appeared since then, to the delight or consternation of some. It was introduced in cycles for marketing and sales purposes. And thus fans have been forced to chase the elusive pork creation, as Homer Simpson did with the Ribwich.

In the latest McRib offerings, the sandwich has been available in the Midwest (Chicago), the South (North Carolina, Texas), and Western states (like Utah), but New York City did not make the cut.

A call was made to McDonald’s to ask, what gives? Why can’t we get a McRib in New York City?

In response, Jennifer Nagy, the marketing manager for McDonald’s New York metro region, wrote in an e-mail message: “The McRib has been a seasonal favorite in different regions throughout the country since 1982. The McRib comes and goes — here and there — to meet our customers’ changing tastes. We listen to our customers and respond to their needs.”

McDonald’s representatives explained that menu decisions are made on a regional level, and the New York region has not decided to embrace the McRib.

So it appears as if McRib fanatics in New York might want to start their own “Bring the McRib to New York City campaign” to get attention from McDonald’s.

How is the McRib received by the barbecue diehards?

Keith Sisson, associate publisher of Y’all Magazine, a Southern lifestyle publication, was tactful in his assessment. “The McRib to me is something similar to a junior varsity version of a barbecue sandwich,” said Mr. Sisson, who lives in Oxford, Miss. “It’s certainly on the team. It is barbecue.”

But varsity it is not, he said. “You are not going to find something that looks like a McRib at a side-of-the-road barbecue stand of the South,” he said. “Barbecue here is a lifestyle.”

Mr. Sisson noted that people spent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars converting trailers into mobile barbecue units to bring in barbecue competitions.

And what did he think about the pickle and onion on the McRib?

Mr. Sisson was clear to note that barbecue is done in a variety of ways all over the South, and some places even scoop coleslaw right onto the pork sandwich. “The way that McDonald’s does their pickle and onion, that’s not consistent with anything that I’ve seen anywhere else,” he said. “But it doesn’t offend me that it’s there.”

Despite that, there was even something charming about the McRib, he said, adding, “I don’t consider myself a sellout for enjoying a McRib sandwich on occasion.”

Throughout the years, McDonald’s has experimented with everything from salisbury steak to pizza to veggie burgers. It even test-marketed a “crispy catfish sandwich” in outlets in the South. But few products have engendered the same cult following as the McRib. There are tributes online — including a McRib song.

O.K., we admit New York is not known for being a hospitable environment to barbecue, but a few years ago the stars aligned and we got real barbecue restaurants, supposedly. (Mr. Sisson gave his assessment, “What I think of Yankees and barbecue: My initial thought is, ‘Don’t try this at home.'”) But given the dire state of barbecue here, that there aren’t roadside barbecue joints to drop in on, then aren’t we the ones that need the McRib even more? Aren’t we the ones that are less picky than people for whom barbecue is a lifestyle?

Mr. Sisson thought so, too, and started to investigate the regional popularity of the McRib.

“We basically proved ourselves wrong,” he said. “Basically what we found is that people in the South, even though the McRib doesn’t look like their grandfather’s barbecue, this is a market where people like pork barbecue, and they like all forms of pork barbecue.”

(Even four-ounce-boneless-meat-patty-versions-with-a-special-sauce-on-a-bun forms of pork barbecue!)

Ms. Nagy of McDonald’s suggested, “In the meantime, the truly dedicated will need to venture outside of New York for a taste of that delicious boneless pork patty, barbecue sauce, onions and pickles.”

When told of Ms. Nagy’s recommendation, Mr. Sisson pushed back. “If you are going to travel to get barbecue, don’t travel to get the McRib,” he said. “If you are going to get in your car and drive South for seven or eight hours, go ahead, pass the McDonald’s and go to the side of the roadside barbecue stand. If it looks like it didn’t pass its last health inspection, it’s probably very good barbecue.”

Yes, that’s true, but the authentic stuff defeats the purpose of the embrace of the quasi-synthetic. We want a McRib.

Turns out, if we want a permanent McRib fix, we might be better off traveling overseas. In Germany, it is a standard part of the menu. And in October, McDonald’s introduced the McRib to Japan, and not just the McRib, but the boneless Double McRib (twice the boneless goodness). However, the Japanese McRib may be an acquired taste for Americans.

Like many foods in Japan, it is topped with mayonnaise.

Now, would that offend the barbecue diehards?