Past Food
Fast food restaurants are also always trying something new and coming up with new items for their menus. Some good, and some...not so good. The fast food items we're going to talk about here are ones that have come and gone—some we all miss, and some...we're glad they're gone. How many do you remember?
McPlant (McDonald's)
The plant-based meat craze has grown over the last decade or so and fast food joints didn't want to get left behind. Carl's Jr and Burger King both have their own non-meat burgers on the menu—and not to be left out, McDonald's got in the game with the McPlant back in 2021. And after some limited tests, it was released to more locations at the beginning of 2022. However, six months later, low sales numbers led to the McPlant being McGone.
Ch'King (Burger King)
For 14 months between June of 2021 and August of 2022, Burger King customers could enjoy their Burger King Ch'King crispy chicken sandwiches. While their discontinuation surely disappointed some, they were replaced by four different Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwiches. So, maybe the biggest loss was that awesome name. But this wasn't the only chicken item that failed in the fast food world...
Chicken, Maple Butter, And Egg Sandwich (Starbucks)
We'd be impressed if you remembered this one, but even more impressed if you'd tried it—given that it was only around for less than a week in June of 2022. Within five days of this sandwich dropping into Starbucks locations, the higher ups "issued a voluntary stop sell and discard" because the sandwich "didn't meet Starbucks quality standards". And we take back what we said about being impressed if you'd tried it—as there were many reports from people saying it made them sick.
Although, the company did issue a statement saying that any quality issues, "would not lead to foodborne illness and any reports linking the stop sale to illness are inaccurate".
Big Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger (Wendy's)
In 2021, the home of the Baconator gave customers the Big Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger which kicked things up a notch with "a creamy, tangy cheddar cheese spread – inspired by pimento cheese," and "a first-of-its-kind cheddar bun". By the summer of 2022, it was off the menu.
Hot Honey Sauce (Wendy's)
In February of 2022, Wendy's added a couple new items to their menu: the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich and the Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit. But later that year, we started seeing Reddit posts from employees talking about how they were no longer getting shipments of the hot honey sauce to their restaurants. A little while later, Wendy's officially told the world the sauce was getting "phased out".
Salads (Burger King)
It seems like many fast food restaurants have tried to do the salad thing–with various levels of success. Burger King tried also, but in 2022, they gave up. To quote one New York Burger King manager following the discontinuation of the salads, "Now, water is the healthiest thing on our menu".
Potato Cakes (Arby's)
The potato cakes were a favorite of many Arby's customers for years—but in 2021, the company made the decision to remove the item from their menu to make room for crinkle fries. Although they did also say that, "Although our Potato Cakes have been discontinued (for now), who's to say they're gone forever?". And they weren't. Three years later, they came back for a limited time.
Angry Whopper (Burger King)
Released as a tie-in with The Incredible Hulk movie, this spicy whopper dropped in restaurants in 2008 and stuck around until 2016. We're sure some folks were very angry when the Angry Whopper disappeared. The good news is it's still on the BK menu in Mexico if you wanna take a trip.
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Bagels (Chick-Fil-A)
If you ordered a breakfast sandwich at Chick-fil-A you could opt for getting them on an English muffin, a biscuit, or a bagel. But not anymore. The chain got rid of said bagel option around February of 2021. And while we're on the subject of fast food breakfast items...
Waffle Taco (Taco Bell)
Take your eggs and sausage and wrap it in a waffle! For about a year, this waffle taco was part of the Taco Bell breakfast menu. But in 2015, it was given the boot.
Triple Deckeroni Pizza (Pizza Hut)
If one layer of cheese is good, then three is better right? Well, at least that was the theory behind this '90s Pizza Hut creation that still gets talked about and Facebook fan-paged about to this day.
Chicken Tenders (Burger King)
From 1985 until 2012, Burger King had Chicken Tenders. They brought them back for a limited time in 2018, but then they were gone again. Burger King has tried many other chicken things, but the tenders are quite possibly the ones that customers miss most.
FotoosVanRobin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Frescata Sandwiches (Wendy's)
With Subway riding high and ruling the sandwich game in the 2000s, Wendy's decided that they could take some of that sandwich-loving market away from their competitor and came out with a series of deli-style sandwiches. These Frescata sammies hit restaurant menus in 2006. In 2007, they left the restaurant menus.
Hullian111, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cheesarito (Taco Bell)
Mexican pizza sauce, scallions, and cheese all rolled up in a flour tortilla—that was the Cheesarito. Even though the item was removed from menus decades ago, it was part of the "secret menu" for many years afterwards. Some claim it still is (just without the scallions)—we can't confirm or deny those reports.
Fried Apple Pie (McDonald's)
If you were born after 1992, then you've never known a McDonald's Fried Apple Pie. But prior to 1992, that's how the company's apple pies were produced—with a crispy fried crust. In an effort to offer a healthier option, McDonald's switched to a baked version in '92 and never looked back. Although, is it really that much healthier?
French Toaster (Sonic)
A breakfast sandwich with the eggs, cheese, and bacon sandwiched between two pieces of French toast. For some reason Sonic decided to make this a limited run in 2015 and replace it with the Breakfast Toaster—the same thing, just with Texas toast instead of French toast (seems like a downward move to us).
Mack Male, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
McSalad Shakers (McDonald's)
Salad in a plastic cup. It seems like people miss the cups more than the salads themselves.
Cini-Minis (Burger King)
They were mini cinnamon rolls introduced in the late '90s.
Double Down (KFC)
In 2010, with the start of a new decade came the start of a new sandwich craze at KFC—the Double Down, a sandwich with bacon, cheese, and sauce in between two pieces of fried chicken. As one commercial put it, there was "so much 100% premium chicken, we didn't have room for a bun".
This thing was a joke to some, delicious to others, and a viral hit on television and social media. It was also almost 1,000 calories. While it was gone from KFC's menu in 2014, it did return for a limited moment in 2023.
Michael Saechang, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Beef Tallow Fries (McDonald's)
We can probably all agree that McDonald's French fries are one of, if not the best fast food fries around. But they aren't as good as they used to be! Prior to 1990, McDonald's used beef fat to make their fries and they were—by all accounts—delicious. However, in 1990, in an effort to be a little healthier and vegetarian-friendly, they switched to vegetable oil—and some people have never forgiven them for it.
Cheesy Macaroni Bites (Jack In The Box)
These fried triangles of mac and cheese goodness were brought to the world in 2008. Advertised as a great on-the-go item (supposedly the triangle shape made them perfect for eating while driving), these bites were a fan favorite, but they didn't last forever. The chain introduced Mac & Cheese Bites in 2021—but those too were gone after a short period of time.
McDLT (McDonald's)
The gimmick with this one was that the two-part packaging kept the warm half warm and the cold part cold until you put it together. Was it a gimmick? Did it make it better? Guess it doesn't matter, because by the '90s—with the company switching to more eco-friendly packaging—that was the end of the McDLT.
Pepperoni Crazy Bread (Little Caesars)
In order to make their famous crazy bread even more "crazy," Little Caesars went and stuffed it with pepperoni. We don't know why they discontinued this one—it sounds yummy.
Szechuan Sauce (McDonald's)
To coincide with the release of the Mulan film in the late '90s, McDonald's introduced a Szechuan dipping sauce for their McNuggets. People loved it. In 2017, they brought it back for one day and people went crazy for it again—so much so that a set of three packs sold for $848.88 on eBay.
Big Easy Chicken Bowl (Popeyes)
White meat chicken with spicy Cajun gravy, red beans, rice, and shredded cheese (optional hot sauce and sour cream). The Big Easy Chicken Bowl came to be in 2008 and was no more by about 2015.
MySTIRy Misty (Dairy Queen)
The mystery of these Dairy Queen slushy drinks wasn't the flavor—they were blue-raspberry. The mystery—or MySTIRy—was what color it would turn when you released the powder out of the straw and stirred it around. The Misty Slush came back in 2017—but without the MySTIRy.
Cheesy Tots (Burger King)
Forget about Pedro—Napoleon Dynamite had us all voting for Burger King Cheesy Tots back in 2004. But despite the cult status of these tots, BK took them off the menu. They made limited run returns in 2016 and 2019, though.
Bacon And Blue burger (Wendy's)
You can only get a hamburger with blue cheese at a fancy restaurant, right? Wrong. Well, at least back in 2010 it was wrong—because that's when Wendy's was offering up its Bacon and Blue burger. According to many reviews, they were tasty but messy.
Third-Of-A-Pound Burger (A&W)
McDonald's introduced their Quarter Pounder burger in 1971. In the '80s, A&W attempted to usurp their competition at their own game by introducing the Third-of-a-Pound Burger. More beef for the same price as a Quarter Pounder sounds like a great deal, right? Well, it was—except for the fact that way too many people thought that a third of a pound was less than a quarter pound (three is less than four right). A&W was failed by the North American educational system.
P’Zones (Pizza Hut)
If a pizza and a calzone had a baby, it would be a P’Zone. This calzone/pizza hybrid was a big hit when it dropped in 2002. Well, we guess it wasn't enough of a hit because it was eventually dropped from the menu—which angered some people enough to take up a Change.org petition to bring it back:
“Years ago, we lived in a nation where freedom to express yourself was limited. Until Pizza Hut unveiled their P'Zone. Bring back the P'Zone, Pizza Hut. This is for freedom. This is for the progression of humankind".
Arch Deluxe (McDonald's)
In an attempt to do something a little more upscale, McDonald's introduced the adult-geared Arch Deluxe burger in 1996. But they didn't just introduce it, they bombarded people with a $150 million ad campaign. Throw in the $150 million or so they spent on research and production and you have one of the biggest fast food flops in history. By 1998, you could only find the Arch Deluxe in certain locations—and by 2000, you couldn't find it anywhere. They didn't give up on the "arch" completely though.
Archburger (McDonald's)
In 2018, McDonald's tried updating their failed Arch Deluxe and introduced the Archburger. Needless to say, it didn't stick around for long.
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