Over the decades, our beloved fast food chains have offered some interesting menu items.
Here’s a list of the top 15 most beloved, controversial, and forgotten.
1. McDonald’s Arch Deluxe
The “sophisticated” burger for adults featured bakery-style buns, peppered bacon, and secret mustard-mayo sauce.
Despite a $100 million marketing campaign in 1996, customers rejected the premium-priced “not-for-kids” concept.
2. Taco Bell’s Bell Beefer
This curious hybrid served taco meat, lettuce, diced onions, and mild sauce on a hamburger bun.
Essentially a taco in sloppy joe form, it disappeared when Taco Bell fully embraced its Mexican-inspired identity.
3. KFC’s Double Down
Two fried chicken fillets replaced bread in this controversial sandwich that contained bacon, cheese, and special sauce.
This bunless wonder sparked health debates but developed a cult following during its limited runs.
4. McDonald’s McDLT
Packaged in a dual-compartment styrofoam container to keep “the hot side hot and the cool side cool.”
Environmental concerns about the excessive packaging forced its discontinuation by 1991 despite its popularity.
5. Pizza Hut’s Priazzo
This deep-dish Italian pie featured two layers of crust stuffed with meats, vegetables, and cheeses.
Too labor-intensive and time-consuming to prepare, this ambitious attempt at authentic Italian pizza disappeared after a few years.
6. Wendy’s Superbar
An all-you-can-eat buffet featuring pasta, Mexican food, and salad for just $2.99.
Despite its incredible value and popularity, the labor costs and food waste led to its discontinuation in the late 1990s.
7. Burger King’s Burger Bundles
These slider-sized mini-burgers predated the small burger trend by decades.
Bite-sized burgers sold in groups of three were discontinued because they kept falling through the broiler grates during cooking.
8. McDonald’s Hula Burger
Ray Kroc’s meatless creation for Catholic customers during Lent featured a grilled pineapple slice and cheese.
Thoroughly rejected by customers, it lost to the Filet-O-Fish in test marketing and was quickly abandoned.
9. Jack in the Box’s Frings
A brilliant combination of half french fries and half onion rings in one container.
This perfect solution for indecisive customers or those wanting variety disappeared despite its practical appeal and devoted fans.
10. Dairy Queen’s Breeze
DQ’s answer to McDonald’s McFlurry blended ice milk with candy mix-ins instead of traditional ice cream.
Healthier but less creamy and flavorful, it failed to capture customers’ hearts and was discontinued by 2000.
11. Sonic’s Pickle-O’s
Deep-fried dill pickle slices served in a small bag with ranch dressing.
This Southern delicacy appeared on early Sonic menus before being discontinued, though they occasionally return as limited-time offerings.
12. Taco Bell’s Seafood Salad
A clear Taco Bell identity crisis—a taco shell filled with shrimp, whitefish, and snow crab—appeared briefly in the 1980s.
Seafood from a Mexican fast food chain proved as unpopular as you’d expect.
13. Hardee’s Fried Chicken
Pressure-fried chicken with a distinctive rosemary-inflected recipe rivaled KFC in quality.
So popular that locations had special chicken walk-up windows before the chain phased it out after the Carl’s Jr. merger.
14. McDonald’s McSalad Shakers
Salads served in large cup-like containers that customers would shake to distribute dressing.
This innovative portable salad concept disappeared despite its convenience, replaced by Premium Salads in conventional containers.
15. Wendy’s Fresh Stuffed Pitas
Pita bread filled with various ingredients like garden vegetables, classic Greek, or chicken Caesar offered a lighter alternative to burgers.
Despite being ahead of the health-conscious trend, they disappeared in the early 2000s.