Short-Lived Fast Food Items From The '80s And '90s You Didn't Just Dream About
They call fast food "fast" for a reason. Trends come and go like the wind, and if something doesn't work right away, it gets thrown on history's short-lived fast food items heap to be forgotten by all but the rare few who tasted them way back when. We've seen it in the past with fast food breakfast foods and we're seeing it again here. Some were legitimately delicious but impractical, while others were just terrible ideas from their inception. They can't all be winners, right? If you're feeling a little food nostalgia, take a walk down memory lane and see how many of these forgotten menu items from the past you remember.
- 1
Wendy's Superbar
- Photo:
Word is that Wendy’s Superbar was the stuff of legends back in the '80s. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet of numerous kinds of pasta, a make-you-own taco station, fresh fruit, and salad.
While you may question a Wendy’s taco and pasta station, the $2.99 price tag for as many visits as you wanted made it so popular that Wendy’s had to end it just to stay in business.
Fast food fever dream? - 2
Pizza Hut's Bigfoot Pizza
The Bigfoot Pizza was 12 inches by 24 inches, making a solid 2 square feet of cheesy goodness. At $10.99, it's possible that Pizza Hut couldn't afford to keep this monster on the menu any longer without raising the price to a range that made people not want to order it.
To this day, it still has fans hoping for a revival - because nothing beats a table-sized pizza.
Fast food fever dream? - 3
Taco Bell's Enchirito
- Photo:
What do you get when a burrito and an enchilada have a beefy, saucy baby? The Taco Bell Enchirito. It was a giant burrito stuffed with beef and beans, drowned in sauce, and topped with cheese and those infernal '80 Taco Bell olives.
As trends changed, this one-time menu staple went the way of the dodo.
Fast food fever dream? - 4
McDonald's McDLT
- Photo:
It keeps the hot side hot and the cold side cold! The hot half of the McDLT was on one side of this Styrofoam container, and the cold side with the veggies was on the other so that you could assemble it yourself and have the perfect burger.
The problem was, it was a ton of Styrofoam just at a time when people started caring about the environment.
Fast food fever dream? - 5
Pizza Hut's Triple Decker Pizza
- Photo:
In 1996, Pizza Hut got legendary actor Anthony Quinn to advertise this cheese-stuffed monster. Unlike stuffed-crust pizza, this thing had a dough base covered entirely in cheese, another layer of dough, and then the pizza on top.
It proved to be too much cheese for most pizza fans, though the most dedicated cheese-lovers out there are still hoping it comes back some day.
Fast food fever dream? - 6
McDonald's Arch Deluxe
![McDonald's Arch Deluxe]()
- Photo:
To this day, no one can explain exactly why McDonald's spent $150 million advertising the Arch Deluxe, which was, by all accounts, a slightly fancier Big Mac that cost more money.
It failed as a menu item for just that reason, even though it did taste good. It just didn’t fit into the menu with a cheaper, already-established alternative.
Fast food fever dream?
