The glory of fast food past

[NulloModo]

Taco Bell seems to have been popping up in several threads lately, and in each one someone starts wistfully recalling a now defunct menu item known as the "Bell Beefer". Now, I personally can't recall ever having seen this item, and don't even know what it is, but it is interesting that so many people miss it.

It seems that with fast food places adding new menu items left and right as fast as they can, that sometimes a long-time favorite manages to dissapear. What are the fast-food menu items that are no longer around, but which you very much enjoyed and wish you could order again?

For me it is a tie between these two:

The McDonald's McDLT (check out this commercial from back in the day for it if you need a memory jog: http://www.retrojunk.com/media/114/showall/ ). I remember the condiments being fresh and of a higher quality than most McDonalds burgers. Also, it really does do a sandwhich well to keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold. Plus it came in a cool styrofoam container, those were much snazzier than the cardboard boxes they use now.

My other lamented favorite was the Wendy's buffet. Now, not a single particular item I realize, but why did Wendy's do away with they great salad/hot bar? One could get a great salad, burritos, fettuciini alfredo, tacos, nachos, random other pastas, a loaded potato, chicken wings, and all sorts of things for one low price. Truly used to make Wendy's king of the fast food joints.

What are all of yours?

[judiu]

For my late buddy Andy, I'd have to say the McRibwich. He LOVED those suckers...

Me, I miss the Build Your Own Pita Sandwich that Burger King used to have. A decent salad bar with chopped eggs, diced ham, peas, real bacon bits, cheese and other goodies. They hated to see me coming, as I don't much like lettuce and filled my pita pocket with all the good stuff instead!

[Mayhaw Man]

I wish that McDonald's still cut their own fries, in the store, and that they still fried them in beef tallow.

Of course, I would probably weigh a thousand pounds. As it is, I haven't been in a McDonald's for a couple of years and probably only three or four times in the last decade.

But if they still had those fries...

[SobaAddict70]

For me, it's a tie between the McRib sandwich (tasty for a non BBQ product) and the now-defunct Big-N-Tasty (also by McDonald's).

Say what you will about McDonald's and fast food in general...sometimes all you want to do is revel in the unhealthfulness of it all.

I'm perfectly serious.

Soba (who hasn't touched a Big Mac in over three months although he lapses on occasion)

[Chris Amirault]

Brooks beat me to it. Beef tallow fries at McDs.

[petite tête de chou]

At least in my neck of the woods Taco Bell has done away with their tostadas. -sniff- Sorry to see my childhood favorite go.

[Mayhaw Man]

Brooks beat me to it. Beef tallow fries at McDs.

←

Well, look at it like this. If I beat you to them every time, eventually you would be able to beat me.

And then the process would start all over again.

[BeJam]

Burger King used to have mini-burgers. The three-pack was great at 2am. mmmmm.

I lament the loss of the green sauce at Taco Bell.

Does it count to miss a certain freshness in McDonald's food or am I just missing the day's I didn't care about freshness?

A&W Root Beer used to be so much better.

I miss In and Out burgers and fries. (I know they're still around, just not here.)

[Basilgirl]

Roy Rogers' Double R Burger

Hardee's Hot Ham & Cheese

[peppyre]

McDonald's pizza. It was tasty and not greasy and slimey like everything else that's on the menu.

[adegiulio]

I really miss the old McDonalds Hot Apple Pie. I know , they still have apple pie, but its different. The old one was deep fried and resembled a hot pocket more than its current slice of pie. The old ones were so hot, they seemed to defy the laws of thermodynamics. They stayed hot seemingly forever, or at least waiting for them to cool to a palatable temp seemed like an eternity. I loved 'em. The new pies? Won't even go there...

[spoon]

McDonald's Arctic Orange Shakes

nothing better in the summer... can still taste them

[ingridsf]

I really miss the old McDonalds Hot Apple Pie. I know , they still have apple pie, but its different. The old one was deep fried and resembled a hot pocket more than its current slice of pie. The old ones were so hot, they seemed to defy the laws of thermodynamics. They stayed hot seemingly forever, or at least waiting for them to cool to a palatable temp seemed like an eternity. I loved 'em. The new pies? Won't even go there...

←

Thought this was just me...mmm...volcanic pie filling...."Caution: Filling May Be Hot" indeed!

Mentioned recently on another thread: Popeyes' onion rings

The old KFC original. Man, even the bucket was finger-lickin good when it had been full of that stuff.

[fiftydollars]

I miss KFC's Chicken Littles...

Those little morsels of fried chicken slathered in mayonnaise are perhaps my fondest chicken sandwich memory.

[takomabaker]

I worked at Wendy's when I was in high school. It was my first job (not counting babysitting). I LOVED the chicken a la king potato topping, but we used to put it on torn up French fries and eat it with a fork OR we used to use it as a dip with the chips for the taco salad. (When you work in a fast food joint, you get pretty creative with the food.) And their hot apple dumplings -- basically a deep-fried apple fritter covered with cinnamon syrup. It was yummy.

[rooftop1000]

fried pie...now why did you have to go and say that

BK had a salad bar when I worked there and we would try to deepfry every item in it

t

[purplewiz]

Oh, geez, I thought I was the only one who loved that McRib sandwich....or the Burger King International Chicken sandwiches.

I also miss when Arby's had real sliced roast beef on the sandwiches, instead of this formed pressed product. And their Chicken Caesar Sandwich....it really was a very tasty sandwich, especially for fast food.

But what I miss most was when McD's had Diet 7up. They mixed it from syrup and soda water and it was either a different syrup or mixed in a different proportion or something, but it was among the best sodas I'd ever had. Then they switched to diet Coke and the world was never the same.

Marcia.

[Holly Moore]

1. The Gino's Giant - a Big Mac with Philly 'tude.

2. You had to live in Cleveland in the late 60's to remember this one, but McDonald's third attempt at a roast beef sandwich - from the factory: individual packets of cooked beef in beef gravy and frozen. At McD's they were heated in a 140 degree water bath - named a tepidarium. Tempidarium II actually. The original Temidarium was a warm oil bath used to reheat cooked, bagged and frozen whole roasts of beef for McD roast beef sandwich attempt #2.

The bun was like a giant Parker House roll. One end was cut off and it was forced onto a heated teflon tongue which formed a toasted pocket in the bun. The beef in gravy went into the pocket. It was a great, sloppy sandwich unworthy of the typical McDonald's customer.

3. What Brooks said and Chris seconded - McD's fresh cut, twice fried fries, fried in 25 percent lard shortening.

[godito]

I actually miss going to a fast food joint and not leaving with the feeling I've just been robbed of any flavor the food might have actually had... I miss good burgers...

[TheFoodTutor]

This one will be really obscure, and it's possible no one will remember it: Wendy's opened a separate chain, called Sister's Chicken, and they had creamed chicken on a biscuit that I really loved. When I had my first car, I'd go over to their drive through and get an order of it, and park somewhere so I could eat it before I went home.

Man, I miss that.

[NulloModo]

i had no clue Burger King had ever operated a salad bar/buffet in their restaurants. I still think the Wendy's food bar was the single greatest fast-food deal of the century. Did any other fast food places operate a buffet type thing? I wonder why it went out of vogue...

[pyrguy]

Mentioned recently on another thread:  Popeyes' onion rings

←

I had forgotten about those. I had the pleasure of having the original Popeye's,(before they started with the dry coatings). The chicken now is good but then was better. :D

Edited June 28, 2005 by pyrguy (log)

[Marlene]

I can't get KFC's extra crispy here anymore. And speaking of KFC, I miss thier original fries. Now they serve those dreadful crispy fries.

[phaelon56]

Colonel Sanders Roast Beef sandwiches were pretty darn good - several steps above Arby's. Yes - there was a Colonel Sanders Roast Beef but it wasn't a menu item at his fried chicken joints - it was a separate operation that ran as a pilot for a few years but never caught on.

[dockhl]

The McDonald's McDLT (check out this commercial from back in the day for it if you need a memory jog: http://www.retrojunk.com/media/114/showall/ ).  I remember the condiments being fresh and of a higher quality than most McDonalds burgers.  Also, it really does do a sandwhich well to keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold.  Plus it came in a cool styrofoam container, those were much snazzier than the cardboard boxes they use now.

←

Other than the box, isn't it kinda like the Big n' Tasty (which I order w/out onions and get a fairly decent burger w/lots o' veggies)

K