Innovation is a constant pressure that all our favorite fast food chains face. It’s led to some great food — Chipotle’s guajillo steak and Shake Shack’s Spicy Shackmeister come to mind. These were menu options that were available for a limited time and never joined the permanent menus of their respective restaurants. But to make room for new dishes like these, sometimes a few fan favorites get the axe.
It’s not always a bad thing as often these decisions are made based on sales. If no one is really ordering this stuff who is it hurting?
But sometimes a fast food chain will get rid of a cult favorite and replace it with something similar but not nearly as good. And sometimes fast food restaurants just make weird decisions that are likely linked to supply chain issues, like Taco Bell getting rid of the Mexican Pizza or Wendy’s ditching the spicy nuggets, both of which are back on the menu permanently because fans demanded they be. We shouldn’t have to beg for our favorites but this is the reality of fast food, unfortunately.
While we’re glad to see our favorites make a comeback, for every returning champ there are about two or three dishes that become lost forever to the sands of time. To shine a light on these delicious dishes that are being forgotten, we’ve decided to collect a few of our favorites from recent memories. Hopefully, with enough noise, we can bring some of these back!
Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.
Arby’s — Potato Cakes
Why We Miss It:
I mean Potato Cakes — do we really need to say more? Additional potato recipes on a menu are always a good thing and potato cakes were essentially giant super thick hashbrowns. The dish was a glob of shredded potato shaped into a thick triangular piece, and fried. They were crunchy, buttery, and delicious.
Unfortunately, Arby’s has replaced the potato cakes with crinkle-cut fries, a decision that no one is happy about. Why would you ever order crinkle-cut fries when you could have curly fries? You never ran into this problem with Potato Cakes because they were entirely their own type of thing.
The Bottom Line:
We rate the chance of the potato cakes coming back high considering the dish has so many fans.
Burger King — The Ch’King Sandwich
Why We Miss It:
While researching for this article I cruised through a lot of internet forums and articles about discontinued BK fare, and one item kept coming up again and again. No, not the Ch’King sandwich, I’m talking about crown-shaped nuggets, to which I have to ask: what the f*ck is wrong with all of you?
Crown-shaped nuggets don’t taste any different from BK’s regular nuggets, which is widely agreed to be terrible. What does the shape matter?
Anyway, a couple of years back BK launched the Ch’King sandwich in response to Popeyes, and it was actually pretty good. It was hand-breaded on site, juicy, crispy, and huge. It wasn’t Popeyes-level good, but it was a damn fine chicken sandwich and one of BK’s best menu items. And then the brand thought the effort they were putting into this sandwich was too laborious, so they simplified the recipe and launched it as the “Crispy Chicken Sandwich.”
The sandwich isn’t as good as its predecessor. BK had one good thing going for it, and it dropped the ball.
The Bottom Line:
Bring back the Ch’King sandwich!
Chipotle— Pollo Asado
Why We Miss It:
In 2022 Chipotle spent most of the year testing out new protein options, all of them were delicious but none were quite as good as the pollo asado. The pollo asado was juicy and tender with citrus top notes over a body of oregano, pepper, and earthy achiote. It was legitimately one of the best protein options you could order at Chipotle while it was on the menu and a significant improvement over Chipotle’s usual chicken option.
The Bottom Line:
Please bring the Pollo Asado back Chipotle, or at the very least, spend 2024 giving us more new protein options.
KFC — Potato Wedges
Why We Miss It:
This one hurts. KFC’s Potato Wedges were unique, they were one of the only wedges in the fast food landscape and they were seasoned with the same blend of seasonings that make up KFC’s Original Recipe chicken. The wedges were tender, crispy in all the right places, and had a wonderful complex flavor that combined various spices and fluffy buttery potato flavor.
I love KFC’s OG recipe, I think it’s the best thing the brand has going for it, but unfortunately, KFC ditched the wedges and replaced them with its Secret Recipe Fries. The move isn’t a total loss because the Secret Recipe Fries are also pretty tasty, but they come across as less unique. KFC’s potato wedges made the brand different, and in our opinion, they should embrace that.
Fast food brands should spend more time setting themselves apart from the competition. The Secret Recipe Fries are nobody’s favorite, but the potato wedges might’ve been!
The Bottom Line:
The less unique KFC’s menu gets, the less interesting.
Jack in the Box — Mozzarella Sticks (Mid 2000’s Era)
Why We Miss It:
Mozzarella Sticks are always appearing and disappearing from Jack in the Box’s menu (just last year they came back for a limited time), and each time the recipe is slightly tweaked. I’ll take any Mozzarella Sticks I can get, but if Jack in the Box wants to be known as the fast food place with the best sides, they’ll bring back this specific formulation of Mozzarella Sticks.
And no, I promise you, nostalgia isn’t what makes me pine for the days of Mid-00s fried cheese, I remember exactly what made these mozzarella sticks stand out! The breading was seasoned with a mix of Italian herbs and red pepper flakes. Those red pepper flakes added the subtlest hit of spice to every bite, which paired excellently with the marinara sauce. Red pepper flakes in mozzarella sticks are an anomaly, but one that I will never forget.
The Bottom Line:
Jack in the Box, you nailed mozzarella sticks in the past and we know you can do it again.
McDonald’s — Chicken Selects
Why We Miss It:
There was a time when McDonald’s had chicken tenders on the menu. They were a nice alternative to the nuggets, offering less processed meat and a crispy exterior that was seasoned heavily with black pepper. Unfortunately, McDonald’s has continued to simplify its menu over the years, ditching these chicken tenders, salads entirely, snack wraps, and so many others.
The Bottom Line:
Stop experimenting with celebrity meals and Grimace milkshakes and please just give us chicken tenders back!
McDonald’s — Chocolate Dipped Cones
Why We Miss It:
“I’m sorry the ice cream machine isn’t working right now” is a sentence we’ve all heard at least once at McDonald’s. So I get it, McDonald’s seems to have a lot of issues with its ice cream, so they probably dropped the dipped cone because it was too much of a hassle but, come on, who doesn’t love a dipped cone?
Dipping your soft-serve vanilla ice cream in some warm fudge is a surefire way to turn a delicious snack into a mind-blowing one.
The Bottom Line:
Getting dessert at McDonald’s is a real toss-up. Never count on it.
Popeyes — Chocolate Beignets
Why We Miss It:
Were Popeyes Chocolate Beignets as good as the real thing? Not a f*cking chance, but come one, these were fried pieces of dough, dusted in powdered sugar, and filled with Hershey’s chocolate — they may have not been the real thing, but they were a delicious dessert option at a chain that has too few.
They’ve since been replaced with the strawberry biscuit, which is so dry that it should be considered a choking hazard.
The Bottom Line:
I’ll take poorly dusted chocolate-filled beignets any day over Popeyes’ other dessert options.
Shake Shack —Spicy Shackmeister
Why We Miss It:
While we legitimately like every selection on this list and would like to see them return to menus at least for a limited time, none of these items are essential, except for Shake Shack’s Spicy Shackmeister. Released last September, for four months, this wasn’t just Shake Shack’s best cheeseburger, it was the best cheeseburger you could buy in all of fast food.
The build consisted of a smashed patty dusted with hot spices, American cheese, a layer of fried onions, Shake sauce, and cherry peppers. Each bite was a blast of spicy savory flavors that was so good it led us to name Shake Shack the best fast food brand of 2023 in our annual Golden Bag Awards.
The Bottom Line:
This one feels like a true loss. Shake Shack has the capability of making the best fast food cheeseburger and it’s just choosing not to.
Taco Bell — The Meximelt
Why We Miss It:
A lot of dishes deserve to be here but considering Taco Bell makes a habit of bringing back fan favorites for a limited time, we’re going to refrain from listing them all. Just last year Taco Bell brought back the Volcano Burrito, the Mexican Pizza (permanently), the Enchirito, The Double Decker Taco, and wings, just to name a few, and each of these options was great.
But one dish Taco Bell hasn’t brought back yet is the legendary Meximelt.
The Meximelt consisted of a soft flour tortilla stuffed with ground beef, pico de gallo, and a three-cheese blend, toasted in a cool little machine they had at all locations. Yes, that’s essentially just a quesadilla, but the flavor can’t be denied. It’s so good that we have been making our own version (it’s better) and while this dish is possible to hack at Taco Bell, doing so can be pricier than necessary.
The Bottom Line:
Come on Taco Bell, you’ve brought everything else back, it’s time to bring back the Meximelt.
Wendy’s — Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich
Why We Miss It:
Wendy’s is at its best when it turns the decadent food meter to 10, and no chicken sandwich has ever been as decadent as the Hot Honey. The sandwich featured a spicy fried chicken filet topped with pepper jack cheese, bacon, a habanero-based honey sauce, and crunchy dill pickle chips. The way the flavors hit the palate was magic, a mix of complex spicy sensations, audible crunchiness, and an ever-shifting flavor that bounced between smokey, tangy, and wonderfully savory.
We never assumed this one was going to be permanent, but we’re waiting with bated breath for the day Wendy’s brings this back.
The Bottom Line:
The most under-discussed chicken sandwich in fast food history. This thing rocked.