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Fast food items you wish they’d bring back?

Started by OCGuy81, February 01, 2022, 11:38:42 AM

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CoreySamson

The fried chicken Po-boy at Popeyes. It was lost in the change to the new Popeyes chicken sandwich (which is my current favorite chicken sandwich, don't get me wrong), but man, that po-boy was good. I wish they could've kept both sandwiches on the menu.
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mgk920

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 01, 2022, 12:07:13 PM
I suppose it might be questionable whether it's truly "fast food," but the first thing that I thought of when I saw this thread was the Bigfoot Pizza from Pizza Hut.

I believe OCGuy81 is correct that McLobster is a regional item.

I remember having some of that stuff while doing lunch at a McDs on northbound US 1 in north suburban Boston, MA during a roadtrip in about 2000.  It was served cold in a tray much like a salad.  I thought that it was pretty good.

Mike

JayhawkCO

The smoked brisket at Chipotle was really good.

OCGuy81

Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 01, 2022, 02:16:25 PM
The smoked brisket at Chipotle was really good.

I think they recently brought it back....🤔

webny99

Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 01, 2022, 02:16:25 PM
The smoked brisket at Chipotle was really good.

Oh yeah. I'm usually a carnitas guy, but I tried that once and it was really good. Unlike barbacoa which I find overseasoned.

mgk920

Quote from: skluth on February 01, 2022, 12:53:22 PM
Health professionals will cringe, but I'd really like a return of the original McDonald's French fries. For younger people, they were fried in lard and even Julia Child loved them. I still enjoy them hot and fresh, but they're honestly not as good as they once were.

IIRC, they were cooked in beef tallow, not lard.  Also, ISTR that McDs dropped it for veggie oil due to objections from the Animal Rights crowd and not from health professionals.

Mike

TheHighwayMan3561

Culver's buffalo tenders
Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
Arby's potato cakes

mgk920


OCGuy81

Quote from: mgk920 on February 01, 2022, 02:22:02 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 01, 2022, 12:53:22 PM
Health professionals will cringe, but I'd really like a return of the original McDonald's French fries. For younger people, they were fried in lard and even Julia Child loved them. I still enjoy them hot and fresh, but they're honestly not as good as they once were.

IIRC, they were cooked in beef tallow, not lard.  Also, ISTR that McDs dropped it for veggie oil due to objections from the Animal Rights crowd and not from health professionals.

Mike

I read a book called Fast Food Nation years ago, and I believe you're correct. The original fries were cooked in beef tallow

mgk920

The King Sized plastic soda cups at Burger King (and other similar, ie McDs, Subway, etc,).  Refill it with Diet Coke and there was enough there to last at least two days in either the car or at the desk.

Mike

1995hoo

Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 02:32:10 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on February 01, 2022, 02:22:02 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 01, 2022, 12:53:22 PM
Health professionals will cringe, but I'd really like a return of the original McDonald's French fries. For younger people, they were fried in lard and even Julia Child loved them. I still enjoy them hot and fresh, but they're honestly not as good as they once were.

IIRC, they were cooked in beef tallow, not lard.  Also, ISTR that McDs dropped it for veggie oil due to objections from the Animal Rights crowd and not from health professionals.

Mike

I read a book called Fast Food Nation years ago, and I believe you're correct. The original fries were cooked in beef tallow

You're correct; the formulation was primarily (though not entirely) beef tallow. McDonald's dropped that over concern about saturated fat; they later changed the formulation again due to concern about trans fats.

I seem to recall a lawsuit in which vegetarians and Hindus sued over the use of beef flavoring in manufacturing the fries after McDonald's phased out the beef tallow blend. I believe the case was settled.
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formulanone

Taco Cabana nixed their Street Tacos in the last year or so. Really liked those.

Only here would so many people remember the McDLT; I enjoyed it more than the Big Mac and Quarter Pounder at the time.

Max Rockatansky

I'll second the fried chicken from Hardee's in the original post.  That stuff was like the fast food version of cocaine when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough when I visited family in Florida.

OCGuy81

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 01, 2022, 03:09:16 PM
I'll second the fried chicken from Hardee's in the original post.  That stuff was like the fast food version of cocaine when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough when I visited family in Florida.

Far superior to KFC, in my opinion

skluth

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 01, 2022, 02:45:09 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 02:32:10 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on February 01, 2022, 02:22:02 PM
Quote from: skluth on February 01, 2022, 12:53:22 PM
Health professionals will cringe, but I'd really like a return of the original McDonald's French fries. For younger people, they were fried in lard and even Julia Child loved them. I still enjoy them hot and fresh, but they're honestly not as good as they once were.

IIRC, they were cooked in beef tallow, not lard.  Also, ISTR that McDs dropped it for veggie oil due to objections from the Animal Rights crowd and not from health professionals.

Mike

I read a book called Fast Food Nation years ago, and I believe you're correct. The original fries were cooked in beef tallow

You're correct; the formulation was primarily (though not entirely) beef tallow. McDonald's dropped that over concern about saturated fat; they later changed the formulation again due to concern about trans fats.

I seem to recall a lawsuit in which vegetarians and Hindus sued over the use of beef flavoring in manufacturing the fries after McDonald's phased out the beef tallow blend. I believe the case was settled.
I stand corrected. Pork fat vs beef fat. Never knew there were different words for each. I still wish McDonald's cooked their fries in fat instead of oil.

abefroman329

Wendy's had fried chicken, probably on and off, and the last time I remember it being on the menu was 2004 or so.  It was surprisingly good.

Arby's seems to have done away with potato cakes.  They had a sandwich called the Triple Cheese and Bacon that I liked (I think you had a choice of beef or chicken on it, and I would get the chicken).  They also had breakfast in the early 2000s, which was also good.

It's not fast food, but I really wish Cracker Barrel would bring back the sausage biscuits and steak biscuits.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 03:26:51 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 01, 2022, 03:09:16 PM
I'll second the fried chicken from Hardee's in the original post.  That stuff was like the fast food version of cocaine when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough when I visited family in Florida.

Far superior to KFC, in my opinion

Mine too, really made me wish there was a location near me in Michigan at the time.  When did it actually disappear from the menu? 

Takumi

Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 11:59:50 AM
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on February 01, 2022, 11:56:53 AM
Does anyone remember the McLobster from McDonalds? I’ve never had it, but I’d rather have real lobster and not the fast food version.

I feel that’s one of those regional things McDonalds tried, much like the Mc Fish Fry I mentioned.

Anyone ever live in a market where they tried the McPizza? I never had one.
Tried it once as a child. It was ok, but the crust was burned. It was also at a McDonalds that had a 50s diner theme, much like a modern Denny’s.

I miss Hardee’s fried chicken.

Quote
Wendy's had fried chicken, probably on and off, and the last time I remember it being on the menu was 2004 or so.  It was surprisingly good.

It was regional. The ones down here in Richmond didn’t have them, but some up around the DC metro did. I don’t think I ever had it.
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frankenroad

Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 12:43:33 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 01, 2022, 12:41:57 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 11:38:42 AM
- McDLT


My biggest complaint is the cheese should've been with the hot items. I'm not a fan of cold cheese on a burger.

That was always my complaint as well.  Other than that, they were pretty good.
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1995hoo

I remember Wendy's fried chicken being pretty good.

I don't think I ever had Hardee's fried chicken. They didn't have a lot of locations in the DC area; I recall one on Gallows Road in Fairfax County near Luther Jackson Junior High. We didn't eat there very often. But then in the early 1990s, whoever owned Hardee's acquired Roy Rogers (with the exception of locations in turnpike service areas and a few locations owned by franchisees). They then converted the Roy's to Hardee's but kept Roy's fried chicken on the menu under the name "Roy Rogers Recipe Fresh Fried Chicken." The chicken was the same, but the conversion to Hardee's caused a customer revolt and then they tried to convert the restaurants back to "Roy Rogers featuring Hardee's breakfast," but that also flopped and then it all got sold to McDonald's.

Reading this thread makes me wonder why Hardee's needed to introduce Roy Rogers fried chicken if they had their own, unless Roy's chicken was simply better.

(To complete the circle, we didn't have KFC in the DC area when I was a kid. We had Gino's, a burger chain started by some former Baltimore Colts players that somehow acquired the KFC franchise for this part of the country. I'd kind of like to see Gino's make a comeback. I recall the burger called the "Sirloiner" being pretty good.)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Scott5114

#45
Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 11:53:11 AM
Quote from: webny99 on February 01, 2022, 11:49:02 AM
Nacho fries at Taco Bell.

They come and go at random intervals. They're gone right now, but I wish they would just keep them on the menu permanently.

Maybe it's their version of the McRib. Don't add it permanently, but create a feeding frenzy when you roll it out.

I like the nacho fries but this turns me off of ordering them.  Usually I'm ordering for myself and my wife, and sometimes a friend. I want to have my order ready to go by the time I pull up to the speakerbox so that I don't forget anything. If they're playing a stupid "will-they-or-won't-they" game with a menu item, I just assume "won't" so it doesn't get put on the order (I don't want to deal with my wife having the expectation of getting nacho fries and then having to let her down when I get home).

Quote from: mgk920 on February 01, 2022, 02:33:40 PM
The King Sized plastic soda cups at Burger King (and other similar, ie McDs, Subway, etc,).  Refill it with Diet Coke and there was enough there to last at least two days in either the car or at the desk.

The King size is now just called Large. It's the same size. (While I was working there in the late 2000s, they changed small→value, medium→small, large→medium, king→large. They claimed it was to meet customer portion size expectations, but I'm guessing it was really because most people order "medium" so this was a way of nudging people toward a larger, more profitable size.)
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WillWeaverRVA

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 01, 2022, 03:54:01 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on February 01, 2022, 03:26:51 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 01, 2022, 03:09:16 PM
I'll second the fried chicken from Hardee's in the original post.  That stuff was like the fast food version of cocaine when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough when I visited family in Florida.

Far superior to KFC, in my opinion

Mine too, really made me wish there was a location near me in Michigan at the time.  When did it actually disappear from the menu? 

Apparently some Hardee's locations still have it - it was removed from the menu from most locations in the early 2000s because of the cost, plus Hardee's wanted to focus more on burgers. I also preferred Hardee's fried chicken over KFC (but of course, I now have celiac disease, so even if I could find it, I can't eat it anymore).
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abefroman329

Quote from: Takumi on February 01, 2022, 03:57:50 PMIt was regional. The ones down here in Richmond didn't have them, but some up around the DC metro did. I don't think I ever had it.
Yeah, this would have been at the Wendy's in DC that was on K St NW between Connecticut and 18th (I'm almost positive it's gone now).

MoiraPrime

No mention of the Loaded Potato Griller? That thing was great.

hbelkins

The last few times I've been to Taco Bell, they didn't have the chili cheese burrito on the menu. I always liked it. A couple of them at $1.59 each made a good meal.
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