What would McDonald's be without it?Big Mac? The iconic burger has been on the chain's menu for 56 years. Or what aboutKip McNuggets, which was launched more than 40 years ago? The fast food chain's menu features several favorite items that will last for decades, but not all options are a lasting success.
McDonald's has done that for the past 68 yearsinterrupted many menu itemsfor various reasons, such as low popularity or operational problems. Whatever the reason, menu items are hitting some customers harder than others, and loyal fans have even created fan pages or petitions in an effort to revive their favorite fast food options.
While McDonald's keeps its customers waitingexciting new releases, why not get nostalgic about the fast food finds of the past? To help you on your trip down memory lane, here are 19 discontinued McDonald's items.
Snackwraps
2016 was a devastating year for McDonald's customers. Then the chain removed Snack Wraps from the menu. As fans mourned the loss for the past seven years, McDonald's recently offered a glimmer of hope. Last month, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, said:revealed plans to bring back Snack Wrapsas part of the McCrispy line. However, he noted that the menu item is "still in the early days" of development, so it's unclear when fans will finally be able to sink their teeth into a Snack Wrap again.
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Bakery products from McCafé
After three years on the menu, the time has comeMcCafé baked goods left the chainin July 2023. The pastry selection included a blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll and an apple fritter. Luckily, sweet tooths can still satisfy their sugar cravings with the chain's baked apple pie, chocolate cake and frozen treats like McFlurries — providedice machine works.
Cinnamon melts
Apple pie and the discontinued cinnamon roll weren't the only cinnamon menu items sold at McDonald's. In 2007, the chain released its Cinnamon Melts, also called "Cinnamelts," pieces of dough covered in cinnamon, sugar and cream cheese frosting. While these deconstructed cinnamon rolls had their fair share of fans, they disappeared after about a decade.
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Cheddar rook
This burger appeared on McDonald's menus in 1988, but didn't stay there long. After leaving the chain, tthe menu item reappeared in the 1990s, 2004, and most recently for a limited timei 2014.The hamburger offereda quarter pound of beef topped with grilled onions and creamy cheddar cheese sauce on a toasted rye bun.
McSalad-shakers
McDonald's is probably not the first place you think of when you want to eat a salad, but the chainwhich had previously been tapped into the room. In the early 2000s, the fast food giant McSalad sold Shakers before shutting down in 2003. Packaged in plastic cups, these portable, convenient salads came in three varieties: Garden, Chef and Grilled Chicken Caesar.
Salads
McSalad Shakers weren't the only green offering on the McDonald's menu. The chain added salads to the menui 2005, but discontinued them along with several other menu items in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company implemented these menu cuts to "simplify operations" and focus on serving the chain's most popular menu items, according to aannouncementvan Bill Garrett, Senior Vice President Operations van McDonald's.
Grilled chicken sandwich
In recent years, McDonald's customers could only order from a selection of crispy chicken sandwiches. That's because 2020 also marked the year that McDonald's gave its grilled chicken sandwiches the boot.
Chicken offer
Yes, McNuggets are still on the menu. But there was something more grown-up about ordering chicken tenders. Like its salads and grilled chicken, the chain's Buttermilk Chicken Tenders, which launched in 2017, also left McDonald's in 2020.
Breakfast all day
After rolling out all-day breakfast in 2015, McDonald's scaled back the offering in 2020. The fast food chain's breakfast hours now vary by location, but McDonald'scomments on their websitethat customers can often have breakfast at 10:30 or 11:00 local time.
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Bow Deluxe
In the 90s, if you wanted to, you could order an Arch Deluxe instead of a Big Mac.This consisted of a quarter pound of beef, mustard mayo, cheese, pepper bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion on a sesame seed bun. "Arch Deluxe was supposed to be the first gateway to a better citizen -premium hamburger– experience for McDonald's,” Chef Andrew Selvaggio, the burger's creator, said laterEet. Despite McDonald's investing $200 million in promoting the burger, the menu item fell short of expectations. Tthe chain eventually discontinued the Arch Deluxe in 2000.
Big N' Yummy
McDonald's tested the Big N'Tasty in select markets in the late 1990s before launching it nationwide in 2000. This burger, intended as a rival to Burger King's Whopper, had aquarter pound of beef, ketchup, mayonnaise, onion, lettuce, dill pickle slices and tomato on a sesame seed bun. For years it was a prominent part of McDonald's dollar menu, but eventually it became too expensive to charge so little. The chain permanently removed it from the menu in 2010.
Baked apple pie
McDonald's still has apple pie on the menu, but the recipe has changed quite a few times since its launch in 1968. After decades of offering a baked pie, the chain switched to a baked version in 1992 andchanged the recipe again in 2018with the aim of making the dessert healthier.
Beef fat fries
There was once,McDonald's made its fries with beef fat. But since 1990, the fries have been vegetarian and fried in vegetable oil.
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Szechuan sauce
McDonald'scaused a backlash to the rolloutof this dip in 1998, and was criticized for the use of racial stereotypes in the product's advertising campaigns. But the dip is still loved by many fast food fans, especially those who watchedRik & Morty. Ofreturned briefly in 2022 for a limited timeand as predicted, the fans went wild for it.
Fruit 'n Yoghurt Perfect
The only two items currently on McDonald's "fries and sides" menu are fries and apple slices. The fruit and yogurt parfait, in which strawberries and blueberries were layered with vanilla yogurt, disappeared during the pandemic.
Uiennuggets
McDonald'sdoes not serve onion rings, but once upon a time (in the 1970s) the Golden Arches served Onion Nuggets. They were kind ofTexas Tonionfrom LongHorn Steakhouse, with fried onion chunks that were perfect for dipping.
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Scream Burger
Cheese and pineapple slices don't usually go together - and pineapple isn't usually served in place of burger meat. Yet McDonald's founder Ray Kroc introduced this in 1962inventive vegetarian creationas a Mardi Gras-friendly option, challengingCincinnati McDonald's franchise owner Lou Groen, whocreated the idea for Filet-O-Fish. We all know which menu item came out on top.
Screw McBites
This Mardi Gras favorite – which was only on the menu for a few months in 2013 – is beloved, if only becausecatchy jingle from the accompanying advertisem*nts. Show, show!
This story has been updated with additional records and new information.
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