Some food trends become everyday favorites, while others disappear from the spotlight almost as quickly as they arrive. During the 2010s and early 2020s, restaurants and social media turned colorful bagels, unusual desserts, and unexpected flavor combinations into overnight sensations. People waited in long lines, shared countless photos, and sometimes paid surprisingly high prices just to try something new. These 12 food crazes enjoyed a brief period of enormous attention before largely fading from the mainstream.
1. Rainbow Bagels (2016)
In 2016, people lined up outside The Bagel Store in Brooklyn to buy brightly colored bagels that looked more like candy than breakfast. Owner Scot Rossillo had been making them for years, but viral attention suddenly turned the shop into a tourist attraction. At one point, the business was selling out of approximately 800 rainbow bagels a day, and its Williamsburg location temporarily closed to handle the overwhelming demand. Rainbow bagels never completely disappeared, but the frenzy surrounding them eventually settled down.
2. Raindrop Cakes (2016)
A transparent, wobbling dessert became one of New York City’s most unusual food sensations in 2016. Created by Darren Wong and inspired by Japanese mizu shingen mochi, the American version appeared at the Smorgasburg food market in Brooklyn. Made primarily from water and agar, it was served with roasted soybean flour and a sweet black sugar syrup. Its delicate appearance attracted considerable attention, although the nearly flavorless dessert was always more about presentation than richness.
3. Rainbow Grilled Cheese (2016)
Ordinary grilled cheese suddenly looked rather boring when sandwiches filled with multicolored melted cheese began circulating online. A version served at Kala Toast in Hong Kong went viral in 2016, with different colors representing flavors such as basil, lavender, and tomato. The main attraction was pulling the sandwich apart and watching the rainbow-colored cheese stretch between the slices. Some early reviewers found the taste less impressive than the appearance, but that hardly mattered on Instagram.
4. Sushi Donuts (2017)
Sushi restaurants briefly experimented with presenting familiar ingredients in an entirely different shape. Sushi donuts, made with rings of seasoned rice topped with fish, avocado, sesame seeds, and vegetables, became a social media sensation in early 2017. Project Poke in Fountain Valley, California, drew crowds with its version, selling hundreds on busy days. The ingredients were familiar, but the presentation was considerably less practical than an ordinary sushi roll.
5. Unicorn-Themed Foods (2017)
Pastel colors, edible glitter, and rainbow sprinkles appeared on practically everything during the unicorn food craze. Starbucks helped fuel the phenomenon with its limited-edition Unicorn Frappuccino in April 2017, while bakeries created similarly colorful cakes, milkshakes, and pastries. The trend was especially popular on Instagram, where appearance often mattered more than flavor. Unicorn-themed treats eventually lost their novelty, although Starbucks brought back its famous drink for a limited promotion in August 2026.
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6. Cloud Eggs (2017)
For a few weeks in 2017, even ordinary fried eggs seemed unnecessarily boring. Cloud eggs were made by whipping egg whites into stiff peaks, baking them, and placing the yolk in the center. The result resembled a yellow sun resting on a fluffy white cloud. Although the preparation technique had existed for centuries, social media gave it a sudden burst of popularity. The extra effort probably helped keep cloud eggs from becoming a regular breakfast staple.
7. Activated Charcoal Ice Cream (2017)
Black ice cream became an unexpected alternative to the colorful desserts dominating social media. Little Damage in Los Angeles attracted attention in 2017 with dark soft serve, including an almond charcoal flavor served in matching black cones. The dramatic appearance made the dessert particularly popular with photographers and Instagram users. Activated charcoal also raised regulatory concerns, and New York City enforced restrictions on its use in foods in 2018. Black frozen desserts still exist, but the charcoal craze has largely faded.
8. Pickle Juice Slushes (2018)
Sonic surprised customers in June 2018 by introducing a bright green frozen drink inspired by pickle juice. The Pickle Juice Slush combined salty, tangy flavors with the sweetness of a traditional slushie. It was part of the chain’s limited-time Snow Cone Slush lineup and attracted attention largely because the combination sounded so unusual. The drink developed enough of a following for Sonic to bring it back briefly in August 2022, proving that some unlikely food experiments have surprisingly loyal fans.
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9. Pickle Soft Serve (2018)
Pickle-flavored frozen drinks weren’t the only unusual creations appearing in 2018. Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co. on New York City’s Upper West Side introduced pickle soft serve, bringing salty, cucumber-like flavors into a dessert normally associated with chocolate and vanilla. The pale green treat received plenty of media attention, although some reviewers thought its flavor was closer to lime and cucumber than an actual pickle. The restaurant eventually closed, and its unusual dessert never became a widespread ice cream shop staple.
10. Pancake Cereal (2020)
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people started making tiny pancakes and serving them in cereal bowls. The idea went viral on TikTok in spring 2020, inspiring variations with miniature waffles, butter, syrup, and milk. Pancake cereal even topped TikTok’s list of popular food trends that year. Each pancake was only a fraction of the normal size, meaning breakfast could require an absurd amount of flipping. The finished bowls looked adorable, but preparing dozens of miniature pancakes was considerably more work than making a regular stack.
11. Dalgona Coffee (2020)
Whipped coffee became one of the defining kitchen experiments of the early pandemic. Dalgona coffee involved beating instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until the mixture formed a thick, caramel-colored foam. Served over milk, the drink looked impressive enough to become a global social media obsession in 2020. The trend took off after a South Korean television appearance helped popularize the preparation, although similar whipped coffee drinks had existed in other countries for years. It remains available in some cafes, but the days when seemingly everyone was making it at home have passed.
12. TikTok Cloud Bread (2020)
Cloud bread became a viral sensation in 2020, although the colorful TikTok version was quite different from earlier low-carb recipes. Made with whipped egg whites, sugar, and cornstarch, the creation resembled a giant, fluffy piece of cotton candy. Videos often showed people tearing the bread apart to reveal its airy interior. A viral recipe posted in July helped fuel a craze that eventually generated billions of views on TikTok. Despite the name, this sweet version was closer to a soft meringue than traditional bread, and its unusual texture was arguably more interesting than its flavor.
In the mood for more?
Check out 14 Forgotten Food Brands That Were Once Household Names, or take a look at 12 Fast Food Fails People Still Can’t Ignore. If you want to see more food curiosities, you can check out 15 Foods That Are Banned in Certain Countries for Surprisingly Specific Reasons.
