One of the best parts about those visits to fast food restaurants is the sense of adventure that comes from discovering off-menu items. You’d be surprised at what kinds of bizarre meal and/or drink variations you can get at your nearest fast-food restaurant.
It’s all about doing your due diligence before you visit that next fast-food restaurant though. We’ll take a look at 15 especially enticing, secret fast-food menu items from back in the day that sent excited customers into a frenzy. It just felt good to know about the special meals and drinks that nobody else could get.
1. McDonald’s McDLT
The McDonald’s McDLT took the world by storm as being a burger with both a hot side and a cold side, set up within a two-compartment styrofoam container. Even though it rose to fame quite quickly, it was ultimately phased out for environmental reasons.
2. Wendy’s Hot Stuffed Baked Potatoes
These special stuffed and baked potatoes from Wendy’s included a welcomed variety of baked potatoes that were topped with things such as the dynamic combo of broccoli and cheese, or chili. Plenty of people had no idea that these were an option until reading the fine print back on the menu.
3. Burger King’s Yumbo Hot Ham & Cheese
Because honestly, who doesn’t love a warm ham and cheese sandwich? Let alone from Burger King. Even though Burger King’s special Yumbo Hot Ham and Cheese did end up fading away in the early ’80s, it was also later revived due to its heightened nostalgic demand.
4. McDonald’s Onion Nuggets
The onion nuggets from McDonald’s were fried chunks of battered onions. While their actual stint wasn’t particularly long-lived, there are still die-hard fans out there that will talk your ear off about them.
5. Taco Bell Bell Beefer
The Taco Bell Bell Beefer. What a name, no? This was a special sloppy joe-style sandwich that had taco meat on a bun. Plenty of people are walking around to this day with no idea that Taco Bell served burgers at one point in time. History is a beautiful thing sometimes.
6. Dairy Queen’s Breeze
Dairy Queen’s Breeze was a healthier rendition of the already infamous, “Blizzard.” At least that was the idea. This frozen treat was made with frozen yogurt in place of ice cream. Of course, there was still plenty of sugar in there, but it still managed to win over some of the calorie-counters out there.
7. McDonald’s Land, Sea, and Air Burger
The McDonald’s Land, Sea, and Air Burger was as obscenely decadent as it sounds. This burger featured a Big Mac (land), a Filet-O-Fish (sea), and then a McChicken (air), which were all stacked together.
8. Jack in the Box Frings
The Jack in the Box Frings were a simple work of art. Really though. This was a combo of French fries and onion rings that were featured in one order. The word is that these were quietly offered up in some locations throughout the eighties.
9. Arby’s Super Roast Beef with Horsey Sauce Hack
The Arby’s Super Roast Beef with Horsey Sauce Hack is definitely a mouthful. Any customers that were in the know would order a Super Roast Beef and then add Arby’s “Horsey Sauce” to attain that desirable custom spicy twist.
10. Pizza Hut Priazzo
The Pizza Hut Priazzo is a delightful deep-dish, stuffed Italian pie that includes multiple layers of both meat and cheese. The lore behind its secret status involves Pizza Hut’s forgotten “Italian Feast” offering that basically featured a pizza-lasagna hybrid meal.
11. McDonald’s Triple Cheeseburger
Yeah, because who has time to waste with that whole McDonald’s double cheeseburger business? Even though this item wasn’t officially listed, some of the locations out there would gladly whip it up if you asked for it. It wasn’t a fancy secret menu item, but it was still off the books.
12. KFC Chicken Littles (original recipe)
The KFC Chicken Littles were well-loved by many of the KFC fans out there. This meal featured tiny chicken sandwiches on dinner rolls. One was one too many, but one more was really never enough.
13. Burger King Graveyard Soda
The Burger King Graveyard Soda was a mix of every soda that you could find featured on tap. The sugar ups and downs with that one, man. Kids and teens were especially wild about this purely chaotic drink that was made self-serve style.
14. McDonald’s Fried Apple Pie (deep-fried version)
The McDonald’s Fried Apple Pie in all of its deep-fried glory stands at the boss level of the fast food apple pies. Sadly enough though, it was eventually replaced by a baked version in most places due to health reasons. The die-hard fans out there still long after the diabolical crunch.
15. A&W Papa Burger with Secret Sauce Hack
The A&W Papa Burger with Secret Sauce hack features a double-decker burger with a sweet-savory secret sauce. There are some fans out there that are absolutely convinced that the sauce could only be made if you asked for it just like in the commercials.
