Bizarre food items that disappeared from McDonald's menu

Jessica Tyler

Sep 6, 2018, 01:58 IST

Bizarre food items that disappeared from McDonald's menu

Facebook/McDonald's
Fish McBites are one of many McDonald's menu items that have been discontinued.

McDonald's menu has changed a number of times since the chain was founded in 1955.
Some of the menu additions have survived until 2018, but many ended up being short-lived.
McDonald's discontinues foods for a number of reasons, whether it's because of poor sales, to make room for a different new item, or because it was a limited-edition product.
Regardless of the reason, you likely won't be able to try McDonald's Hula Burger, McLobster, or Cheddar Melt ever again.

McDonald's menu has seen some pretty big changes since the chain was founded in 1955.

While some of its menu additions have survived until 2018, many were short-lived. McDonald's discontinues items for a number of reasons, whether it's because of poor sales, to make room for a different new item, or because it was a limited-edition product.

Some experimental menu items actually end up costing chains millions, like McDonald's Arch Deluxe, a "gourmet" burger that aimed to appeal to a more adult crowd but failed miserably. McDonald's spent an estimated $150 million to $200 million advertising the Arch Deluxe's rollout, which, at the time, was the most expensive promotional campaign in fast-food history, The New York Times reported.

Other items are meant to be available only for a limited time, like McDonald's Superhero Burger, which promoted a new "Batman" movie in the 1990s. Sometimes, products' flavors just aren't a hit with customers, like the McGratin Croquette, which was made from deep-fried macaroni, shrimp, and mashed potatoes.

Here are some other McDonald's items that didn't make it:

McSalad Shakers only lasted for three years on the McDonald's menu.

There were three different types: garden, chef, and grilled chicken Caesar.

The Arch Deluxe, which was introduced in 1996, was one of the most expensive failures ever for McDonald's.

The advertising budget was upwards of $150 million, according to The New York Times, and it didn't even last a year on the menu.

Onion Nuggets were part of McDonald's dollar menu in the '70s, but they were short-lived. The deep-fried onion bits were discontinued shortly after being introduced, but it remains a mystery why.

McDonald's Pizza was intended to bring in customers who frequented pizza chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut.

Even though most locations stopped serving it in the late 1980s, three locations still served McDonald's Pizza until 2017. Now, only one — a McDonald's restaurant in Orlando, Florida — still does.

Chicken Selects were advertised as a "premium" version of regular chicken nuggets.

They were on the menu from 2002 to 2013.

McDonald's launched mozzarella sticks in late 2015, but customers were furious when they found out that most of their mozzarella sticks didn't actually have cheese in them.

The mozzarella sticks were sold at three for $1 but were discontinued not long after they launched.

The Hula Burger, introduced in the 1960s, was intended to be a meat-free option for Catholic customers who couldn't eat meat on Fridays during Lent.

Ultimately, the Hula Burger failed and was pulled from the menu.

Fish McBites were also added to the menu as another fish option, but they failed to do anything to help McDonald's sales.

The small pieces of fried fish were eventually taken off the menu in 2013.

The McAfrika was a PR disaster for McDonald's because it was launched in Norway, one of the world's wealthiest countries, when millions in South Africa were starving. The sandwich was quickly pulled from the menu in 2002.

McStuffins, which look a lot like Hot Pockets, were made from French bread filled with ingredients like pepperoni or teriyaki chicken.

McDonald's attempt at Hot Pockets lasted less than a year and were removed from the menu in 1993.

The McDLT, short for McDonald's Lettuce Tomato, separated the lettuce and tomato from the burger, placing them in separate styrofoam containers for "maximum freshness."

It was taken off the menu in 1991 after receiving backlash from environmental activists.

McDonald's Mighty Wings failed for a few reasons, mainly that they were too expensive and too spicy for McDonald's customers' tastes.

The were on the menu from 1990 to 2003.

McDonald's briefly tried selling Mexican food, including chicken fajitas ...

... and breakfast burritos. But the fajitas and breakfast burritos were pulled from the menu in the 1990s, most likely because they couldn't complete with Taco Bell's offerings.

McSpaghetti was introduced in the 1970s. Even though it was discontinued in the United States, it's still on the menu internationally, in the Philippines.

McDonald's founder Ray Kroc said in his autobiography that the chain would never sell hot dogs because of quality concerns, but McDonald's launched the McHotdog in 1995 anyway.

It didn't go over well with customers and was later pulled from the menu.

The McLean Deluxe claimed to have 91% less fat than a Big Mac and had seaweed extract in place of fatty content.

It was dropped from the menu in 1996.

McDonald's fruit-and-walnut salad was introduced as a healthy option in 2005 and was discontinued in 2013 because it wasn't particularly popular.

The Big 'N Tasty, meant to be a Whopper competitor, was discontinued in 2011.

But the burger is brought back once in a while for special occasions.

McDonald's Triple-Double Burger was made from three beef patties and two slices of cheese on a sesame seed roll.

Also known as the Superhero Burger, it was introduced in 1995 as part of a promotion for "Batman Forever" and was discontinued soon after.

McDonald's introduced and discontinued the cheddar melt twice: first in 1988 ...

... and again in 2004.

In the '70s, McDonald's briefly offered a chopped beefsteak sandwich advertised as a "long burger" with onions and steak sauce.

But it was taken off the menu shortly after it was released.

The McJordan Special, which was also known as the Big 33 in honor of Michael Jordan, is the first fast-food sandwich to be named after a person, according to Complex. It was only offered for a limited time.

McDonald's removed Orange Hi-C to make room for TropicBerry Sprite, but it's still missed by fans everywhere.

Source: Complex

McSoup didn't take off, perhaps because many wrote it off as essentially being Campbell's soup poured into a McDonald’s-branded cup.

McDonald's originally decided to introduce lobster in 1993.

While it's still not on the permanent menu, McDonald's brings a lobster roll back to New England stores for a few weeks each summer.

The McGratin Croquette was made exclusively in Japan, with deep-fried macaroni, shrimp, and mashed potatoes. Many attribute its failure to the taste.

McDonald's started offering super-sized meals in 1993, but the option to "super-size" anything was taken away in 2004, after the documentary "Super Size Me" was released.

McDonald's fried-apple pie was pulled from the menu in 1992 ...

... but a baked apple pie is still on the menu.

Cheeseburgers were removed from the Happy Meal menu in February in what McDonald's head of global nutrition told Business Insider was "a gentle nudge in encouraging more positive choices." You can still order cheeseburgers separately, however.

McDonald’s fans in the UK and Canada lamented when the Smarties McFlurry was removed from the menu in 2015 ...

... to make room for the Oreo McFlurry.

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