Taco Bell
- Fast-food menu items like Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burrito, McDonald’s McPizza, and Burger Kings’ ribs have become the stuff of legend after disappearing from chains’ menus.
- Some menu items command such loyalty that customers continue to beg chains to bring them back.
- Read on to learn more about 18 menu items that have disappeared from fast-food menus.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In the world of fast food, some menu items are gone, but not forgotten.
Items like Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burrito, McDonald’s McPizza, and Burger Kings’ ribs have become the stuff of legend. Customers beg the chains to bring back the iconic items. And, sometimes, these movements produce results.
Starbucks recently announced that the beloved S’mores Frappuccino will be returning to menus, sparking customer celebration. Burger King brought back Cini-Minis in 2018, after fans demanded the miniature cinnamon rolls’ return. The chain also brought back chicken fries in 2015, following a petition to resurrect the menu item.
"It was a great example of our team mining social media and connecting with our younger guests," José Cil, CEO of Burger King’s parent company Restaurant Brands International, recently told Business Insider. "We have a very loyal following of millions of guests, and they were demanding chicken fries."
But, some things are still stuck in the graveyard of beloved fast-food menu items.
Here are 18 menu items that may have disappeared from menus, but that at least some customers desperately want to see return:
Beefy Crunch Burrito
Taco Bell
Support for the Beefy Crunch Burrito is one of the most organized movements around a fast-food item in the restaurant business. Since the item first appeared on menus in 2011, fans of the menu item have waged a vocal war with Taco Bell, in an attempt to bring the menu item back permanently.
The Beefy Crunch Facebook group has more than 73,000 members, many of whom regularly take to Taco Bell’s social media pages to express their displeasure that the Beefy Crunch Burrito isn’t available all the time.
Read more: Taco Bell customers are attacking the brand — and executives are thrilled
In April, the founder of the Beefy Crunch Movement, Richard Axton, announced he planned to shutter the page in May after eight years of fighting. Axton is a Taco Bell celebrity, even starring in an advertisement for the chain when the Beefy Crunch Burrito returned to menus for a limited time.
"As you know, I flew down to HQ on my own dime in December of last year to find out if there was any commitment to us or the Beefy Crunch Burrito in 2019. There was none," Richard wrote on the Beefy Crunch Facebook page. "But they didn’t rule out the possibility that it could come back later in the year."
Wendy’s Chicken Caesar Pita
Wendy’s/YouTube
Wendy’s Chicken Caesar Pita was a customer favorite in the late ’90s. Boasting low-fat Caesar dressing and warm bread, this dish (and the two others versions the chain introduced) was supposedly Wendy’s answer to the "wrap craze" that was taking over fast-food restaurants at the time.
The menu item made it about three years before it was discontinued. But its legacy lives on on sites like Pinterest and Top Secret Recipes, where many try to recreate it.
McDonald’s McSalad Shakers
Facebook/Bring Back The McDonald’s Salad Shakers
McSalad Shakers were only on the menu for three years. But, at least some people wish they would return — there’s even a Facebook group trying to bring back the menu item.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)