Pop quiz time! What is the best selling item at McDonald’s? It’s not a Big Mac, McNuggets or a quarter pound of cheese. It is, of course, potatoes. French fries have been McD’s biggest hit for generations, and there’s no sign that this will change anytime soon. By the way, Big Mac takes the second place according to the version Reader’s Digest. And oddly enough, french fries take second place at Burger King, where the Whopper reigns supreme.
There are many options to choose from when you order a fast food menu, and many of them are staples like burgers, burritos, or sandwiches that anchor the meal. After all, despite being an “anchor” food, it’s the sides of it that make it the food. It’s just that none of the sides represented here—not anymore anyway—because these once-popular discontinued fast foods are gone forever.
Want to make your breakfast more delicious and not worry too much about excess fat and calories? Then the Burger King Chini Mini was your jam. We say “were” because those little iced dough rolls are gone. But that’s probably for the best, as the four-piece serving had 410 calories and 14 grams of fat, including six grams of saturated fat, according to Brand Eating.
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A mini meal for yourself or the perfect lighter alternative to fries when you get a Big Mac or Chicken Sandwich, McDonald’s McShakers salads were only around in the early 2000s, according to business insider. These were replaced in 2003 by the larger “Premium Salads”. They were also later dropped rather than replaced.
The Taco Bell Cinnamon Chips were delicious on their own, but they were a little tricky to pair with the rest of the food you were getting. The cinnamon chips were sweet and, as the name suggests, spicy and crunchy, more like a cookie than a side dish. So they just didn’t work alongside meaty burritos or cheesy gorditas. Or tacos.
Perhaps it makes sense for KFC to get rid of its Potato Wedges: after all, they were essentially steak fries, and KFC is a chicken chain. In addition, according to FOX Businessthe chain replaced their potato wedges with “Secret Recipe Fries”, which turned out to be a hit, so they didn’t leave customers in the lurch.
Rice is not fast food in the technical sense. In other words, it takes some time to cook it properly. This is another reason why Popeyes Cajun Rice has always been so impressive. But what of this, while it is not, according to Thriller. The chain ditched that deliciously spiced starchy side last year, around the same time they also did away with their green bean garnish.
McD’s onion nuggets came and went in the 1970s, so here’s your chance to try them in a good four decades and then some more, according to buzzfeed. And no wonder they didn’t, not with a name like Onion Nuggets. We’re willing to assume that with better branding, this side might still be around because we all know fried onions are a treat.
According to the Jack in the Box fandom page, the web’s Cheesy Macaroni Bites were a “short-lived” menu item that, you might guess, “consisted of deep-fried triangles filled with macaroni and cheese.” Which sounds equally surprising and unhealthy. They made a splash in 2008, but disappeared by 2009, as lamented by some who yelled about Twitterbut forgotten by most today.
Pickle-O by Sonic Drive-In is another menu item that could probably survive with better naming and marketing. (Looking at you, Onion Nuggets.) And actually, according to Hack the Menu, you can still request those deep fried pickles at some Sonic locations, you just need the staff to be willing to come off the menu and cook them with zero. . But as an official side, Pickle-Os rolled up to the last window.
Stephen John
Stephen John is a freelance writer for Eat this, not that! based near New York. Read more