The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many changes in the fast-food industry, including the removal of multiple fan-favorite menu items.
In 2020, fast-food restaurants opted for shortened menus that focused more on chains’ most popular items to streamline working conditions for their employees.
McDonald’s and Taco Bell both overhauled their menus during the pandemic, while other chains chose to discontinue a few items due to changing tastes.
While many menu items have since returned to menus, others haven’t.
Here are fast-food menu items that disappeared during the pandemic and never made a comeback.
Taco Bell began removing the Quesarito and other items from its menu in 2020.
Amid the pandemic, Taco Bell announced it would be streamlining its menu and removing its Quesarito, a combination of a beef burrito and a quesadilla, from restaurant menus, among other popular items.
By 2023, the Quesarito was still available to order online and via Taco Bell’s app for pickup or delivery. However, it has since been removed from menus entirely as a result of the chain’s pandemic-era changes.
“While change is hard, a simplified menu and innovation process will leave room for new fan favorites, continued progress in categories such as plant-based diets, and even opportunities for the return of some classics on a limited-time basis,” Taco Bell said in a press release in 2020.
The Quesarito still hasn’t made a comeback.
Another item included in Taco Bell’s pandemic-era menu changes was the Triple Layer Nachos.
The triple-layer nachos came with beans, tangy red sauce, and warm nacho cheese sauce atop a layer of tortilla chips.
Once part of the chain’s value menu, the nachos were removed during the chain’s streamlining of its current menu.
The Spicy Tostada was also removed from the Taco Bell menu.
The Spicy Tostada was an item in Taco Bell’s value menu that was removed in 2020 amid the chain’s menu changes.
“A flat, round, crunchy tortilla serves as a sturdy base for this open-face taco. With a layer of beans, a heaping mound of lettuce, and a handful of tomatoes, this qualifies as a hearty snack,” one Business Insider review said of the item.
While the original spicy tostada hasn’t returned, Taco Bell recently introduced the Big Cheez-It Tostada, which features an oversized Cheez-It cracker topped with seasoned beef, diced tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese, and reduced-fat sour cream.
KFC switched its potato wedges for fries, and they still haven’t returned despite fans’ pleas.
During the pandemic, KFC swapped its signature potato wedges for a new fries recipe, which upset some fans and even inspired a petition to bring the wedges back. As of August 2024, the petition has nearly 5,000 signatures.
“Greasy, tasteless, and gross,” one X user wrote of the fries in September 2020. “Go back to wedges! Or at least offer both.”
A KFC representative told The US Sun in 2023, “While we know our potato wedges hold a special place in the hearts of some KFC fans, we wanted to make room for something even tastier on the permanent menu.”
The spokesperson added that customer feedback on the chain’s fries had “been overwhelmingly positive from testing in 2019 to the national launch in 2020.”
“Today, our Secret Recipe Fries are one of our most popular sides,” they said.
McDonald’s removed chicken tenders from the menu during the pandemic, and they still haven’t returned.
First called Chicken Selects, chicken tenders debuted on McDonald’s menus in 2004 before being removed in 2013.
Four years later, they returned to menus as Buttermilk Crispy Tenders and were so popular that the chain struggled to keep up with demand, Today.com reported.
Therefore, it was surprising that chicken tenders were temporarily removed from menus during the COVID-19 pandemic and still have not returned over four years later.
However, Delish reported in July that the chain is reportedly testing new chicken strips in seven locations as part of its updated McCrispy lineup.
McDonald’s also removed salads from menus in 2020.
McDonald’s said that the chain was focusing on its most popular choices and removing some less popular options, which could explain why salads — an item the chain is by no means known for — got the chop from US menus, though they’re still available at some international locations.
“To simplify operations in our kitchens and for our crew, and ensure the best possible experience for our customers, we are working with our franchisees and local restaurants to focus on serving our most popular choices and will begin temporarily removing some items from the menu,” Bill Garrett, then McDonald’s senior vice president of operations, said in a statement to Business Insider in March 2020.
McDonald’s began removing its popular snack wraps years ago before cutting them entirely in 2020.
The snack wraps are still among the most popular discontinued McDonald’s menu items — chains like Burger King have even tried to come out with their own version.
Introduced in 2006, the McDonald’s snack wrap consisted of either crispy or grilled white-meat chicken breast, shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, and a choice of ranch, honey mustard, or salsa, wrapped in a soft tortilla.
A 2016 Bloomberg report said the chain began phasing out wraps from its US menus in 2015 and removed them from most menus nationwide the following year.
Food Network reported that in 2020, snack wraps were completely removed from all US menus due to the pandemic and the chain’s efforts to simplify its menu.
McDonald’s also removed its grilled chicken sandwich from menus.
While McDonald’s has quite a few chicken sandwiches on its menu, from the classic McChicken to its lineup of crispy chicken sandwiches, there hasn’t been a grilled chicken sandwich on the menu since the start of the pandemic.
“We will certainly add things back to the menu. Whether it goes all the way back to where we were pre-COVID, I think that’s probably unlikely,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said during a 2020 virtual investor conference, CNBC reported.
Panera also made cuts from its menu during the pandemic, including three popular items.
Business Insider previously reported that the chain decided to remove some items from its menu due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich, the Maple Bacon Scrambled Egg Wrap, and the Cheese Brittany.
None of those menu items have returned, even after Panera recently revamped its entire menu.
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