4. McSpaghetti
Chain: McDonald's
Launched: Late 1970s, still available internationally
Back in the ‘70s and ’80s, the fast-food industry was still relatively new and trying to figure out where it fit into the larger marketplace. As a result, many restaurants tried for a time to be everything to everyone, a strategy that led to a lot of the items on this list. Case in point: McSpaghetti.
McSpaghetti was part of McDonalds’ short-lived dinner menu, which also included fettuccine Alfredo, pizza, and lasagna. It’s still a popular menu item in the Philippines, where it is typically served with McNuggets.
5. Breeze
Chain: Dairy Queen
Launched: 1990
The clamor for healthier options from the fast-food industry has a long tradition. Occasionally, a chain will oblige. But that doesn’t mean that the public will eat them, necessarily.
The Dairy Queen Breeze was conceived as a healthier version of the popular Blizzard ice cream treat, made with frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. It plodded along for about a decade before DQ pulled the plug; the chain claimed that demand for the product was so low that the frozen yogurt often went bad before it could be sold.
6. Table service
Chain: Burger King
Launched: 1992
"As you wait for the shrimp dinner to arrive at your table, you munch on popcorn. Relaxed, you sip a cold beverage and chat with your dining companion.
Is this your dream date at a fancy restaurant?
No, it's dinner at Burger King."
So gushed a 1992 newspaper article in the Orlando Sentinel about Burger King’s dinnertime table service. From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Miami-based chain offered dinner baskets and other menu items brought to the table, and let customers have complimentary popcorn while they waited. The venture was heavily advertised but short-lived.
7. Hu
la BurgerChain: McDonald's
Launched: 1962
The Hula Burger didn’t so much fail as get beat out by a far superior sandwich. In the early 1960s, McDonald’s owner Ray Kroc concocted a battle royale of the meatless sandwiches, in the hopes of luring Catholic customers who didn’t eat meat on Fridays. In one corner: a grilled pineapple sandwich placed in a hamburger bun and topped with traditional burger fixins’. In the other: what we now know as the Filet-O-Fish, invented by Cincinnati McDonald’s franchisee Lou Groen. Mr. Kroc had McDonald’s sell the two sandwiches side by side on Fridays, and whichever sold the most would be added to the permanent menu. The Filet-O-Fish won by a landslide, and it’s still a permanent fixture of the McDonald’s menu. The Hula Burger, meanwhile, appears mostly on lists like this one.
