Top 10+ forgotten McDonald’s menu items that failed

There are times when only a McDonald's will do - and of course everybody has their favourites when it comes to ordering from the fast food chain, from the Big Mac through to the ever-popular Chicken McNuggets. But the road to Maccy Ds is littered with the wrappers of menu items which never quite took off in the way of the burger chain's staples. Let's take a look back at some of those additions to the menu - some of which date back decades - which flopped with customers and made a swift exit...(Picture: Getty Images)

1. Arch Deluxe

McDonald's dabbled with the idea of going 'grown-up' in 1996, as the chain found itself losing ground to the likes of Wendy's and Burger King and customers hinted that the food was great for kids but not so much older customers. Cue the Arch Deluxe - billed as 'the burger with the grown-up taste', which was two years in the making. The burger itself contained all the ingredients you'd expect - bacon, lettuce, cheese, ketchup and onions, all topped off with their 'secret sauce' (actually a Dijonnaise mustard and mayo combo) and served in a potato bun. But despite a $200 million ad campaign to launch it into the world, the Arch Deluxe failed to find its feet and vanished from the menu in 2000 (Picture: McDonald's)

2. McLobster

As the name suggests, this is effectively lobster meat in a hot dog bun, introduced in 1992 in a bid to recreate the lobster rolls popular across New England. However, it was always going to be a difficult item to keep on the menu given the high cost of quality seafood - and the fact the product was so widely available elsewhere. At $3.99 it was also way more expensive than most of McDonald's other menu items. Unsurprisingly it didn't prove popular - although it did continue to feature on McD's menus in New England and in parts of Canada (Picture: McDonald's)

3. McSpaghetti

McDonald's threw this unexpected curveball into the mix in the late 1970s, dishing up a choice of spaghetti with tomato sauce, fettucine alfredo and lasagne, served with such sides as mashed potatoes and vegetables. Suffice to say, it was not a success and quickly disappeared from menus - although reports suggest you can still get it in some parts of the world, where it's developed a bit of a cult following (Picture: McDonald's)

4. McPizza

Not content with trying to foist their spaghetti on the world, McDonald's branched out into the pizza market in 1989 - with less than favourable results. Customers could choose from a regular pizza or the 'McPizza' - a sort of mini Calzone -but its failure was blamed on the fact that as the pizzas had to be cooked to order, customers had to wait a lot longer for them than for their usual burger and fries, which rather defeated the object of 'fast food'. Suffice to say, it didn't last long (Picture: McDonald's)

5. McAfrika

Originally launched in 2002, few McDonald's products have failed as spectacularly as the McAfrika - which consisted of a burger patty in a pita, with cheese and vegetables. It hit the market in Norway and Denmark at the time but was quickly slammed, given it had been launched in the midst of Africa's worst famine for a decade, that left millions at risk of starvation. The company tried to make up for it by launching donation boxes to help those in need - but the sandwich remained on sale. It soon disappeared from the menu and was relaunched as the McAfrica in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics - at the same time as it launched the McAsia, McEurope, McAustralia and McAmerica. Cue more outrage, and the burger has not been seen since (Picture: McDonald's)

6. McSalad Shakers

These were introduced in 2000s as McDonald's made its bid to add healthier options to its menu, with a grilled chicken Caesar, chef salad and vegetarian garden salad option available, along with your choice of dressing that you could pour into the salad cup. These only lasted until 2003 and haven't been seen since - and given the chain's attempt to cut down on plastic usage we can't see them making a comeback. Not that they've been forgotten, with McDonald's themselves tweeting a couple of years ago: 'My grandma got a Twitter just to tell me to bring back salad shakers' (Picture: McDonald's)

7. Hula Burger

It's hard to believe this was ever a McDonald's product but this strange creation came about in the 1960s courtesy of Maccy D's former CEO Ray Kroc and his aim to produce a meat-free alternative for Catholic customers who abstained from eating meat on Fridays. Thus was born the Hula Burger: a wedge of pineapple, stuck between two slices of cheese, in a bun. Unsurprisingly, it went down like a lead balloon, more so given that Cincinatti franchise owner Lou Groen had already devised another alternative - the Filet-O-Fish - which remains a staple on the McDonald's menu to this day. As for its pineapple-flavoured cousin? Rumour has it only six were ever sold, before it quietly vanished from the menu, never to darken McDonald's doors again (Picture: McDonald's)

8. McHotDog

Believe it or not, McDonald's did branch out into selling hot dogs for a while, with their own take on the BBQ favourite hitting menus in 1995. Since then it's been on and off menus over the decades, arriving in the UK in the late 90s and being seen on menus in Canada and Tokyo around the same time. However, it wasn't nearly as popular as they might have hoped and in the UK at least McDonald's fans haven't seen a trace of a McHotDog since 2002 (Picture: McDonald's)

9. McDLT

The concept of the 'do-it-yourself' burger was introduced by McDonald's in 1984 as a way of keeping your burger patty toasty and your salad and toppings cold. Which in practice meant the burger was served in a double styrofoam container with the burger and bottom half of the bun on one side and the top half of the bun and the toppings on the other. All well and good, apart from the fact it was an eco-nightmare. As concern over environmental awareness grew throughout the decade so, too, did concern over substances like Styrofoam. In the end the chain got so many complaints it led to the DLT, container and all, being discontinued in 1990. We can't imagine we'll be seeing it again any time soon (Picture: McDonald's)

10. Chicken Fajitas

McDonald's attempt to branch out into the Mexican food market came in 1993, when Chicken Fajitas appeared on the menu. Tortillas filled with chicken, peppers, onion, cheese and tomato, with optional mild or spicy Picante sauce on the side. There was nothing specifically wrong with this dish apart from the fact that it wasn't popular with customers and didn't last long - although it does have its fans. Someone even launched a petition in 2013 to bring them back, arguing that they were 'a delicious part of the McD's menu.' We're still waiting for them to return... (Picture: McDonald's) This article was originally published on January 24, 2024