We’re having a treat day at work next week, and the Theme is going to be “The Eighties”. We’re supposed to bring a dish from the 80s. Does anyone have any suggestions for dishes that were popular (or originated) during the 80s?
I know they were invented before this but the eighties seemed to be when Buffalo Chicken Wings became nationally known. Ditto with American microbrews (beer).
Oh, and New Coke 
Croissant sandwiches. Everything was served on a damn croissant. Au Bon Pains (or whatever they were called) were popular.
Wine coolers.
Nacho Cheese Doritos
Coming out of California, I seem to remember the grisly specter of Pita bread stuffed with avacodo and sprouts. Not sure if this was regional or not. Seemed like everything was on Pita, if it wasn’t on a Croissant.
“Nerds” candy was pretty popular in my parts back then.
Definitly new Coke, can’t have an 80’s themed party without it.
Sushi seemed to hit it big then, too.
Of course, you can’t forget the cocaine!
Both Haagen Daz and Ben and Jerrys ice creams really hit the big time in the 80s, although both were invented before then (just barely for B and J, though).
Everyone in the 80s seemed to be drinking wine coolers…Bartles and James, and such. Do they still sell that stuff?
If you can find a way to recreate Jell-O Pudding Pops, please share. They are quintessentially 80s food, what with Bill Cosby and all. And I miss them deeply.
Another vote for Buffalo wings. They exploded on the scene and became a favorite bar food during the 1980s.
Sushi is extremely 80s. Especially California Rolls, which some groceries have for pretty cheap fresh-made.
Thanks for confirming. I was never quite sure of the timing, because I first had them in the eighties, but then I moved to Buffalo in 1981. Then when I moved to Boston in 1987, everyone seemed to know about them.
They were invented way earlier, in 1964 apparently: http://www.buffalowings.com/newwings/anchorbar/anchorbar.html
I thought of another 80s beverage: Jolt Cola
Sushi in Minnesota wasn’t an 80s thing. There was sushi, but not too much of it. Our sushi explosion was a 90s thing.
But, and I suspect this is regional, we had more Vietnamese restaurants in Minneapolis than McDonalds at one time in the 1980s.
Take a look around www.hometownfavorites.com. They have a section for 80’s candy, though the candy they have there seemed to be from before the 80’s. Besides that though, you may be able to find some other retro foods.
Chips and Salsa
Well, Combos - those little stuffed pretzels - were a late-80s food that you can still buy.
Fruit Roll Ups came on the scene in the 80s. They were insanely popular in kids’ lunchkits for a while. I understand that they are still around, but AFAICT Fruit Roll Ups aren’t as popular as they once were.
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So whatever happened to Smurfs cereal? Or Mr. T cereal, for that matter?
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From my vantage point, Jellie Bellies and Gummi foods (blech!) came on the scene in the 80s. Maybe they were known earlier in other parts of the country.
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Pretty sure microwave popcorn debuted in the 80s.
Actually it is extremely easy to re-create the Jell-o ™ Pudding Pop.
- Make some Jell-o ™ pudding (chocolate, of course)
- Place in popsicle molds*
- Freeze
The result has more ice crystals than you remember, but does re-create the vaguely slimy mouthfeel of the Real Thing. Personally I think they’re really good. You can even fancy them up with layers! Instant pudding is preferred when layering, as it is much stiffer.
*The same things my mom used to pour orange juice and and freeze to make “popsicles” (damn hippies). Or, if you can’t find a set, dixie cups work okay. Buy the sticks at the craft store and punch them through a layer of plastic wrap to hold them upright while the pudding freezes.
By the way, Pudding Pops were discontinued because the margin on them was very low, not because of low popularity. Learn all this and more in the book Jell-o: A Biography.
The 80’s has some crappy food.
Magic Shell; they still make it, and in weird flavors at that!
Very early 80’s: Does anyone remember those bubblegum cigarettes that had powdered sugar, so you could blow fake smoke? They came in packages that said Pell Mell and so on. We loved 'em, which drove my mom crazy–we’re Mormon.
I remember those cigarettes. My dad called them candy monster cigarettes and I got some for Halloween, but around 1970 rather than in the 80’s.
Tofu is a very 80’s food–they even tried to make ice cream out of it. (The ice cream was called tofutti and was edible but nothing to write home about.) I remember one of my part time vegetarian friends (she was vegetarian only when it suited her and the rest of the time she ate anything she wanted) prattling about how yummy and crunchy tofu was.
My experience with tofu has not shown it to be particularly yummy or crunchy and both my mother and my sister, who are vegetarians, refuse to eat the stuff, so it probably isn’ t something you’d want to bring to a party except maybe as a display model to help people reminisce about bygone times.
Do they still make Twizzlers? How about SweeTarts? Bubble Tape? (Yeah, I was a kid in the '80’s, and I remember the bubblegum cigarettes.)
I second the croissant-sandwich thing. THAT stirred memories best left dormant.
Wasn’t there also a brief fad for burgers that had the toppings left off, so the hot stayed hot and the cold stayed cold?
While this may be a figment of my imagination, I seem to recall many commercials for Muesli, the European granola. (I seem to remember that anything “European” or “Old-World” was really big in the '80’s.)
The McDLT?