Due to COVID and other factors many resturants are either streamlining their menus or limiting menu items to certain times. McDonald’s all day breakfast was reverted back to only-morning breakfast most famously, but also Taco Bell recently had a major menu revamp removing a lot of items that were deemed “uneconomical” to produce.
The current one I miss is the SoCal chain Del Taco recently removed their Flatbread Taco formerly known as the “Big Fat Taco” which was their version of Taco Bells Chalupa, and I really miss it since it was the only truly meaty taco Del Taco had, otherwise you had to get a burrito to get more than a few spoonfuls of ground beef goodness.
I still miss black olives on my Taco Bell enchiritos. Also, there were a couple of nice items back in the late 80s, one of which I believe was a chicken fajita, and there was another item I can’t recall what they called it but I could get the equivalent by ordering a MexiMelt with beans instead of meat and with extra cheddar cheese and added pizza cheese. But some locales refused to make it that way, claiming I’d burn my mouth on the hot beans or some such thing. Then there’s “green sauce”. I don’t think it was ever on the official menu at Taco Bell but you could get it instead of red sauce (sometimes) by asking for it.
Oh, also: I liked tostadas before they started dumping what appears to be French salad dressing on them. When I remember, I ask them to leave that off.
Metro Diner started in Jax, FL, and has spread like wildfire. They closed briefly for the Covid. My favorite item on their menu has been discontinued–hopefully temporarily: Pulled Pork Mac Attack. Whole bunch of yummy Mac & Cheese on top of a heap of Pulled Pork on top of a Cornbread Waffle with maple cinnamon butter. Get it for lunch and you don’t need to eat again until dinner tomorrow. If memory serves, it was 2150 calories!
McDonald’s had the Quarter Pounder Deluxe, quarter pounder with cheese and vegetables. No longer on the menu due to covid but they could make me one. Shredded lettuce instead of leaf lettuce, chopped onions instead of sliced, no tomato. Not the same and they charged me $1.50 for the “extras”. I will wait until it comes back on the menu before ordering it again, hopefully soon.
Not a recent removal, but I did prefer McDonald’s old deep-fried apple pie thingy to the baked strudel-ish version they replaced it with. Yeah, I know it was a move to offer more healthy food but, quite frankly, healthy food has never been what I expected from McDonalds. If I went in at all, I knew whatever I ordered would make a dietician scream.
I try to avoid “limited time” items. To consume them is to run the risk of falling in love, and then having your heart broken. That said, I realize that ostensibly “permanent” items can also disappear. I still miss the Taco Bell Double Decker Taco (although they will sometimes still make one for you if you ask nicely).
The plant I work at makes most in not ALL the BK cheesy tots to the best of my knowledge. They are on the schedule. Corporate messed up and shut down all non-retail production for us plus their potato plants (which supply us) when the Covid shutdowns started in earnest back in April. They only restarted everything after the warehouses were nearly empty. By then every food joint was screaming for their stuff and we’ve not been able to catch up. One shift was always looking for more help and not allowing temp helpers in the door plus a fairly liberal stay at home for any sniffle also cramped production. Our biggest problem outside of that is the supply chain wasn’t dependable to start with. A large fire last summer wiped out one of our larger suppliers. But yeah, they are good. Possibly one of our tastiest treats.
Taco Bell had a double box of nachos for $10. So good. Very thin chips, hot enough (the chips themselves) to still be warm when I got home, all the regular toppings, nothing special there, but man, those chips were good.
Yeah, that was a letdown. If it weren’t for those damn fries, I doubt I’d go much ever again.
Chili’s still has the awesome blossom, sorta, but it’s been neutered beyond all recognition. Now you just get battered onion petals in a little metal fry-holder, not a whole onion. That was a disappointment.
