Maybe it depends on how old you are, but I’m 41, and fast food tastes pretty much exactly as it did when I was a kid. It’s also possible that what changed is your tastes. Sure, there were some changes like beef tallow for the fries but, otherwise, McD’s still has that signature McD’s tastes, as does BK. Wendy’s, though, perhaps that worsened, or my memories of it are fonder than they should be.
Some Taco Bells still have the chili cheese burrito - I believe it’s up to the franchise operator whether they want to carry it or not.
Sonic used to have a steak sandwich on a large burger bun. Then they started putting in on Texas Toast :eek: and finally they got rid of it altogether. Occasionally, they’d have it as a “special of the month,” but they quit doing even that! 
So I’d bring back that original, on a bun, steak sandwich.
For awhile McDonald’s had Johnsonville Brats on their menu. It’s a Wisconsin brand, so maybe this was a upper Midwest thing. They were pretty darn good and a nice variation to their regular items. Now when I want a good brat I head to the local gas station!
I remember this. I think Jimmy Carter was president.
Yes, I liked that one.
McNuggets were introduced in 1983, so you’re one president off. My recollection is that the pure honey was available at least through the late 80s, early 90s. It may be a franchise-by-franchise thing. This reddit post from last year suggests that at least some stores still have it.
Wendy’s has those shitty bread and butter pickles.
Yeah, I’m all about dill pickles, but that’s not something I really noticed, at least not consciously. I enjoyed the Dave’s Big Classic back in the day, but nothing they have today I’m really fond of. When I eat there, I end up getting the spicy chicken sandwich, which is reasonable.
Already mentioned once - but the McDonald’s fried apple pies. Especially if they were just out of the fryer, and you had to nibble at them because the apple filling was surface of the sun hot.
My beloved Wendy’s chili is as great as ever.
“Raw onions, no cheese, no crackers, extra hot sauce, please.”
Hmm…I totally forgot they have chili. Next time I find myself there, I might have to go for that, and I do like fast food chili from time to time.
As far as things mentioned in this thread, Wendy’s brought back the taco salad and promoted it heavily. Might just be in Ohio, idk. My daughter gets honey every time we go to McDonalds.
As far as Arby’s and their regular fries go, to me they more than make up for it by being basically the only common fast food place with non-fries side options. Don’t like curly fries? They have potato cakes (a staple of my childhood breakfasts, more on that later), mozzarella sticks, jalapeno bites, onion rings. It’s much worse to me when a fast food place only has “regular” fries and they completely suck, like school cafeteria fries, Oreida frozen fries you can heat up at home, and those tasteless stringy fries.
So, despite my love of Arbys’ side options, most of the foods I would like to bring back are from Arbys:
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Arbys breakfast - they might have it somewhere, but I don’t know. My hometown Arbys had it and one of the memories of my childhood was getting a ham,egg, and cheese croissant and potato cakes. My mom told me they tore down the Arbys and built a new one. The new one doesn’t have breakfast. I doubt she’ll go there anymore.
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Other Arbys sides - onion petals, loaded potato bites, loaded baked potato. When I was a college student I would often get the loaded potato for lunch, it was a meal in itself and cost $1.87
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Arby’s thicker milkshakes/“real” ice cream bar type setup. When I was a teenager one of the Arby’s in town had a separate shake/ice cream section you could walk up to and they had real thick milkshakes. I used to get this thing called a Chocolate Peanut Butter Concrete. It was a shake, almost as thick as just getting a bowl of ice cream. And their watery shakes were cheap at least. They had a Shake of the Month for 39 cents, and the price rose gradually - 49,59,69,79 cents until the stopped.
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Regular specialty burgers at most of the fast food chains (usually excluding Mcdonalds, whose extent of creativity is making a Big Mac bigger or smaller). It seemed like almost every month or so Burger King, Wendys, Arbys, Steak n Shake, etc would have a new limited time sandwich and they would often all hit the same theme (peppercorn bacon, ghost peppers, ranch so and so, whatever). Lately every time I go by one they have the same retreads. Steak n Shake has been promoting a bland cheddar burger for months, Wendys is featuring an Asiago chicken sandwich that’s been on the regular menu for years. Arbys is pushing unremarkable fish sandwiches. A lot of them are promoting weird cheap meals that include burgers and chicken nuggets. I like pulling up to these places and seeing “Try our limited time Habenero Ranch Peppercorn Bacon Gruyere Crispy Chicken with Artisan Bun,” Because in general there’s almost nothing on the main fastfood lunch/dinner entree menus that I get excited about. If I endup going there, might as well pick a random number.
Wendy’s chicken nuggets aren’t bad, but I miss the actual chicken strips they had about 10 years ago. I guess they got rid of them with a lot of the other Wendy’s chicken items folks have mentioned in this thread.
I also wish they’d go back to their old style (pre sea-salt/natural cut) fries.
I consider Horn& Hardart old school fast food. First, I’d bring back the automat, then bring back their mac & cheese, baked beans and coffee.
They have something very like a automat in the Netherlands and Spain. and of course the Japanese have their own weird version.
Love those things.
And now I’m craving a whoopskidawg.
Obligatory link to the famous Concerto for Horn & Hardart, S. 27, by P. D. Q. Bach.
The Bar-Be-Cutie’s Beef Tips & Gravy on a bed of White Rice, smothered in their own Hot Sauce.
Spicy.
Makes yer lips tingle.
Not exactly fast food, but I seriously miss Pizza Hut’s priazzo.
