# Which fast food items still taste the same as they used to, let's say 20 years ago or longer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 8, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328 "2024-02-08T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/1 "2024-02-08T21:53:17Z")
Which fast food items still taste the same as they used to back in the day? Let’s start with at least 20 years ago, but feel free to go back further if you remember any specific changes further back. The question was inspired by the thread on arcade games. Back in the late '80s there was a Godfather’s pizza right next to the local arcade. If I were to eat a Godfather’s today, is it likely that the pizza would remind of the one’s I had in the late '80s? What about McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, and any other big chains? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/2 "2024-02-08T22:12:16Z")
McDonald’s French fries and Wendy’s burgers. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/3 "2024-02-08T22:27:06Z")
Nathan’s fries, the Whopper, ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/4 "2024-02-08T23:59:51Z")
White Castle hamburger. Same as it …ever…was. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/5 "2024-02-09T00:04:25Z")
McNuggets, they are still using the same steady stream of slime to make and form them into whatever it is they are. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/6 "2024-02-09T00:22:23Z")
They switched to all white meat chicken in 2003, so they’re not the same nuggets I had as a kid in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Lovecraft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mc_lovecraft/32/16062_2.png) [@MC\_Lovecraft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Lovecraft)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/7 "2024-02-09T00:53:28Z")
You know the drive-in restaurant in the movie Dazed and Confused? It’s a real burger joint called Top-Notch and they’ve been cooking the same burgers on the same wood-fired grill since 1971. They didn’t even have to dress the place up much for the movie because it looked the same in 1993 as it did in the seventies, and it doesn’t look much different now. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/8 "2024-02-09T00:55:36Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > They switched to all white meat chicken in 2003, so they’re not the same nuggets I had as a kid in 1981. But doesn’t that mean that twenty years ago they’re the same as today? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/9 "2024-02-09T01:10:50Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > White Castle hamburger. > Same as it …ever…was. I didn’t think there was going to be a correct answer in this thread, but yeah, here it is. mmm ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/10 "2024-02-09T01:13:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > McDonald’s French fries You just beat the deadline: McDonald’s stopped frying their fries in beef tallow in 1990. They tasted noticeably better back then. > **[The Original McDonald's French Fry](https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/original-mcdonalds-french-fry)** > > The beef fat–based recipe that first brought McDonald's acclaim hasn't been served in decades. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/11 "2024-02-09T01:17:46Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > McNuggets, they are still using the same steady stream of slime to make and form them into whatever it is they are. I recall seeing a [Jamie Oliver video where he makes chicken nuggets for a group of children](https://youtu.be/mKwL5G5HbGA) the same way McDonald’s does. Oliver makes this chicken paste and forms them into nuggets. The kids are totally grossed out. Then he fries them and asks the kids if they would eat it and they all raise their hand that they want to. They saw the whole process but once it was a fried nugget they wanted to eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/12 "2024-02-09T01:19:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But doesn’t that mean that twenty years ago they’re the same as today? Yeah. But given how old members of the board skews, well, I know I have shirts older than that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/13 "2024-02-09T01:28:10Z")
Wienerschnitzel standard hot dogs (mustard, kraut). Crappy then, crappy now. Jack-In-The-Box tacos are _sui generis_. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/14 "2024-02-09T06:54:52Z")
This thread is making me crave a bag of Dick’s. [![](https://i0.wp.com/pickleballinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Dicks-Drive-In-Seattle-WA-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/pickleballinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Dicks-Drive-In-Seattle-WA-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1) ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/15 "2024-02-09T07:39:53Z")
Marathon Dim Sim’s. Haven’t changed in 50 years. Also Chiko Rolls. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/16 "2024-02-09T10:14:45Z")
I’ve been eating In ‘N’ Out Double Doubles for 50 years, and they taste the same as they always have. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/17 "2024-02-09T10:57:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Odesio](#): > > > > They switched to all white meat chicken in 2003, so they’re not the same nuggets I had as a kid in 1981. > > But doesn’t that mean that twenty years ago they’re the same as today? I realize, grudgingly, that the math works out, but I genuinely thought this was a joke at first. > [@needscoffee](#): > > McDonald’s stopped frying their fries in beef tallow in 1990. It just occurred to me to wonder: how much did the great Fry Grease Switcheroo impact the beef industry? McDonald’s wields serious purchasing power. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/18 "2024-02-09T20:15:40Z")
The one on Burnet? I’ve driven by it dozens of times, but I can’t say I’ve ever eaten there. My wife’s family is more of a Dan’s Hamburgers crowd, so if we’re getting burgers out, that’s usually where they come from. I’m told on good authority (my wife and sister-in-law) that their hamburgers are the same as they’ve been since the 1970s as well. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/19 "2024-02-09T21:17:22Z")
It’s a harder question than it seems. Often, changes are subtle over time to where it’s easy to forget what something used to taste like. I “think” an Arby’s roast beef sandwich tastes the same as it always has, but I don’t have anything that I can compare it with. Someone mentioned a Whopper above. They seem basically the same, except I remember a more pronounced charred flavor years ago than I do now. In and Out is one of the few where I can say I’ve never detected any change at all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328/20 "2024-02-09T21:20:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > McDonald’s French fries They have changed greatly over the years- [https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/original-mcdonalds-french-fry#:~:text=As%20it%20turns%20out%2C%20the,fries%20weren’t%20exactly%20healthier](https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/original-mcdonalds-french-fry#:~:text=As%20it%20turns%20out%2C%20the,fries%20weren't%20exactly%20healthier). _In 1990, the company announced that they would replace the beef tallow with 100 percent vegetable oil. After the announcement, McDonald’s stock fell 8.3 percent…McDonald’s introduced french fry version 3.0, which is cooked in vegetable oil with less trans fat, around 2007._ > [@needscoffee](#): > > You just beat the deadline: McDonald’s stopped frying their fries in beef tallow in 1990. Yes, but they also changed the oil- twice and stopped using natural beef flavorings. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fast-food-items-still-taste-the-same-as-they-used-to-lets-say-20-years-ago-or-longer/997328.md?page=2)