} Even though the last one closed in 1998, you really raised the bar. if( 'moc.sihttae.www' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { For a period in the '80s and '90s, Wendy's expanded their salad bar into a full "Superbar" buffet. Sign up today and make eating at your favorite restaurant even better. (Still, the Wendy's salad bar was gone long before the pandemic hit, although there are still salads on the Wendy's menu.). display: none !important; The package is then breaded and fried. Just as customers were getting used to the new fries, Wendy's debuted their "Natural-Cut Fries" in 2010. Unfortunately, despite years of urging from fans, it doesn't look like the Chicken Caesar pita is returning anytime soon. Dont just break your fast. Too much of a success, actually: it was difficult for employees to keep the buffet stocked and clean while performing their usual behind-the-counter duties, and customers would help themselves to a few too many free refills. That's because it was during that same period that Wendy's had their Superbar, which believe it or not was an all-you-can-eat buffet. This new, grocery-ready option should have Wendy's fans psyched because the brand has a fearless history of pushing the envelope with its in-store products. Tan and orange furniture everywhere, with fake wood paneling with weird iron work covered in fake philodendron, an old telephone switchboard shoved behind the desk, and a decent TV in the corner. TikTok content creator @ tikittytalk shares a nostalgic look back at 80s dining greatness at Wendy's. We had forgotten how super this salad bar really was! He takes me to the playplace at McDonalds. The chain slowly began to incorporate so many ingredients, in fact, that Wendy's salad bar eventually evolved into the Superbar in the late 1980s. Introduced in the late 1980s, Wendy's all-you-can-eat mega bar broke away from the norms of side salads and delved into the world of pasta, Mexican, and dessert: all for the low, low price of $2.99. The Superbar essentially a giant hot and cold all-you-can-eat buffet was set up in a zig-zag kinda pattern, with bright florescent lights beaming behind the overhanging labels: "Garden Spot." .field--name-field-history-media .media-image, But do you remember when Wendy's branched out from their basic chocolate and vanilla Frosty by adding other flavors? However, there is one more hint that it has to be coming soon. I would spend summers in the garden with my great-grandparents picking pole beans and digging up potatoes. Welcome to a new column here at InsufficientScotty, Whatever Happened To. As other chains caught wind of Wendy's initial success in the salad market, some worked to add their own spin on more healthy fast food offerings. It was certainly an ambitious dish for the chain to recreate as a fast food sandwich. You know it, you love it. If you know anything about the food crazes of the '90s, you can probably guess that this was the result of the fat-free and low fat movement. And FYI, each serving comes with 29 grams of protein and is made with all-natural beef and no preservatives. From the beloved Frosty and the fresh-never-frozen square burgers that have been on the menu since day one, to chili and baked potatoes that'll warm you up on a cold day, there's tons to love about the Wendy's menu. advice every day. We must have had them refill the taco meat like 4 times. All Fillet. entry is on the Wendys Superbar. Looking back now, I truly understand why this amazing thing was also so fleeting, considering it was all you could eat for only $3.69 and $2.99 for children 12 and under. But, again, even Wendy's knows its best offering may indeed be the Chili. That was rhetorical of course you do! } Now try some Real fries.". And don't forget to download our app for restaurant info like hours, menu, nutrition, and exclusive deals. Wait. As it turns out, just the night before, Faye had eaten the very dish I sought so direly. I was heartbroken, but my mom and I resolved to figure out how to try it one day. Here are 14 of the most embarrassing failures in the history of fast food. One commercial from the '80s shows tacos and pasta alongside your typical cold bar offerings like salad and fruit. The answer was simple: combine the beef we use for our hamburgers with a hearty helping of vegetables, chili beans, and a dash of spice.". #block-footer .menu-layout-vertical .field--name-menu-items .brick--icon-menu-item img { width: 50px !important } Fresh beef . This is one we'd still eat today! We the people can create positive change when we come together in agreement that the Wendy's Superbar needs to return. The Wild Mountain Chicken Sandwich took the original Spicy Chicken and turned it up a notch with a spicy Southwestern sauce, Colby cheese, and bacon. The mid-2000s was the era of the "EXTREME," and in 2005 Burger King attempted to cash in by pairing that with the growing trend of fast food breakfast sandwiches by introducing the Enormous Omelet Sandwich. Let's all have a moment of silence for the fallen Superbar. We would have wonderful evening meals of these veggies side by side with country ham, cornbread, pickles galore, toasted biscuits left over from breakfast, and more. It all adds up to something pretty sweet. Despite a Facebook group demanding its return, Wendy's has given no indication the Wild Mountain Chicken Sandwich will ever be coming back. Wendy's was tapping into a fancy cheese trend at the time, crafting a Wendy's burger topped with blue cheese crumbles, applewood smoked bacon, greens, and a blue cheese aioli sauce. To say that Wendy's Chili is a polarizing menu item . Wendy's is nothing if not tuned into popular trends. Believe it or not, Wendy's had a salad bar, called the Superbar, back in the day. Here are some of the Wendy's foods we miss the most. Our family usually went to the local hut on Sundays, and I still remember how reckless and free we felt piling all sorts of goodies on our plates. ButFast Food Geek found the menu items to be a bit hard to eat, largely due to the folded flatbread. The Chicken Asiago Ranch Flatbread sandwich, which featured grilled chicken, bacon, ranch dressing, lettuce and tomato (via Wendy's). In many ways, fast food chains are like reality TV celebrities: we cheer for them when they succeed, but when they fail miserably we secretly have a chuckle at their expense. They disappeared from menus in 2007. "You only got a plate of pasta?" Because they compete with those two restaurants, Wendy's menu prices match those restaurants as well. Yes! 6. Cheese is nothing new at fast food restaurants just look at the humble but delicious cheeseburger but 2017 could easily be considered the year of cheese, specifically queso. Taco salad is still salad right? Despite attempts to keep the excitement alive by adding new varieties, in 2007 just a year later the Frescata sandwiches were phased out and removed from the Wendy's menu. According to The Wall Street Journal, some of the first to do so were chains like McDonald's and Jack in the Box, with both chains pouring more money into thefast food salad market. 34. Wild caught Alaskan pollock fillet, crunchy panko breading, topped with creamy dill tartar sauce, pickles, lettuce, and American cheese. } When you think of Wendy's, you probably think of the Baconator and Frosty frozen treats. Turns out, the best appetizer platter is a single sandwicha single, incredible Italian sandwich. And for more, don't miss these 15 Classic American Desserts That Deserve a Comeback. } .field--name-field-history-media .media-image, Wendy's Superbar ran for a glorious ten years between 1988 and 1999. Back in the 80s, and even the early 90s, a lot of fast food restaurants had salad bars, or 'fixins bars', where you could pile as many pickles on your hambur. It's back for a limited time! There was also the concern of people sneaking more refills than they were allowed, some taking the "all-you-can-eat" a bit too far. But it made it clear that the more people tweeted about this sandwich, the longer it would remain on the menu. At Wendy's? He even asked himself, 'what do you do with the leftover hamburger?' How do I contact Wendys with questions or feedback about this location? If we've learned anything, it's that Wendy's customers don't like it when their spicy chicken is taken away, and that was also the case with the Wild Mountain Chicken Sandwich. In addition to a salad and fruit station (called the "Garden Spot"), the Wendy's Superbar had Mexican and Italian food "stations" called "Mexican Fiesta" and "Pasta Pasta," respectively. I still vividly remember walking in. Did we mention it was a quarter pound of beef? While some of them, like spicy nuggets and the pretzel bacon pub cheeseburger, have made triumphant comebacks, others will never be seen again. We ended up staying there for like 6 hours, all through both the lunch and dinner rushes. Wendys is NOW OPEN. Find your nearest Wendy's at 2755 W. Southern Ave. in Tempe, AZ for breakfast, quality hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, crispy . display: none !important; "By building the brand on the promise of serving fresh, never frozen beef, Dave knew his hamburgers would have a shorter shelf-life. In 1991, McDonald's tried to just on the low fat craze bandwagon, crafting a burger dubbed the McLean Deluxe, intended to show critics that the fast-food giant could offer low-fat options. The world loves them for a reason. Thank you! Come and see if it isnt the best Veggie Burger youve ever had! Unfortunately, though, most items that go the way of the Dodo stay that way. In the warm glow of that nostalgic '90s sun-room style dining room, eager customers would enjoy anything from chili and tacos to fruit ambrosia with a Double Bacon Cheeseburger An open-and-shut success story, right? Well, reminisce no more. From wild successes such as the classic value mealand it's many spin-offs to devastating failures like the infamousRax's Roast Beef, whose bizarre and desperate marketing attempts led to a near-total downfall. .field--name-field-history-media .media-image .field--name-field-image .media--background { While every chain has its fair share of successes, at times they've also fallen, and fallen hard. With its signature square-shaped burgers, and the affordable 4 for $4 deal, the chain has a distinguishable menu that many repeat customers have come to know and love. Maybe we didn't need to have all-you-can-eat fettuccine from a burger chain anyway. display: inline; Finally, it was served with avocado dressing. I hit some form of mental overload and was rendered speechless. I hate you, thats why I like Daddy better! With our 2 for $6 meal deal, you can pick your fave out of Dave's Single, Spicy Chicken, 10 PC Crispy Nuggs, or Medium Lemonade. After the release of the documentary Super-Size Me, which exposed the dangers of McDonald's and fast food in general, the concept of super-sizing a meal went rapidly downhill, resulting in the company pulling it from menus in 2004. 6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e. .field--name-ingredients .field--name-body { So while this sandwich is not currently on the menu, know that you might just be able to manifest the Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt into reality yet again. From the Breakfast Baconatorto the Frosty-ccino, Wendys breakfast is the best thing to happen to mornings since sleeping in. A la carte only. #block-footer .menu-layout-vertical .field--name-menu-items .brick--icon-menu-item img { width: 50px !important } EatThis.com is part of the AllRecipes Food Group. Details are scarce, but we're excited nonetheless. (Located on slide 81 of the presentation for those who require a little proof.). A fresh-cracked grade A egg on a fluffy buttermilk biscuit with grilled sausage and melted American cheese. } .field--name-ingredients .field--name-body p { Luckily, because of this, I was pretty accustomed to long car rides, but this one seemed to go on for days. I could only track down the Parmesan, and it wasn't even the fresh kind I needed. But in the early 2000s, Wendy's offered Frescata sandwiches, piled high with deli meat and vegetables. So while Wendy's has had its fair share of duds (like the unforgettable loss of the Superbar), it's inspired a whole lot of successes too. Plus, Wendy's still serves a Caesar side salad, so if you're feeling lazy, you can always toss that into a pita with some chicken, right? To find out if delivery is available near you, go to our app or, To check if this Wendys location is currently hiring, visit our, Feedback about your experience with this Wendys location may be provided to our Customer Care team. Cannot be combined with other offers. We stayed down in the little glass sunroom (Why do all Wendys have those? How the warm beer cheese just seemed to help you forget your problems, and how the pretzel bun always brought a smile to your face? Posted 2:46:14 AM. display: inline; I started trying to match up what my palate was experiencing to the ingredients I'd filed away in my brain from that afternoon of cooking shows. margin: 0; If you want the Superbar and original chili recipe back please sign and share our petition. It has over 6,600 locations. But there is a glimmer of hope, as someArby'slocations havea Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich on menus, although it is lacking the Dijon mustard that graced the Wendy's sandwich. The Fine Art of Becoming Your Server's Favorite Customer. Not only did the Bacon Gouda Burger contain its namesake sliced Gouda cheese, it also had a Swiss Gruyere sauce, garlic aioli, bacon, red onions, tomato, and spring mix, all on a brioche bun. Wendy's was founded in 1969 and is today the third-largest hamburger fast food restaurant in the world, following McDonald's and Burger King. Today you may think of Wendy's as just another drive-thru fast food restaurant, but there was a period in the '80s and '90s when it certainly made more sense to go inside and stay awhile. Refresh the page,. From fresh-cracked eggs to fresh, never-frozen beef, We Got You. What made this chicken sandwich different was the warm flatbread, made with flax-seed, cracked wheat, oats, millet, and seeds. The Bacon and Blue burger was such a hit that Wendy's brought it back for a limited time in 2015. According to its 1991 commercial for the Cordon Bleu sandwich, Wendy's founder Dave Thomas said that he was inspired by his daughter to make something new. And. The $5 Biggie Bag is back and i t's everything you've ever wanted, in a bag. Click here to watch the video. But in addition to the salad station, which they called the Garden Spot, there was also a pasta station (creatively called Pasta Pasta) and a Mexican Station (Mexican Fiesta). If youre too young remember, there was once a time when in addition to Frostys and the best fast food fries (before they changed to the new recipe recently), Wendys dabbled in also being an Old Country Buffet, and they had a buffet bar called the SuperBar, pictured below. Though they were always marketed as being available only for a limited time, that doesn't make it any less sad that they're gone. For more, check out these 108 most popular sodas ranked by how toxic they are. document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function() { Sign up for our newsletter to get daily recipes and food news in your inbox! Everything is better with cheese, so it's a shame this trio didn't stand the test of time. Even though Wendy's launched a new limited time offering with their Sriracha Chicken Sandwich, it was a poor substitute for many Wild Mountain Chicken fans. The offering was put into place after customers met Wendy's prepackaged salads with open arms, and the chain wanted to capitalize on the popularity, per AP News. I was so overtaken by my initial obsession that I had completely glossed over the parts of their conversation that included the cornucopia of other options. Salad, fruit, Mexican fare, and pasta were all available for a low price (usually $2.99), and it was a big success. I grew up in rural Southwestern Virginia in the 1980s. Related:The Fettuccine Alfredo at the Wendy's Superbar Turned Me into a Chef Chain restaurants are also generally going to be more affordable than a one-off restaurant that has a select menu and . Of course, in the name of profit, risk be darned and companies boldly (or, depending on one's point of view, blindly) throw caution to the wind and hope for the best. It was this long preparation time that allegedly led to the demise of the Frescata. If its portable salad offerings caused such big changes for other chains, what exactly went wrong with its salad bars? McDonald's finally rolled out chicken wings nationally after years of trial and error in September 2013, at the price of about a dollar per wing. So in 2006, Wendy's once again embraced a food fad and introduced their own version of deli-style "artisan sandwiches" called Frescatas. Its one great Frosty multiplied by 365 days, multiplied by lifetime of joy. We didn't go out to eat much, and part of the reason was how far away most places were. A classic chicken cordon bleuconsists of a chicken breast that's been stuffed with ham, Swiss cheese, and seasonings. Mexican Fiesta was a taco bar with refried beans, rice, and taco meat (which was basically just the overcooked hamburger meat they didnt use in the chili), and you could choose between crunchy tacos, or they had one of those little tortilla warmer things filled up for making soft tacos. McDonald's spent more money on the advertising campaign for the Arch Deluxe in 1996 than it had on any other single item in its history. 6 Bacon and Blue Burger Wendy's/Facebook Over the years, McDonald's has released international products in different locations across the world, some to great success. display: inline; Sadly, the BLT Cobb Salad was discontinued, making it all the more difficult to get a salad in a fast food setting. .field--name-ingredients h3 { RELATED: Sign up for our newsletter to get daily recipes and food news in your inbox! Kinda like the VIP section, just without the velvet ropes. Cool-Swordfish7223 21 days ago. Name a better deal, well wait. As The Daily Meal reported, it wasn't an easy task to keep the Superbar clean and well-stocked, as throngs of customers and perishable items left out in the open mixing would make quite a mess to clean, especially during lunch rushes. I was a little fidgety, and not in any mood to sit idly by while the two struck up a conversation., but while bouncing around being annoying I heard those words again: fettuccine Alfredo. Introduced in the late 1980s, Wendy's all-you-can-eat mega bar broke away from the norms of side salads and delved into the world of pasta, Mexican, and dessert: all for the low, low price of $2.99. I was already twirling my fettuccine around my tan plastic fork, anticipating that first bite, and then boom. Introduced in 2013 as a potential "Subway buster" intended to attract a younger clientele, these potentially healthy-ish wraps came with your choice of fried or grilled chicken, cheese, bacon, a selection of sauces, and a couple ingredients that had never before been served at McDonald's, like cucumbers. For example, it previously partnered with Kellogg's to offer a chocolate Frosty flavored cereal and Pringles to sell spicy chicken sandwich seasoned chips. 2012-2023 InsufficientScotty. By going back to their core competencies (the value menu, and bacon), they were able to save a lot of money on supply cost, let alone manpower to clean and stock the SuperBar on a daily basis. The Superbar disappeared in 1998, and Wendy's discontinued all salad bars in 2006. Still, it's just not quite the same. display: inline; Point is, if you got $6you got options. Some fans dunk buttery crackers into the soup, others pour it atop cheesy fries or go as far as to scoop it onto the chain's steamy baked potato. Wendys Made To Crave Menu is where you go to taste it. } Fancy a burger thats freshly made, not pre-made? The year was 2009 and the Frosty was lagging behind the Dairy Queen Blizzard and the McDonald's McFlurry when it came to frozen dessert recognition. 7 Foods You'll Never See at Wendy's Again, 15 Classic American Desserts That Deserve a Comeback. The trip turned out to be a fool's errand. So when the all-you-can-eat buffet trend started to fade only to be replaced by the "wrap craze" of the late '90s, Wendy's stepped up to the plate. Plus, after 4 p.m., you could come in for an all-you-can-eat dinner at the Superbar for just $2.99 and the kids' Superbar included a drink and a prize! You could get your fill of Mexican, Italian and traditional salad bar foods for less than $3.00 a serving. However, in 2002, it released one of the worst menu items and marketing flops in the company's history. } At noon, PBS started a long block of nothing but cooking shows. Available at participating U.S. Wendys during breakfast hours. Then we're good here. Chef Travis Milton owes his career to a buffet plate of fast-food pasta. No mommy, I dont want a salad, I want a happy meal! It was like half the price of the regular SuperBar, the only difference was they gave us a slightly smaller plate. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Despite petitions to bring it back to menus, you'll just have to add coffee and toffee to your Frosty yourself. I truly do owe you one Dave Thomas. Since phasing out their Big Classic, the company does not have a signature sandwich, such as the Burger King Whopper or the McDonald's Big Mac . The McDLT stuck around for six years between 1984 and 1990, but was discontinued due to complaints that the large amount of Styrofoam in the packaging was environmentally unfriendly. Wendy's New Homestyle French Toast Sticks with maple syrup dipping cup. Actually, this one does with our in-app offer. .field--name-field-history-media .media-image .field--name-field-image, The truth is, they totally were awesome. Frescata sandwiches aren't the only out-of-the-box creation Wendy's has tried over the years. 15 Discontinued Fast-Food Desserts We Miss, 108 most popular sodas ranked by how toxic they are. Sounds great, right? Wendy's released its Bacon Portabella Mushroom melt back in 2012, when it was an immediate hit (via So Good). The most popular of these, the Chicken Caesar pita, is luckily pretty easy to make on your own and there are plenty of copycat recipes out there.