People Are Still Waiting For This '90s McDonald's Burger To Come Back
Beware, McDoanld's customers who demand to have their old menu favorites back. A minor joke about McDonald's Szechuan sauce in a Rick & Morty episode led to riots in 2017 at some McDonald's restaurants after they failed to follow through on a promise to bring the sauce back (via Vox). Just this year, so many people asked McDonald's Twitter manager when the McRib was coming back, that person had a very public what-about-my-feelings moment.
Search some of the quieter corners of social media and you'll find another movement nostalgic for an old McDonald's item. It's relatively small, and quite honestly, it will probably be ignored by the powers-that-be at McDonald's. McDonald's introduced an obscure sandwich in 1988 that might have been lost to history – except for its brief revival in 2014 in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area for football season (via Brand Eating). Fans of the Cheddar Melt say they want their sandwich back.
The Cheddar Melt, advertised as a limited-time item, debuted in 1988 and disappeared by the 1990s (via Complex). The 1980s was a decade for experimentation at McDonald's. It's as if they were throwing whatever they could think of against the wall to see what would stick – even McSpaghetti (via Reader's Digest). The slogan shown at the end of a 1980s Cheddar Melt commercial was "You'll love the change," which was probably meant to refer to all the new menu items and the change in your pocket after buying an affordable McDonald's meal.
The Cheddar Melt got a bad review the last time it appeared
A lot of commenters under a 1990 Cheddar Melt commercial on YouTube would be happy to see the old cheddar melt return. The burger is what would happen if a Quarter Pounder and a patty melt had a baby: a quarter-pound patty with cheese sauce, teriyaki glaze, and grilled onions on a light rye bun. "The most underrated and forgotten McDonald's burger," one commenter said. "This was my absolute favorite burger," another commenter said, adding, "I could put down two or three in a sitting." Someone from Brazil was happy to report that the cheddar melt is available in their country. (If you really want a long-lost McDonald's menu item, just travel the world. McDonald's in the Philippines has McSpaghetti – via The Arizona Republic).
Reddit users are looking for the Cheddar Melt to make a comeback, and a Facebook page devoted to the burger's return has a modest 230 or so followers. Since the Cheddar Melt did resurface during the era of social media – in 2014, in Green Bay – at least one YouTube review is out there. Maybe the Cheddar Melt's legion of fans should pause to watch Spicy Karl's review. He thought the patty was dry, the caramelized onions were tasteless and also dry, and the cheese sauce reminded him of Velveeta. He gave it a 4.73 out of 10. Then again, he did wolf down half the sandwich before finishing his review.