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Top 10 Fast Food Items With Cult Followings
While we all love to down our favorite fast food item, there are some items that hit the spot more than others. Those special items quickly become favorites with fans. However, just like a lot of good things in life, these things don’t last forever. Often leaving the menus just as we get used to them, there absence just makes us want them more. With that in mind we look at those fast food items that really get us going with the Top 10 Fast Food Items With A Cult Following.
10. Taco Bell – Nacho Fries
Taco Bell has always been a different choice when it comes to grabbing a fast food meal. While Taco Bell don’t offer the ever popular fried chicken or burgers, they do offer a unique take on the Mexican experience. For all those people looking for a taste of Tex-Mex, Taco Bell upped their game, and their menu, when they released their Nacho Fries. The new take on the classic French fry was an instant hit with fast food lovers everywhere. So much so that Taco Bell sold over 50 million portions of their Nacho Fries in under five weeks. That’s pretty impressive, even for a giant of fast food like Taco Bell.. However, while Taco Bell can give us this truly amazing fast food item, they can also take it away. This seems to be the cycle that Taco Bell are putting us through as these precious items constantly disappear from the menu as soon as they appear. As the Nacho Fries don’t have a specific time of year they come back, all lovers of these fries will have to keep their eyes peeled for their surprise return.
9. Starbucks – Frappuccinos
During the 1990s, Starbucks were at the fore front of a pop culture revolution. With a huge shift in music, culture and even politics, the country was changing and Starbucks found itself as a symbol of that changing world. While coffee shops were by no means a new thing to any of us, selling tailored made and fancier coffees certainly was and Starbucks did it better than anyone. While a tradition coffee will always be a winner, it was Starbucks introduction of their Frappuccinos that really sent coffee fans into a frenzy. These blended drinks became a huge success and two decades later, the Frappuccino is still a must have drink for all Starbucks fans. With thousands of possible combinations, the Frappuccino really took it up a notch when Starbucks released the Unicorn Frappuccino. Since then Starbucks has been releasing limited flavors and versions of their classic take on the coffee drink. These include; Midnight Mint Mocha Frappuccino, Zombie Frappuccino, Christmas Tree Frappuccino and their Tie-Dye Frappuccino and many, many more. With each release of a new flavour, the Frappuccino has many of us rushing out to get our hands on the newest version of a Starbuck classic.
8. White Castle – Sweet Potato Fries
Many items on our list of fast food items that have a cult following, often disappear from our favorite fast food menus before we can get used to them. One such item is White Castle’s Sweet Potato Fries. As White castle are often credited with being the first fast food chain in the US, we’re not surprised that they are giving great tasting treats. Often making an appearance in the fall and winter months, these sweet potato fries have been pleasing fast food fans for years. Giving us a unique take on the traditional French fry, White Castle also gives us an option of dipping sauces to go with these tasty fries. The most popular choice is their cinnamon infused sauce. Pairing these salty and sweet fries with a hint of cinnamon gives our taste buds a true holiday flavor. While these tasty treats aren’t on the menu all year round, the moment the leaves start to change, we all head off to our nearest White Castle to get our hands on their sweet potatoes. We’d better stock up while we can.
7. McDonald’s – Shamrock Shake
There are many exciting things that happen throughout the year and with each special occasions, our favorite fast food restaurants have a special item for us to celebrate with. McDonald’s has become the masters at using the holiday period to sell a unique item that we can’t get enough of. While the big holidays, like Christmas and Thanksgiving may attract the most attention and limited addition items, March has become a real winner for McDonald’s. While many of us see March as the end of winter and the window to spring, McDonald’s uses it to re-release their hugely popular Shamrock Shack. Originally released in the 1970s, McDonald’s Shamrock shake has been a staple of St Patrick’s day and it’s celebration of all things green and Irish. This vanilla based milkshake has a hint of mint and is topped off with whipped cream and is a must have for all shake fans who wish to join in the festive fun. The McDonald’s Shamrock Shack may only be an annual addition to their menu but it’s an item that has all fast food fans running to their nearest McDonald’s every March.
6. Sonic Drive-In – Cherry Limeade
If you want to go for a more retro feel to your fast food joint, then Sonic Drive-In is the place for you. This drive-in restaurant is one of the more unique restaurants in the US as it is purely a drive-in. Customers sit in their cars, order their food through the intercom and then have their meal brought out to them by a real life carhop. The whole experience takes us back to days gone by and a much simpler time in the world. While Sonic Drive-In provides some of the best fast food on the market, it’s their Cherry Limeade that everyone goes crazy for. This fan favorite drink is the perfect blend of sweet, sour and bubbly. Sonic uses two whole fresh limes in their trademark drink, which is one reason for it’s popularity. The other might be their magical ice pellets, which gives this drink a ‘slushier’ quality to it rather than regular ice chips or cubes. The drink itself comes in a Styrofoam cup which helps keep it cold for much longer. If having a regular Cherry Limeade wasn’t enough, Sonic Drive-In has a happy hour everyday and you can pick up this tasty drink for half price. No wonder the Cherry Limeade is such a winner with fast food fans.
5. KFC – Double Down
The original release of KFC’s Double Down was actually release on April Fools Day, and a large number of people thought it was a joke. After all, no one has ever released a chicken sandwich without the bread before. The chicken sandwich however, received such a positive reception that KFC decided to leave this sandwich on their menu. Having two thick slabs of bacon, two slices of cheese, and of course the Colonel’s special sauce, are sandwiched between two deep fried chicken breast. The Double Down is said to be so meaty that they didn’t have room for a bun, it is also said to be one of the most unhealthy sandwiches KFC has released. However, that hasn’t stopped KFC fans lining up round the block to get their hands of this chicken sandwich. The Double Down chicken sandwich is so popular that, even though it hasn’t been on the menu for a while, people still talk about it and share their love for it. With constant online petitions and requests for the Double Down sandwich to come back, hopefully KFC will take notice a re-release this popular item soon. We all have our fingers crossed that it will be back soon.
4. Taco Bell – Baja Blast
There aren’t many items in the fast food world that have as big of a cult following than Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast. We learned this the hard when we included “Baja Blast” in a previous video about we released about “Mountain Dew Drinks That Embarrassed The Company”. Just the mention of Baja Blast on this list brought an outcry for you all, our viewers, condemning us for daring to put Baja Blast in anything other than the most positive of lights. People love Baja Blast, and will stand up for it, which is awesome. Our viewers who stood up for Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast is the perfect examples of it’s ever growing cult following. Over a decade ago Mountain Dew and Taco Bell got together to give us a tropical twist on a classic soda and fans have never looked back. The drink became so popular that Mountain Dew actually released Baja Blast in the stores. Unfortunately that was for a limited time only and if you want a regular fix of Baja Blast then Taco Bell is the only place to get it. After the initial release of Baja Blast at Taco Bell, they released the Baja Blast Freeze which is a Slushie version of this soda. The tropical drinks themselves pair perfectly with Taco Bell’s Tex-Mex style food, especially with their Burritos and Tacos, that the Baja Blast has become one of the most successful fast food tie ins in recent history. In fact, a lot of people have been quoted as admitting that they only go to Taco Bell for the Mountain Dew drink and nothing else. Luckily for most people, the Baja Blast is not one of those fast food items that disappears and can be found as a regular item on any Taco Bell menu, which is lucky.
3. Starbucks – Pumpkin Spiced Latte
Every now and then a drink comes along that transcends the normal menu. Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spiced Latte is one such drink. Not only has the Pumpkin Spiced Latte become a popular drink but it virtually has it’s own holiday as every year we count down the moments until this drink is back on the menu. It even has it’s own Facebook page devoted to its release. While the fall season may have no shortage of pumpkin or pumpkin spiced products, Starbucks has made their Pumpkin product the most famous and desirable of them all. This has been seen on several occasions as Starbucks has actually run out of their famous Pumpkin spice several years in a row and had to declare a ‘Pumpkin Emergency.’ Emergency aside, Starbucks has created one of the biggest drinks in the world with their Pumpkin Spiced Latte and the only one that comes close is possibly their other holiday favorite the Gingerbread Latte. This Latte has all the best holiday flavors mixed with Starbucks’s famous espresso and topped off with milk. Between the Pumpkin and the Gingerbread Latte Starbucks has truly found the drinks that the people love and the cult following grows every year. When Fall comes around, the social media pictures and posts start to pop up of people with their pumpkin spiced lates, and it just grows into another seasonal cult following zeitgeist for Starbucks year after year.
2. McDonald’s McRib
Over the years McDonald’s has given us some truly great fast food items. The Big Mac, McNuggets, the Shamrock Shake, Filet-O-Fish, the list is almost endless. With each release of a new item comes new excitement and anticipation from the public. Now other sandwich as shown this more than McDonald’s legendary McRib sandwich. Because of the elusive nature of the McRib, it doesn’t have a fixed time of year that it’s released like other fast food items do, McDonald’s now have a McRib finder so adoring fans can keep track online as to when the sandwich will be back on the menu. The McRib is a boneless pork patty in the shape of a rack of ribs and is then covered in BBQ sauce and then topped with onions and pickles. It’s both simple and genius in it’s design and has everyone who has ever tasted it, desperate to try it again. It may be surprising to know that the legendary McRib was actually a failure when it was first released. Way back in the 1980s, McDonald’s hoped to release the next Big Mac but due to poor sales and a lack of interest, the McRib was pulled from the menu seemingly never to return again. However, as soon as the McRib was discontinued, the public suddenly started to yearn for the pork sandwich and McDonald’s released it again, but only for a limited time. This strategy worked well with the McRib and McDonald’s continued to release the McRib in short periods and never fully added it to their menus. This worked extremely well for McDonald’s and their McRib and the fast food public has been lusting after the BBQ pork sandwich ever since.
1. Popeyes – Chicken Sandwich
When ever we think of the word ‘cult’ we think of something that has been around for a long time. Whether it’s a song, a TV show or a food item, we think of cult things as being around for years, slowly building up an audience and an army of devoted fans. However, this is not always the case and it certainly isn’t the case with Popeyes Chicken Sandwich. In fact, Popeyes Chicken sandwich didn’t even need a week to become inducted into the cult hall of fame. When Popeyes released their first ever chicken sandwich, people went crazy for it and what was supposed to be a two month promotion for a new item, all Popeyes restaurants sold out within three weeks. Fast food fans were up in arms and very quickly voiced their disappointment online and then the storm began. Almost over night Popeyes chicken sandwich became the biggest and most talked about fast food item in history. The frenzy surrounding this sandwich was so great that Popeyes had to bring it back, which they did a few months later. Everyone rejoiced as Popeyes started to roll out this sandwich nationwide. The nation burst in to song with each one singing their love for this sandwich, although there were a few incidents in which the public were a bit inpatient to get their hands on this chicken sandwich which resulted in a few unsavory incidents. Other than that, the re-release of Popeyes chicken sandwich was a huge success and secured this sandwich’s place in the fast food hall of fame and it looks to be there for some time as we may not see an item like this for quite some time.