Forgotten McDonald’s menu item was ‘amazing’ in the 90s but many don’t believe it existed

McDonald’s is celebrating 50 years in the UK (Picture: McDonald’s)

It’s official, McDonald’s is 50 years old! The fast food chain is celebrating a very special birthday in the UK and to celebrate we’re taking a look back in time.

Over the last five decades, McDonald’s has changed substantially – from its look, to its menu items, and even the way you order food – it’s come a long way.

The very first McDonald’s in the UK launched on November 13, 1974 in Woolwich, and back then a Big Mac cost just 45p and a cheeseburger was 21p. 

Now the food is more expensive, but there are also so many more options available. The Egg McMuffin arrived on the menu in 1982, while Chicken McNuggets weren’t launched until 1984. Believe it or not, these replaced Onion Nuggets, as customer tastes evolved.

The Happy Meal followed in 1986, along with the UK’s very first drive thru restaurant, but it was the 90s that saw something really interesting go on sale.

It’s a somewhat controversial product that many often think is fake, or don’t believe really existed as it wasn’t around for very long: McPizza.

Yep, in the mid-1990s, McDonald’s trialled personal pizzas in the UK, which were an 8-inch pizza split into four slices. These came in three different flavours: Cheese, Cheese & Pepperoni, and the Deluxe (cheese, green pepper, onion, pepperoni, and more).

These were launched ahead of 1994, when the chain launched the power/breakfast/working lunch which allowed city workers to order food to their desks. Orders were placed by fax or telephone and menu options included the personal pizzas.

According to McDonald’s website, the pizzas were sold for a ‘limited period in some restaurants’ in the mid-1990s as part of a ‘sales and product test’.

But they might want to consider it, as the pizzas have a big fan base online. On Reddit people hailed the McPizza, or Pimma as some also call it, ‘amazing’, ‘delicious’, and ‘one of the best tasting pizzas’ they’ve ever had.

Fries are the most popular item on the McDonald’s UK menu (Picture: McDonald’s)

Others shared fond childhood memories of going to order a pizza at their local Maccies, with u/LochNessMansterLives saying: ‘I used to beg my mum to take me to get McDonald’s pizza. The last McD that had it was 25 min away and I would crave it!!!’

While u/PassengerTop2805 said: ‘Haven’t had in 30 years but I can still taste it. It was soooooo good.’

u/DevoALMIGHTY shared: ‘This is one of my fondest food memories. My granddad took me to try it, and we went back every week til it was discontinued.’

And u/brown_boognish_pants wrote: ‘Honestly the pizza was pretty great for what it was. The crust was totally delicious and kind of special honestly. That’s what I remember the most. The crust was actually great. It’s still fast food but it was something everyone liked where I lived. I’d have to say it was dramatically underrated if people think it was a flop. Better than lots of pizza chains. It was surprisingly great.’

The pizza was also sold in the US, launching there slightly earlier in the 80s. It was discontinued in almost all of the chain’s American restaurants, with two locations continuing to sell pizza for years afterwards. It’s thought you can still order pizza today at the world’s largest McDonald’s in Orlando, Florida – but it’s not the same as the one from the 90s.

Since pizzas were discontinued, we’ve been inundated with various other new menu items in the UK, including the McFlurry, which launched in 2000. More than 1.7 billion of them have been sold here over the last 24 years.

But it’s actually the fries that are the most popular item on the menu, taking the top spot with £12.5 billion in sales over the last 50 years. The Big Mac comes in second, with £1.9 billion in sales, and the Cheeseburger is third with £1.8 billion.

Will pizza ever come back to McDonald’s UK?

The McDonald’s website says the chain doesn’t have any plans to put it on the menu again. But perhaps that’s for the best…

We recently discovered that bringing back an old classic doesn’t always go to plan, as fans spent almost a decade begging McDonald’s for the McRib, only to be disappointed when it made its grand return in October 2024.

Eagle-eyed customers spotted there had been a small change to the way the sandwich was made, with the barbecue sauce being squeezed onto the bun, instead of the pork patty being submerged in the smoky, sweet stuff. As such, people were quick to say Maccies had ‘ruined it’, and the new version was too ‘dry’ as a result. 

And this isn’t the only change the chain has madre of late that’s caused a stir with customers. Some noticed the ingredients in the popular sweet and sour sauce had recently been tweaked, with Apricot Puree being swapped for Apple Pulp, and soy sauce being removed.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told Metro that the recipe has a ‘very minor variation’ which is to do with them using a ‘contingency supplier’, who created dips for McDonald’s in Germany.

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