The 20 most iconic fast food menu items of all time

There’s something ultra special about seasonal items. Even if they aren’t good, they taste better simply because they’re only available for a certain amount of time each year. Such might be the case with the Shamrock Shake, although plenty do genuinely love it. Whatever the case, it’s iconic. 

Mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, cheese, popcorn chicken — when each ingredient is worth eating on its own, it’s bound to be tasty. KFC’s recipe development team knew what they were doing when they named this item the Famous Bowl. 

Wendy’s specializes in creating menu items that wouldn’t survive at other restaurants. Although ordinary, something about the baked potato at Wendy’s is so tasty and comforting. A baked potato at any other fast food joint? Hard pass. A baked potato at Wendy’s? Big yes.

No other burger in the fast food universe is as well-known as the Big Mac. A staggering number of people have tried this menu item; some have even earned degrees from studying it. To this day, over one million are sold each day in the United States alone. 

Almost every fast food restaurant sells fries, so you’ve got to have a good potato product for yours to stand out. Luckily for Arby’s, its curly fries do just that. The corkscrew shape and the tasty spice blend make for one delicious menu item. 

Another seasonal menu item, the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks creates a stir each year. It’s become so synonymous with a basic girl’s fall aesthetic that it’s made the drink less appealing to some, but plenty of people still love to purchase a PSL in the chillier months. 

Sometimes, it’s the most out-of-the-box marketing tactics that stick. Who would’ve ever thought that so many people would want to watch Dairy Queen employees flip ice cream upside down? Apparently, many of us do, and it’s part of the reason Blizzards are so popular. 

You know your menu item is iconic when the internet is rife with copycat recipes. Everybody wants a cherry limeade, and they’re so desperate for the treat that they’ll make one of their own at home. 

No, we don’t know for sure what’s in them, but it’s clearly something delicious. McDonald’s entire menu is iconic, but it would be egregious not to mention the restaurant's chicken nuggets. They’re honestly just as valuable as gold nuggets. 

Maybe it’s because the employees are so nice, or perhaps it’s because the lemonade they also offer is equally delicious, but something about the Chick-fil-A waffle fries is top-notch. They’re even good cold, a sign of a truly good fry.

Popeyes nailed its jingle — people love their chicken. People are especially fond of their chicken sandwich, comparing the menu item to all other joints with a similar offering. Popeyes usually wins.

They don’t cost $5 anymore, but Subway footlong will always be iconic. A foot of bread containing your favorite toppings served with your choice of cookie or chips and a drink? This menu item had no choice but to become legendary. 

In-N-Out doesn’t even have locations nationwide, but it’s famous. People make a point to eat at the fast food restaurant when they’re nearby, and the Animal Style Burger is part of the reason why. The Animal Style Fries help In-N-Out’s cause, too. 

Taco Bell ranks high among all fast food demographics: men, women, and drunks. Everybody loves it. And goers are especially fond of the Cheesy Gordita Crunch. Why choose between a soft and a hard shell when you can have both?

Auntie Anne’s might be one of those restaurants you only think of existing in malls, but they exist elsewhere, too, right along with their iconic pretzels. These bad boys are delicious and taste even better when accompanied by one of the dipping sauces. 

Krispy Kreme makes other donuts, but its glazed offering is so iconic it’s easy to forget that you can order something else. This menu item instantly makes everything else sticky, but it’s totally worth it. 

If there’s any singular burger aside from a Big Mac that a significant swath of people have tried, it’s the Whopper. It’s an enormous sandwich per its name, but that’s absolutely part of its appeal. It might not have the same cachet as its McDonald’s counterpart, but the Whopper is definitely an icon in its own right.

Making bread bowls accessible to the public at all reasonable hours was life-changing. Maybe not for you, but for many others. Putting soup inside a bowl of bread is one of the best advancements in food technology we’ve made as a society. 

When it comes to fast food sandwiches, burgers and chicken sandwiches reign supreme. But real ones know that Arby’s roast beef sandwich is up there, too. The savory beef against the soft bun has no right being that delicious.

Is there any fast food breakfast item as famous as the Egg McMuffin? Anyone who has had fast food breakfast has tried this sandwich, and most have loved it. It’s a morning icon that will outlive us all.