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One of the new items they tried was pizza in the late 1980s. However, it was gone by the early 1990s. It didn't seem to fit the fast food model since it took 10 minutes to prepare and it literally didn't fit through some of the drive through windows. The plan was that it would be a dinner item and families would come into the restaurant to eat, but they didn't. Thus it was discontinued.
That is all except two places--one in Ohio and one in West Virginia. Both stores were owned by the same owner and year after year he kept making pizzas. And people kept eating them. One of those McDonald's was in my home town. I had already moved away by the time they started serving pizza, but ate it many times while visiting my parents. In fact that was one of the things we'd do, get a pizza from McDonald's when we visited. There were other places to buy pizza in town, but Micky D's was my parents' favorite. They had their little ritual. They'd order a pizza with everything and my mother would pick off the meat and give it to my father and he would pick off the veggies and give them to her. The McDonald's pizza was not bad and certainly a bargain at $6 for a large.
These two locations served these pizzas for years with no fuss until they got word of it in Canada where the McPizza was first tested. Three young men made a trip to WV to try the pizza and the idea went viral. Traveling to have McDonald's pizza became the thing to do. And when the corporate office got wind of the whole thing, and they said the pizza had to be discontinued. That was how they could control the predictability that was one of their trademarks.
Last summer the last pizzas were served and my mother got one of them. Her friend got her one and brought it to her in the nursing home for lunch. Sadly, this time my father wasn't around to exchange toppings with her, but she enjoyed it all the same.
Time marches on and things change. That's the way it was for the Micky D's pizza and as trivial as it seems, the pizza is missed.
Note: There is a McDonald's in Orlando that started serving pizza in 2016. The store is 18,000 square feet and is one of the largest McDonald's in the world. There are many other items on the menu besides pizza that are not on a regular McDonald's menu.
I vaguely remember McDonald's advertising the pizza but I never bought it there. I think it's a shame that the corporation cracked down on the 2 franchises that kept selling it, to the enjoyment of their customers. The story of your parents saving toppings for each other is cute :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard of the huge McDonald's in Orlando, I think it's on International Drive, a very touristy area, but we haven't been there. We did go to another one, years ago, on Dr. Phillips Blvd, that was a gourmet McDonald's. They had a barista, a pastry bar and even a wine bar, I think? If they allow different foods at those places, how can they in good conscience refuse the other 2 locations their pizzas?!
I thought about you when I read about the fancy McDonald's and wondered if you had ever been there. I don't think it would be something I would seek out but if I were in the area, I might stop there.
DeleteThere are other regional foods McDonald's allows across the world like there are lobster rolls at McDonald's in Maine where my sister lives. The pizza doesn't seem that different to me especially since it has been successful all of these years, but no one asked me.
That does seem inconsistent, doesn't it? I'm guessing it had to do with their profit margin.
DeleteLove the story of your parent's pizza sharing. Win-win for both.
The story around town was that they told them it took too long to cook. That was one of the reasons they stopped in the beginning.
DeleteMcDonalds are franchises, so it seems as if an owner didn't have a good profit margin that would be their problem. I really don't know what happened.
I had no idea! It's so sad that they made them discontinue the pizza. When CatMan was in the Army, way back in the 60s, he said that McDonald's was their go to choice for eating because it didn't matter where you were stationed, you knew what you were gonna get, and (more importantly for someone who was always hungry) you knew that you were gonna get enough to eat without going broke! So I suppose there is something to be said for predictability, but it's still sad that they forced them to discontinue something so successful.
ReplyDeleteI find it especially sad that it happened in a small town without many restaurants and a population without much money.
DeleteI do not remember McDonald's ever serving pizza. Maybe we were just never part of the market they tested it on or it was during the years we seldom went to McDonalds. Lots has changed and McDonalds is now my go to joint for a cup of coffee.
DeleteA lot of people like McDonald's coffee. I'm sure you've seen the clubs that meet there for just that. My father was in one of them.
DeleteAnother fascinating post! I am loving this A to Z posts and the unusual and interesting subjects you find about which to post! If I were to do it, I'd do some really boring things like A is for apple (which was an imported delicacy when I was growing up and stopped being available when imported items were banned by the government) and M is for mango (which we had plenty of because there were 5 or 6 mango trees in our garden)! :D
ReplyDeleteI considered doing the A is for Apple post, however, it was going to be about the phonics aspect. I think I would find your posts comparing things where you grew up to here very interesting. Life in Sri Lanka is something I don't know much about.
DeleteBless, I think a lot of us would enjoy your A to Z posts if you were to do them. I love hearing about life in different parts of the world. What is mundane to you is interesting to others because it is novel to us. :)
DeleteThe idea of getting pizza at McDonalds seems so strange to me. Interesting that after discontinuing them from the chain they continued to sell them at two locations. Weekends In Maine
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen. Thanks for the visit. Pizza at McDonald's was a strange thing, but we don't have to worry about it any more.
DeleteThat is something I've never heard of before! I can see why it didn't work.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of other places that specialize in pizza that have been more successful. It's just too bad that they had to stop where it was successful.
DeleteI don't recall the pizza fling at McD.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it never made it to the northwest before it was discontinued.
DeleteI had no idea that McDonald's served pizza. You mentioned my home state, West Virginia continued to serve pizzas for years. There weren't any McDonald's close to us when we lived there. I didn't eat at my first McDonald's until after I got married in 1979. I like how you have such a fond memories and the traditions of having this while visiting your folks. I'm sorry your dad is no longer there to swap toppings with you mom.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting iPad Art Sketch 'M' for my favorite Monster on Curious as a Cathy!
I can't remember when McDonalds came to my small town, but it was later, maybe about the same time as the pizza. When I was in high school in the 70's, our fast food was a local restaurant the next town over called Burger Queen instead of Burger King.
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