This Cheesy McDonald's Item From The '80s Needs To Make A Comeback
Through the years, McDonald's has introduced many menu items that didn't stand the test of time. In the 1960s for example, there was a pineapple and cheese sandwich called the Hula Burger. And before Chicken McNuggets, the burger chain experimented with vegetarian Onion Nuggets in the 1970s. In retrospect, it's not particularly difficult to understand why these offerings ended up flopping, but the same can't be said for the Cheddar Melt, a burger McDonald's released in 1987.
This burger consisted of a ¼-pound beef patty, grilled onions, and a melted cheddar cheese sauce. Instead of a traditional hamburger bun, the Cheddar Melt was made with a rye bun. Though this burger might seem like something that could've easily fit in with the rest of the McDonald's menu, unfortunately, the Cheddar Melt wasn't available for very long after it was released. Currently, the only way you can get it is at McDonald's restaurants in Brazil, where it's been rebranded as the Cheddar McMelt.
Could McDonald's Cheddar Melt ever make a comeback?
News of a Cheddar Melt comeback would certainly delight members of the "Bring Back the Cheddar Melt" Facebook group, but McDonald's seemingly has yet to confirm any such decision. It wouldn't be out of character for the fast for chain to do so, though, as the company has previously reintroduced an updated version of the discontinued Snack Wrap and even brought back the Oreo Frappe after an eight-year absence.
Perhaps a more promising sign is the fact that McDonald's actually brought back the Cheddar Melt before, as recently as 2014. That year, the fast food brand announced the Cheddar Melt would be available for a limited time in select cities in Wisconsin and Michigan. McDonald's restaurants in Central Pennsylvania soon followed. History could certainly repeat itself. However, if a Cheddar Melt comeback were to happen, it would probably be only for a special promotion, like how things played out during its initial 2010s return.
Why the McDonald's Cheddar Melt disappeared from the menu
While it's true that the Cheddar Melt was pulled from the menu, it wasn't technically discontinued, but rather its limited-time run simply ended. A commercial from 1987 and a McDonald's tray liner from the same year both referred to the Cheddar Melt as a limited time offering.
Limited-time offerings at fast food restaurants typically last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, but according to several Reddit threads, people also remember being able to get them in the years after its release, including in 1988 and 1989, and even in the early 2000s. This would suggest that the Cheddar Melt ended up being more of a seasonal offering available every once in a while, much like the McRib. Commercials that aired in 1990 and 2004 seem to confirm this, as they both emphasize that customers should get them while they last.
It's likely that McDonald's did the same thing with the Cheddar Melt that it did with the McRib, which was released just a few years prior in 1981. The fast food chain continued to bring back the McRib every so often because, even though it didn't perform well enough to stay on the permanent menu, it still garnered sufficient sales. In the Cheddar Melt's case, though, there may not have been enough interest since 2014, which was the last time it made an appearance in the United States.