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Food is something you can get creative with while also getting ample nourishment from. Although it’s such a magical creation, different dishes still go in and out of style for a variety of reasons. Even if they’re not made or ordered as much anymore, we bet they’re just as tasty as always.

So, we decided to explore the most popular meals of the past. Who better to recall them than older folks who witnessed these trends come and go? Get ready to lick your lips as you explore dishes that used to be all the rage but aren’t now.

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#1

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus French onion soup with a big piece of toast and melted cheese on top. ‘70s.

mbw70 , chandlervid85 Report

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arthbach
arthbach
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes! A photograph that matches the description! - - - -I make 'French-ish Onion Soup'. It's only 'ish' because I use vegetable stock rather than beef.

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#2

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Potato skins were pretty big in the 80s.

bg370 , anetode Report

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#3

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Chocolate mousse in a stem goblet. It was my favorite thing about eating out as a kid in the 80's . 🥲

Then at some point it was all crappy frozen chocolate cake.

Organic_Bookkeeper32 , Ella Olsson Report

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Pernille
Pernille
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still love chocolate mousse, it is all about good ingredients, and so easy to make.

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Restaurant menus change and keep updating based on the meals that are popular among their customers. In earlier times, word of mouth played a big role in establishing certain food fads. Now, meals can go in and out of fashion depending on social media trends. It’s also become popular to post aesthetically pleasing photos of cuisine online. 

As you watch different food crazes come and go, it’s easy to understand why so many dishes fell out of fashion in the past and why so many remain classics to this day. 

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#4

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Fondue.

sretep66 , Michael Pointner Report

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Scotira
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🤣🤣🤣 *laughs in Swiss* and adds a *laughs in German*

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#5

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Nobody serves beef stroganoff anymore.

mynameisranger1 , Nano Erdozain Report

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#6

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Crepes as an entree were popular in the 70s, filled with chicken or crabmeat in a sauce.

Uvabird , mdjaff Report

Final score:
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Some interesting food items have been completely removed from restaurant menus. It’s almost baffling to imagine why they were taken off, considering how delicious they are. To understand this phenomenon better, Bored Panda contacted Jack Higgott, a passionate chef from Australia who created Chef Life to show the world how hard cooks and kitchen staff work.

We asked him for examples of popular or trendy dishes from the past that no longer seem to be on menus. Chef Jack told us that one such dish is quiche Lorraine. He said: “once a popular brunch item, this savory tart filled with eggs and cream has been overshadowed by more modern breakfast options.”

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He also gave two more examples. One was about “Prawn cocktails, which have been replaced by more adventurous appetizers that align with contemporary tastes and global cuisines.” The other dish was “Lobster Newberg, replaced by the rise of more casual seafood dishes. A shift towards lighter, healthier options has made it less popular.”
#7

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Quiche, In the late 70s and the 80s. Every fern bar restaurant like TGI Fridays featured quiche, and people were cooking quiche. The popularity of quiche even inspired the title of the book Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche. That book inspired the humorous meme of “Real Men Don’t (fill in the blank)”

Salad bars. In the 80s every restaurant had one, even some fast food burger places like Wendy’s.

MarshmallowSoul , Mike Bird Report

Final score:
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XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧
XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is this list foods that are no longer popular in the US? Serving quiche & eating at crêperies is still a thing in Canada afaik 🤷‍♀️

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#8

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Bananas Foster and the whole tableside performance flambé craze I remember from the 70s. Maybe some places still offer that? I've not seen it on a menu in forever.

Careless_Ocelot_4485 , vxla Report

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Tabitha
Tabitha
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cherries Jubilee was a favorite of mine when I was a kid (back in the sixties and seventies), and the family got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant for dinner. Didn’t happen often, but I made sure to have Cherries Jubilee for dessert if they had it.

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#9

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Around 1980, seems like every restaurant had fried zucchini and fried mozzarella sticks as appetizers.

Intelligent-Rip-2270 , Shameel mukkath Report

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Apart from the items mentioned on this list, there are some dishes that never seem to go out of fashion. We asked Jack Higgot for a few examples of items like that. He said “as for classic meals, I think it all comes down to tradition! If you keep it simple and execute everything perfectly most people are so happy with comfort food.”

Some examples he gave include:

  1. “Apple Pie: known as a symbol of American culture, apple pie features a flaky crust filled with spiced apples. It’s often served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, embodying the idea of home-cooked comfort food.
  2. Spaghetti Bolognese: originating from Italy, this dish features a sauce made with ground meat (often beef), tomatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs. It's typically served over spaghetti and topped with grated Parmesan. The rich, savory flavors make it a favorite for family dinners and gatherings.
  3. Chicken Curry: with numerous regional variations, chicken curry can range from mild to spicy. Common ingredients include chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, and a blend of spices like cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Served with rice or bread, it's a favorite for its bold flavors and aromatic spices.”
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#10

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Prawn cocktail.

Fast-typist , chandlervid85 Report

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#11

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Beef Wellington, at pricier restaurants. Hard to find now, but not too hard to make at home for the right occasion.

newleaf9110 , Nadin Sh Report

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arthbach
arthbach
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the UK, Beef Wellington is often an alternative to a goose or turkey at Christmas.

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#12

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Please travel back in time with me, to the SIXTIES, and let’s talk about baked potato “fixins” being brought to your table in that thing with connected metal bowl. Sour cream? Coming up! And it was spun around to that bowl so the server could spoon it into your potato. Ditto cheese and bacon bits.

And ditto salad dressings, served the same way, including the rarely-seen (but then popular) Thousand Island and Roquefort dressings.

ronmimid , KamranAydinov Report

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Maybe some of the items on this list have attracted your fancy either for their elegance, taste, or aesthetic. To learn about even more tasty food items from the past, we also reached out to Billy Parisi, a classically trained culinary school graduate from Scottsdale Culinary Institute with over 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry. 

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He focuses on creating homemade recipes from scratch while showcasing classical French and Italian cooking techniques. He shared some examples of popular or trendy dishes that no longer seem to be on menus, like “patty melt, bouillabaisse, cioppino, osso buco, rice pudding, Chateaubriand, and steak au poivre.”
#13

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Tiramisu was the go-to fancy dessert at every possible restaurant for a while.

GraceStrangerThanYou , Melanie Dompierre Report

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Scotira
Scotira
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1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🤔 Tiramisù is still the go-to dessert at every Italian restaurant I have ever been to.

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#14

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus I can’t think of a specific dish but there was a period in the 90s when pesto was EVERYWHERE and so were roasted red peppers. 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Professor-genXer , Thiea Alhoz Report

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#15

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Prime rib was huge back in the day.

IGotRoks , azerbaijan_stockers Report

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Patrick Linnen
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

'Back in the day' as in yesterday. Prime rib is served weekly here. Expensive though.

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Although many of these items may have disappeared from menus, there’s always a chance they may be brought back. Chef Billy said: “there are so many dishes that are always delicious or on trend, but in the current restaurant culture of what's next these classical dishes tend to fall away.”

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“Many restaurants like to try and keep things fresh and constantly keep changing things. However, there's a reason they call them the classics, because they're always in style. Dishes people always love include pasta carbonara, chicken Kiev, chicken piccata, croque monsieur, and chopped steak,” he added.
#16

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus No one has mentioned bread being served before meals, always. Or a basket of crackers at family restaurants.

Salad bars were all the craze. Nice restaurants to Wendy’s. Salad bars everywhere!

eastcoastme , Vidal Balielo Jr. Report

Final score:
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#17

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Oysters Rockefeller. Cherries Jubilee. Meatloaf. Chicken Cordon Bleu.

not-your-mom-123 , Rachel Claire Report

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XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can walk into just about any restaurant in the southern part of the US and find meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, and some sort of "chicken fried" meat on the menu. I am truly surprised I didn't find a McMeatloaf, it is that serious lol

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#18

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Monte Cristo Sandwiches? Reuben Sandwiches? Are they still a big deal?

Lelabear , freepik Report

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We hope you’re salivating after checking out this list! Maybe it will also jog your memory and lead you to remember amazing older dishes that should definitely be brought back for folks to enjoy.

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Don’t forget to tell us which item on this list is your favorite and which one you feel should be left in the past. 
#19

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus I will submit Swedish meatballs, which I actually just got done making for dinner. Idk if it died out, but I never see it on the menu anywhere.

dimestoredavinci , Rachel Claire Report

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Rose the Cook
Rose the Cook
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ikea cafe in Beijing still offers these or did last time I was there.

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#20

Baked Alaska.

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Auntriarch
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At last, something that truly is no longer ubiquitous. Dead easy to make, but actually not that great

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#21

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus For a while, there was a massive advertising effort for Bacon. People started talking about their love of bacon like it was a unique personality trait. Restaurants were serving everything with bacon, chicken wrapped in bacon, bacon ice cream, bacon doughnuts, bbb— bacon bacon and bacon sandwich.

At a business dinner, someone would order something with bacon, and everyone would just go on about bacon.

It was strange to me because I’ve always thought bacon was pretty good, but not something I really needed to share with others. Like many foods- ice cream, hamburgers… bacon has always seemed to be an American staple that most people enjoyed. I didn’t understand why people were suddenly acting like it was a new product.

Bacon has now seemed to move back to where it had been.

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#22

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Steak Diane

Particularly, made the correct old school way, flambéed tableside.

MooPig48 , Gonzalo Guzman Report

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Paul C.
Paul C.
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my grandfathers restaurant, my uncle, who was a sommelier, would cook Steak Diane at the table side and Flambe it. Very 60's and tasted so good!

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#23

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Orange Roughy the fish……It turned out that the fish were incredibly old-up to 200 years old-and they are almost fished to extinction.
[A great Reddit link to it…](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/s/xK7ddCHgff).

Gl3g , Jan Dvorak Report

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Bidango Smith
Bidango Smith
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This just sounds like eco-awareness more than "it's gone out of fashion"

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#24

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus This is an ice cream flavor but man I miss a good Rocky Road Ice Cream. 🍦.

Superb-Fail-9937 , stu_spivack Report

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#25

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Blackened everything. It seemed like chefs were working overtime to figure out what they could make in a Cajun blackened version.

igotplans2 , Engin Akyurt Report

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Trista JW
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nothing has changed at all; in Southern states, blackened chicken and everything else is still extremely popular.

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#26

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Chateau Briand.

79-Hunter , Valeria Boltneva Report

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#27

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Liver and onions.

300-02_F41-1 , KamranAydinov Report

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#28

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus I've enjoyed a lot of these comments and I will add one more: the ubiquitous spiced apple ring on a kale leaf garnish on nearly every plate at SO many restaurants.

RevDknitsinMD , azerbaijan_stockers Report

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Huddo's sister
Huddo's sister
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never heard of that. Was it literally dried apple like the pic, or a ring of apple battered and fried?

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#29

Duck a l'orange, in the 1970s.

Parsley as a garnish. 1970s and well into the 1980s.

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Pernille
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do these people just list things they no longer eat themselves? Parsley is widely used as garnish every where I go.

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#30

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus A hot open faced roast beef sandwich also known as a beef hot shot.

Eogh21 , azerbaijan_stockers Report

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UncleJohn3000
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The dish is still out there but the glory of the name was stolen by a male stripper.

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#31

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Trout Amandine. I miss it. I'm a terrible cook, so can't make it myself.

sillyconfused , Karen Report

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#32

Turkey Tetrazzini.

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Janelle Collard
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Premium 1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stouffer's has a frozen entree of this. Some Walmarts in the Bay Area of California carry it. If you have Instacart, you could type it in the search bar to see if local Walmarts or other stores have it.

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#33

33 Of The Most Widely Sought-After Dishes Of The Past That Have Virtually Disappeared From Menus Diet plate that had a hamburger patty, a lump of cottage cheese, and canned peaches.

splattermatters , Jonathan Borba Report

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arthbach
arthbach
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1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can totally understand why this dish would disappear! It does not sound at all good.

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