If you were looking for seafood that was a little supersized, charbroiled, or extra spicy, then these fast food places used to have you covered... but not so much anymore.
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00:00If you were looking for seafood that was a little supersized, charbroiled, or extra spicy,
00:05then these fast food places used to have you covered, but not so much anymore.
00:11You can rest assured that McDonald's has not gotten rid of the Filet-O-Fish. That iconic
00:15sandwich, which combines wild-caught Alaskan pollock with a slice of American cheese and
00:19tartar sauce, has been a year-round staple since 1965. It may not be the most popular
00:25sandwich on the menu, but it's still a classic.
00:27But back in 1996, McDonald's made the rookie move of trying to fix what wasn't broken when
00:32the Fish Filet Deluxe was brought in to replace the Filet-O-Fish. It offered a familiar formula
00:38of tartar sauce and American cheese, but with lettuce and a bigger fish patty. This was
00:42a part of the chain's Deluxe line, which tried to push the restaurant as a place for adults
00:46and not children.
00:47It's McDonald's, with a grown-up taste.
00:50Sadly, the Fish Filet Deluxe, along with the rest of the Deluxe line, was ultimately scrapped
00:54by the end of the decade. Customers had already pressured McDonald's into restoring the Filet-O-Fish
00:59to the menu in 1998, with the sandwich actually adopting the Deluxe version's larger patty
01:04upon its return. With complaints racking up in recent years that the Filet-O-Fish has
01:08shrunk back down in size, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if McDonald's decided
01:12to bring back its long-lost successor.
01:16Like a lot of fast food chains, Jack in the Box only pulls out the fish during Lent. In
01:20the past, their lineup included the Deluxe Fish Sandwich, an extra-thick sandwich that
01:23contained two panko-breaded fish filets, tartar sauce, American cheese, lettuce, and
01:28tomatoes. Introduced in 2019, it sat alongside other seafood offerings, like the Classic
01:33Fish Sandwich, which consisted of a panko-breaded filet with tartar sauce and lettuce. It enjoyed
01:37some pretty positive reviews during its run, with customers praising its flavor and size.
01:42But then, in 2024, Lent rolled around with no sign of the Deluxe Fish Sandwich. The Classic
01:47Fish version, however, did return that February, and it was joined by new fish wraps, which
01:52were available in both regular and spicy varieties. They combined wild-caught Alaskan
01:56pollock with cheddar, lettuce, tartar sauce, and pickles in a soft-flour tortilla. The
02:01chain never directly addressed its departure, but fans certainly noted its absence, with
02:05one of them complaining on Reddit,
02:07"...the fish sandwich that's selling now tastes exactly like McDonald's."
02:11The What-A-Catch used to be a year-round menu item at Whataburger, but sadly, those days
02:15are now long gone. For years, the chain offered this deep-fried, wild-caught Alaskan pollock
02:20filet with lettuce, tomato, tartar sauce, and an optional creamy pepper sauce or American
02:25cheese. But in 2022, customers started realizing that their local Whataburgers had scrapped
02:29this sandwich for good, along with a number of other menu items.
02:33The What-A-Catch still makes some annual cameos at Whataburger for Lent, as does the What-A-Catch
02:38platter, which combines two of the fish filets with fries and tartar sauce, fish-and-chip
02:43style. However, the sandwich no longer has a spot on the permanent menu. While there's
02:47never been an official explanation for this decision, we can only assume that sales just
02:50weren't up to snuff.
02:52Whatever the reason, the What-A-Catch is deeply missed by plenty of fans. As one of them bemoaned
02:56on social media,
02:57"...they took the What-A-Catch off the menu at Whataburger, please keep me lifted in prayer."
03:02And another reminisced on Reddit,
03:03"...I used to brag to people how the What-A-Catch was amazing, just like how the old fish from
03:07McDonald's used to be — big and juicy."
03:10Despite what its name might lead you to believe, the Whaler was not made of aquatic mammal
03:15meat and had zero connection to whaling. Instead, Burger King's OG Fish Sandwich was
03:19a fried fish patty served on a bun with tartar sauce and lettuce. Launched in the 1960s,
03:24the Whaler was BK's direct attempt at competing with McDonald's Filet-O-Fish, and it initially
03:29made its appearance in cities with a significant Catholic population, before leveling up to
03:33becoming a nationwide fixture in the 70s. As BK proudly proclaimed in its commercials,
03:38the Whaler was much bigger than the Filet-O-Fish.
03:40"...The Whaler doesn't get swallowed up by the bun like some others do."
03:44"...You know who, yes, you know who."
03:46Sadly, the Whaler's actual reputation was never big enough to eclipse the Filet-O-Fish,
03:51leading to Burger King reformulating and renaming its offering multiple times over the years.
03:55By the 90s, it was known as the Ocean Catch, which was breaded differently and used a different
04:00bun. And if you happen to be in Europe, you might be interested to know that it's still
04:03sold as the Ocean Catch in Cyprus.
04:06Nowadays, BK offers the Big Fish, which, unfortunately, doesn't hit quite the same spot as the Whaler
04:11for some customers. As one of them admitted on Reddit,
04:14"...I still get the occasional craving for these damn things."
04:16Others have described it as the best fast-food fish sandwich they've ever tried, and far
04:21superior to BK's more recent ventures.
04:24Fish sandwiches are an annual tradition at Wendy's, popping up every February to ring
04:28in the Lenten season. They used to come in the form of the North Pacific Cod Sandwich,
04:32which contained panko-breaded North Pacific Cod, dill tartar sauce, three dill pickle
04:36slices, and lettuce, as the chain described it. It's a premium sandwich so su-fish-ticated,
04:42we only serve it for a limited time.
04:44Alas, it wasn't su-fish-ticated enough to stick around for the long haul. In 2021, Wendy's
04:49ditched the cod and introduced its new Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich, which notably uses pollock
04:54instead of cod. This, despite the fact that in 2019, Wendy's bragged,
04:59While other QSR brands focus on pollock for its price efficiency, Wendy's has your back
05:03with a sandwich made with cod, a fish you actually recognize.
05:07While the Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich has its fans, there are plenty who miss its predecessor.
05:12Customers have noted that it was much bigger and packed with more flavor. As one lamented
05:15about the current offering on Reddit,
05:17"...it's very bland and a huge downgrade from the cod sandwich they had years ago."
05:22Others have ditched Wendy's Lenten offerings altogether since the switch, with another
05:26explaining on Reddit,
05:27"...Wendy's used to have the best fish sandwich when it was cod. I'd wait until Lent every
05:31year so I could get it again. The pollock they introduced last year or the year before
05:34was terrible and I stopped going for it."
05:37Back in 2022, Arby's put a new spin on its Lenten menu with the Spicy Fish Sandwich.
05:42It included the usual building blocks of an Arby's seafood sandwich — a crispy fish
05:46filet, lettuce, and tartar sauce. Then, it combined them with tomato, jalapenos, and
05:51extra seasoning to give it a kick. And we're not exaggerating about that kick part, as
05:55this was one heck of a spicy sandwich. But maybe it was too spicy to handle.
06:00Arby's Lent menu for 2024 consisted of the Fish & Cheddar Sandwich and the King's Hawaiian
06:04Fish Deluxe Sandwich, both of which are perfectly decent but lack the uniqueness of the Spicy
06:09Fish. Multiple spicy lovers have taken to social media to mourn their loss and try to
06:14manifest a speedy return. As one of them put it,
06:17"...a couple years ago they had a Spicy Fish Sandwich and that thing was next level. Every
06:21year now I look for it and they haven't brought it back."
06:24While another declared,
06:25"...can Arby's bring back that Spicy Fish Sandwich they had a little while back? It
06:28dunked all over the fish filet."
06:30The Char-Broiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich is the only sandwich on this list that doesn't
06:35involve deep-fried fish. Instead, its patty was, as its name indicates, char-broiled.
06:40Launched in 2013, it received what was then the normal Hardee's treatment of being promoted
06:44by a scantily-clad Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. In an ad that premiered during the
06:48Super Bowl, Nina Agdal chowed down on the sandwich on a beautiful Hawaiian beach. As
06:53the chain's former CEO, Andrew Puzder, told Entrepreneur Magazine in 2015,
06:58"...I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very
07:02American."
07:03The Char-Broiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich was available at both Hardee's and Carl's
07:07Jr., making a few appearances on the menu during Lent. The patty was accompanied by
07:11lettuce, tomatoes, and tartar sauce, all encased in two sesame honey wheat buns. It was pretty
07:16popular with customers, with food blogger The Impulsive Buy praising its seasoning and
07:20tartar sauce. It inexplicably faded away after just two years, when Hardee's brought in the
07:25Red Hook Beer-Battered Cod Fish Sandwich as a replacement. For those craving non-deep-fried
07:30fish, a void still remains in the fast food sphere over a decade later.
07:35Plenty of fast food fans are still mourning the KFC snacker on a regular basis. Launched
07:39in the mid-2000s, it was a fried chicken sandwich with shredded lettuce and pepper mayonnaise
07:44that cost just 99 cents and scored record-breaking sales. Slightly less popular, though still
07:49extremely popular, was its fish equivalent, which launched in 2007 and swapped out the
07:54chicken and mayo for Alaskan pollock and tartar sauce, just in time for Lent.
07:58Perhaps the most famous detail about the fish snacker was that KFC decided to ask Pope Benedict
08:03XVI for his blessing of the sandwich. While the Vatican confirmed that it had indeed received
08:08KFC's request, there was never an official update on whether or not the blessing actually
08:12happened.
08:13Papal approval or lack thereof aside, the fish snacker benefited from the same perks
08:17as the regular snacker — it was affordable, tasty, and much less messy to eat than your
08:21average fast food offering. Regardless, KFC still made the inexplicable decision to axe
08:26the snacker line in 2012, leaving fans so bereft that they're still petitioning KFC
08:31for their returns over a decade later.
08:33You now have five seconds to comply.
08:37Popeye's Catfish Po' Boy was an offshoot of a popular chicken sandwich. While the chain's
08:42standard Po' Boy consisted of fried chicken tenders, lettuce, and mayo, the catfish version
08:46utilized two Cajun seasoned breaded catfish fillets and sandwiched them in a French roll
08:50with lettuce, a few slices of pickles, and tartar sauce. It was quite hefty and also
08:55quite delicious.
08:56However, just like the chicken Po' Boy, it met its end in the late 2010s, when Popeye's
09:00decided to discontinue the Po' Boy line for good. The chain now offers the Flounder Fish
09:05Sandwich, which consists of an Alaskan flounder fillet that's marinated and breaded similarly
09:09to the chicken sandwich. It's good enough that we wish it was offered year-round.
09:13Nevertheless, the catfish Po' Boy's absence is still deeply felt. As one fan recently
09:18admitted,
09:19"...I had a dream about the Popeye's Catfish I had back in 2007 last night."
09:22And another said it best by revealing,
09:24"...I act like everything's okay, but deep down inside, I wish Popeye's would bring back
09:28Po' Boys and Catfish."
09:30Clearly, the fast food world won't be set right until things go back to being as fishy
09:34as they used to be.
09:35I wonder where that fish did go?
09:39A fish, a fish, a fishy, oh!