Teens ate Chicken McNuggets and Dairy Queen Blizzards at the mall, while kids had Fruit Roll-Ups and Lunchables in their lunchboxes.
On the 1980s buffet table, dip was always in a bread bowl. The entrée included a hollowed-out baguette and crudités for dipping. New Englanders liked pumpernickel with crab, clams, or shrimp, while spinach and artichoke was popular.
Pizza toppings changed permanently in the 1980s from sausage, onion, pepperoni, and peppers. With smoked salmon pizza creator Ed LaDou's menu, California Pizza Kitchen introduced sweet and smokey barbecue chicken pizza to the people.
Sand Cake Pudding Cups combine Oreo sand with fluffy vanilla pudding waves for a beach-inspired delicacy.
Since 1981, McDonald's has introduced and removed the meaty McRib so many times we've lost track. It's processed pork on a bun with barbecue sauce, not rib.
These simple appetizers were popular in the 1980s. A wheel of brie cooked in puff pastry or crescent dough with apricot jam or mustard. The cheesy beginning worked well with sliced apples, crackers, or bread.
Pasta with vodka sauce has a hazy start but became popular in Italian eateries this decade. It was simple and excellent, not sure where it was invented—New York or Italy. The thick and creamy sauce of tomatoes, vodka, cream, and chiles coats rigatoni.