These Are The 15 Worst New Fast Food Items Of 2026 (So Far)

For every new fast food item that soars into a smashing success, there are several that completely flop and leave customers wondering what their favorite restaurants were thinking. The year 2026 has brought some excellent fast food items to drive-thrus across America, but the year hasn't been without its stinkers. We've compiled a list of the biggest fast food failures that hit the market from January to May, so you know which dishes to avoid ordering.

We consulted dozens of social media comments, along with in-depth reviews and taste tests, including Tasting Table's own, to find fast food items with the most customer complaints in 2026.
While some dishes fail to make an impact because they're not exciting enough, others are simply too convoluted to appeal to any customers whatsoever, such as a certain Dunkin' drink that we'll get into later on in this list. Meanwhile, many fast food flops just don't taste very good or have serious issues with quality control.

There's another running theme with the worst-reviewed items of 2026: poor value. As inflation seems to climb higher every day, customers have fully rejected overpriced fast food items, and several of our picks have earned complaints that they're not worth the money, even from customers who enjoyed them overall. With that, here are the most poorly-performing entrees, sides, drinks, and desserts of the year thus far.

Fans got hyped when McDonald's brought its most over-the-top burger to the United States, but the Big Arch was a big disappointment. Despite being advertised as fresh and exciting, customers found it barely different from a Big Mac or other McD's burgers, and many said that the flavor leaves much to be desired in general. Even those who enjoy this burger say it's too expensive, costing nearly $12 at some locations – we're not lovin' it.

This year, Dunkin' hopped on the trendy dirty soda train, but its spin on the classic combo of cola, dairy, and sweetener totally spun out. The chain added coffee to its version, a non-traditional, ill-advised move, as reviewers say the flavor is confused, overwhelming, and weirdly medicinal with chemical or cherry notes (cough drop in a cup, anyone?). One Redditor said, "It's an excellent appetite suppressant. After consuming one, you really, really don't want to eat anything ever again."

"New and improved" versions of fast food classics can be polarizing, including Burger King's new Whopper that now features boxed packaging. While some reviewers noticed big improvements on the revamped bun and toppings, others said the burger tastes the same or worse than before. Some customers also remember the Whopper being much better in decades past, and hoped the upgraded sandwich would be a return to form, only to find that it still tastes like a modern BK burger, i.e. disappointing.

Panera Salad Stuffers put the chain's salads into a hollowed-out bread roll, an "innovation" that customers rejected as wasteful (the bread innards, plus any salad that doesn't fit inside the crust, are tossed). Our taste tester found the Salad Stuffers to be "meh" overall, especially in value. "There's absolutely no way an entire half salad was squeezed into each of these bread loaves, and you're paying more than you would for the salad," our taste tester said. Panera employees dislike them even more, begging patrons not to order them due to their finicky assembly.

If Burger King's new Whopper is a disappointment, Wendy's "upgraded" Spicy Chicken Sandwich is an outright disgrace, according to customer feedback. Despite promises of a more flavorful marinade, crunchier breading, and zestier toppings, customers say this new 'wich is vastly inferior to the old version. One Redditor said the chicken tastes "like a big processed nugget," with several other commenters agreeing, while a Facebook user simply wrote, "No spice, thin chicken, whack bun, whack veggies."

Taco Bell's Chocolate Fudge and Caramel Empanadas sound great on paper: warm, crispy empanada shells filled with gooey salted caramel or rich fudge. But customers had their expectations dashed by the treats' skimpy size; dry, hard, overcooked exteriors; and a dearth of filling in the caramel empanada — with one Redditor noting that it "tasted like sludge." Another user concurred, "The only edible part was the filling on the chocolate one and even that wasn't great."

Papa Johns' Oven-Toasted Sandwiches – available in Philly Cheesesteak, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Steak and Mushroom — look stacked and savory in their promotional photos, but even customers who don't hate them say they seriously skimp on ingredients. "There is literally less than a spoonful of filling in the sandwich," one Redditor complained. Some also find the flavors to be generic or downright insipid. Combined with the prices, with some customers paying over $10 for these half-sized, bread-heavy subs, and you have a recipe for disappointment. Papas should probably stick to pies.

Arby's may "have the meats," but the chain doesn't necessarily guarantee that all of those meats will be winners. Its Quarter Pound Chopped Brisket Sandwich promises a generous portion of meat smoked for 13 hours, but customers note that it's too small and you can get better brisket for more value at any old-fashioned BBQ spot. After we tried Arby's brisket sandwich, we agreed that it's generic, a bit dry, and just not worth $10. "I'd rather walk down the street and spend $19.95 on a smoked brisket sandwich and a side of mac and cheese at my local barbecue spot," our taste tester said.

Over at Hardee's, innovation appears to mean lumping every breakfast offering together and then tossing a burger patty on top. The Frisco Breakfast Burger features eggs, bacon, hash browns, American cheese, and a burger patty stuffed between two griddled slices of sourdough. For breakfast maximalists, this might not be a bad thing, but customers complain that the sandwich often comes out dry and bland, possibly in need of some kind of sauce to tie it all together.

Among the many wildly creative new items presented at Taco Bell's 2026 Live Mas event were these breakfast menu doughnut holes. The standard Cinnabon Delights have been around since 2013, and this new iteration is a divisive one. Some love the strawberry sugar coating, but others are downright repulsed by it. "When driving home from my local TB," a customer writes on Reddit, "all I could [smell] was feet, like cheese gone bad."

On the long list of changes customers wish McDonald's would make, the return of the Fried Apple Pie comes in pretty high. Back in 1992, Mickey D's replaced the deep-fried pies with a baked version, and ever since, customers have longed for those greasy tubes of molten apple gloop. Unfortunately, nostalgia is often stronger than we realize, and tasting these in the present makes it clear that the McDonald's Fried Apple Pie was better as a memory.

The year hasn't gone particularly well for the second largest burger chain in the U.S., with Burger King releasing several of 2026's worst burgers. It's not just the New Whopper, but also its Ultimate Steakhouse Whopper, a sandwich that comes stacked with bacon, onion rings, sauteed mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese, and a creamy peppercorn sauce. Unfortunately, customers were turned off not just by the high price of this sandwich, but also its extreme saltiness.

In April 2026, Subway launched its first "Value Menu," a confusing take when the chain's whole menu was a value with the $5 footlong deal. Among the new low-cost offerings are its Protein Pockets, another name for small wraps. "They take something people have custom ordered in the past," writes one disgruntled Redditor, "slap a name on it, and up charge hoping the fancy name will deceive customers into thinking it's something new and extravagant."

The 2026 Starbucks summer drink list was relatively disappointing across the board, but the Tropical Butterfly Refresher in particular has left customers underwhelmed. The drink's gimmick is using color-changing butterfly pea flower tea, and it is quite pretty, but the brand seems to have forgotten that taste is also important. As one customer put it on Reddit, "The drink is ... fine, I guess. But the whole purpose is that it looks pretty. Flavor is secondary."

Another divisive offering from Taco Bell is the Diablo Dusted Crispy Chicken Nuggets. There are some who enjoy them, but for those who don't enjoy searing off their taste buds, this might be one to skip. "These dusted nuggets might not look like cursed objects but they carry the heat of 1,000 suns," writes one Redditor about their experience. "Every bite was anguish." Others disagree and find them mild enough, but for sensitive parties the risk may be too great.