McPizza

McDonald's Attempt to Add Pizza to Fast Food

Forgotten Food & Drinks · 1985–1996

Archived on 16/08/2026

Associated With

McDonald’s Corporation - manufacturer or brand

Defining Feature

Pizza adapted for McDonald’s fast-service restaurant system

Status

Discontinued - Wider programme discontinued in 1996; a handful of restaurants retained pizza unusually late

Overview

McDonald’s developed pizza for its restaurant system, offering both personal and family formats.

Development began in 1985, with the programme expanding around 1989 and 1990. Preparing pizza required new methods and equipment in restaurants.

The wider programme was discontinued in 1996.

Why It Mattered

McPizza tested whether a slower, oven-finished product could fit a business designed around rapid service. Its operational difficulties reveal how restaurant timing and kitchen design can determine whether a familiar food belongs on a fast-food menu.

Development and Rollout

McDonald’s says pizza development began in 1985, with the recipe adjusted over roughly five years.
By 18 October 1990, 240 US McDonald’s restaurants were marketing 12-inch pizzas.
McDonald’s later described its greatest reach as nationwide availability in Canada, selected US markets and around 150 additional locations, including some in Europe.

Formats and Restaurant Operations

A contemporary 1990 report described frozen dough being used as McDonald’s worked to reduce pizza preparation times.
The UK’s mid-1990s version consisted of eight-inch, four-slice pizzas in Cheese, Cheese & Pepperoni and Deluxe varieties.
Surviving Pepperoni & Sausage packaging carries a © 1987 McDonald’s Corporation notice, while MCPIZZA had been registered as a US trademark in 1979.

Withdrawal and Late Holdouts

Pizza required longer preparation and different kitchen demands than McDonald’s established menu, making it difficult to fit the chain’s fast-service model.
McDonald’s officially discontinued the wider pizza programme in 1996.
A small number of individual restaurants continued serving McDonald’s Pizza long after the wider withdrawal, preserving it as an unusual local menu item rather than part of a company-wide relaunch.

Sources & Records

McDonald’s Golden Archives — McPizza — Gives the company’s account of 1985 testing, international availability and the programme’s 1996 discontinuation.
Associated Press — McDonald’s pizza testing, 1990 — Reports 240 US test restaurants, 12-inch pizzas and the use of frozen dough to shorten preparation.
McDonald’s UK — the pizza trial — Identifies the mid-1990s UK test, three flavours and eight-inch, four-slice format.
US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board — McDonald’s v. McSweet — Records the MCPIZZA trademark’s May 1979 registration, separate from the later restaurant rollout.