McPizza

Forgotten Food & Drinks · 1985–1996

Published 16 August 2026

McDonald's developed pizza for its restaurant system from 1985 and expanded the programme around 1989 and 1990. Personal and family formats required new preparation methods and equipment before 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.

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

Primary Records

- **Golden Archives — McPizza**
- **Has McDonald’s in the U.K. ever served pizzas?**
- **‘McPaper’, ‘McDome’ — What’s next? McDonald’s markets pizza**
- **McDonald’s Corporation v. Future Enterprises Pte. Ltd.**

Image Sources

- **Image 1**
- **Image 2**
- **Image 3**
- **Image 4**
- **Image 5**

Rights Notice

Images are included for historical and archival reference.

Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.

Gallery

Source

Credit

Grub Street

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

McDonald’s pizza advertisement uses a familiar cheese-pull image to introduce a product outside its usual burger offer.

Overhead view inside a McDonald's kitchen: a man in a red McDonald's uniform spreads tomato sauce on a round pizza base while two sauced bases sit on wire racks beside a large metal oven or preparation unit. — Source
Credit
Ronny Salerno / Queen City Discovery
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
Pizza preparation photographed during Ronny Salerno's search for surviving McDonald's Pizza shows the extra kitchen work behind an unusual departure from the chain's standard menu.

Soft-focus image of a McDonald’s employee in a red-and-white striped shirt and visor serving a pizza on a tray to adults and children seated at a restaurant table with paper drink cups. — Source
Credit
McDonald's advertising film; still from the supplied 1993 pizza commercial
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The 1993 pizza commercial positioned McDonald's as a place for a shared family meal, extending its fast-food offer into a different dining occasion.

Flattened red, white, and green McPizza carton shown front and back against a black background. The front reads “Pepperoni & Sausage” and “McPizza”; the reverse includes “CAUTION: CONTENTS ARE HOT” and “© 1987 McDonald’s Corporation.” — Source
Credit
Flickr
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The McPizza carton carries both the product name and McDonald’s branding, preserving the packaging of the restaurant experiment.