NEW YORK, NY — Fast food hacks do not usually become famous because they are elegant. They spread because they are easy to copy, cheap enough to try, and just strange enough to make people curious. A Food Republic roundup pulled together nine orders that have kept showing up across TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and other social feeds.
The list ranges from bunless burgers to loaded burritos and a few drinks that are basically a regular soda with better PR. Some are long-running secret-menu staples, while others became internet favorites after one convincing post sent everyone running to the app.
What People Order
The appeal is less about mystery than convenience. Fans keep sharing ways to order a Taco Bell Incredible Hulk burrito, an In-N-Out Flying Dutchman, a McDonald’s double cheeseburger dressed up as a Poor Man’s Big Mac, and Wendy’s chili baked potato, all with simple tweaks to menu items people already know.
Other favorites in the roundup include Sonic’s vanilla cherry Sprite, Five Guys’ grilled cheese burger, Taco Bell nacho fries folded into burritos, Popeyes’ famous chicken sandwich, and Chick-fil-A’s buffalo chicken mac and cheese. The common thread is that each one can be described in a sentence and assembled without much drama, which is usually how a hack earns a second life online.
How It Started
Several of the items have been around for years. In-N-Out’s Flying Dutchman has circulated for decades, and Wendy’s once made its chili and cheese baked potato a permanent menu item back in 1983 after fans kept treating it like an off-menu standard. Taco Bell’s customizable menu also made it easy for people to invent burritos that never appeared in any official ad.
Some orders caught fire more recently. The Popeyes chicken sandwich exploded in 2019 after a tweet helped send people scrambling to buy one. Chick-fil-A’s buffalo chicken mac and cheese hack was popularized in early 2020 by Jenee Suggs, while Five Guys’ grilled cheese burger had already been bouncing around social platforms by 2021 before it later showed up in a more official form at many locations.
Where It Stands
Not every viral order remains strictly off-menu. Taco Bell announced that nacho fries would become a permanent menu item starting in 2026, which makes the burrito versions easier for fans to keep building. Five Guys also leaned into the idea by putting a version of the grilled cheese burger on the regular menu as a patty melt at many locations in 2024.
Even so, a few of the most popular hacks still depend on whether an employee recognizes the shorthand, whether the app allows the modification, or whether the local store makes the ingredients in the same way. The online enthusiasm is real, but the exact result can still vary from one counter to the next.
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