We all remember that special day in high school that the cafeteria would stop serving all of their usual poison and put out something that the WHOLE school wanted. This was the day that everyone got 5 dollars from their parents that day and lines were longer than ever before, however, those dishes get enough credit. I’m here to help you remember the lunches that made your skin crawl when you looked on the menu and made you jealous of the kids who packed lunch that day.
Rib on a Bun
Everyone has heard of the more popular but equally disgusting McRib from McDonald’s. Imagine getting that but a high school cafeteria version. It was a gross piece of butterfly-shaped meat on a hotdog bun with sugary BBQ sauce hardened on top. YUCK!
Pasta with meat sauce
You would think this wouldn’t be terrible, however, you thought wrong. The sauce was made with a similar mystery meat as the “Rib Sandwich” with chunky tomatoes and most likely served cold.
Fish Sticks
It wouldn’t be a cafeteria food horror story without the dreaded fish sticks. Kids would get their hopes up because it looked like you were eating chicken strips for lunch until your nostrils opened up and all you smelled was rotten seafood.
Any kind of vegetable or fruit they tried serving you
This was a huge one at my school at least, the few days that lunch would be decent they would ruin it by giving you a side of mushy peas or old carrots to go with your meal. They finally started asking you if you wanted the side of them so they would waste all the food that kids were throwing away. At my school, we always got a little eyeroll when we denied the gross side. Sorry, Betty, I don’t want your moldy cauliflower and corn mush.
The Famous Thanksgiving Dinner
This one was huge at my school, you got a dirt dry piece of turkey smothered in chunky grey gravy. You also got some mashed potatoes, which I have to admit were always pretty good, gross mushy vegetables (messaged above), some dry stuffing that tasted like cardboard, and usually a stale roll that you couldn’t butter because they didn’t trust you with plastic knives.