Coffee Talk With The Cajun Mamas

We Remember The 90s One Bite At A Time

• Chris Logan Media • Season 4 • Episode 6

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The Mexi Melt used to be pocket change, and now it comes back like a luxury item. We’re sitting down with coffee and doing what we do best: telling the truth about 90s food, the places we begged to go, and why those memories still hit so hard when you smell a pretzel or see a Pizza Hut booth.

We talk about how eating out felt like a real treat in the 1990s, especially in small-town life where your “restaurant options” might’ve been a gas station pizza, a local drive-in, or that one chain everyone talked about. From Taco Bell late-night runs (and ordering extras for the next morning) to the frustration of modern touchscreen ordering, we compare the old experience to what fast food has become. Then we jump to the spots that felt fancy back then: Olive Garden soup, salad, and breadsticks, Alfredo in a tub, Chili’s queso secrets, and mall days fueled by Auntie Anne’s cinnamon sugar pretzels.

And of course we go straight to Pizza Hut: the dim booths, the jukebox, the Book It personal pan pizza reward, and the full 90s decor we want back. We round it out with the ultimate 90s snacks and drinks list, including Lunchables, Dunkaroos, Doritos 3D, Fruit by the Foot, Gushers, Cosmic Brownies, Bubble Tape, Surge, Sunny D, Snapple, and Fruitopia, plus freezer classics like Kid Cuisine and pantry staples like Chef Boyardee.

Thanks again to our sponsor, Sterling Automotive Group, for supporting the show. If this brought back one vivid food memory, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review, then tell us what 90s snack or restaurant you miss the most.

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Mexi Melt Memories Begin

SPEAKER_01

Just because I got to go to Taco Bell, we get Mexi Milts. No pico sauce.

SPEAKER_03

Ah, Mexi Mel. And they don't do it no more. And when they bring it back, they want an arm and a leg for it. They want Mexi Melts were like 99 or 89 or 79 cents. I can't remember, but it was less than a dollar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Now it is a little ground beef and a little pico de gallo, some cheese.

Welcome And Setting The Table

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Coffee Talk with the Cajun Mamas. Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's dive into real conversations about life, motherhood, and a little inspiration to brighten your day.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, this is so good.

SPEAKER_01

I love this.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. We're talking about food this time.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, so there's so much to say about food all the time. But 90s food?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Oh.

SPEAKER_01

Childhood, not children. I can't wait to bring up some things with y'all.

Sponsor Shoutout And Family Vehicle Upgrade

SPEAKER_03

All right. So let's start out though by thanking our sponsor, Sterling Automotive Group. Um, listen, if you need a bigger vehicle for your family to haul your family to practices and games and all this and that, you need something you can count on, okay? And you need something that's big enough for your family.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So recently I was having this problem. I the last time I bought a vehicle was a Ford Explorer in 2013, and I can no longer fit my family. So we went to Sterling and we got we upgraded to the Expedition. Yes, and she's beautiful. Let me just tell you Expedition Max, because it got the big you gotta have the big bag for groceries. Yes. I went to Sam's in it, and it was so glorious. I fit all the family in it and my Sam's, and I just like I just feel like the fanciest lady. And you didn't have to have groceries stuck at the bottom of y'all feet on the floorboards to fit them, to fit in. On their laps, like seriously, it was bad. So we upgraded and Sterling made it so easy for us. We went to Sterling Ford in Opalousis. We dealt with Marty Thibodeau, he was amazing. Um, and he really listened to us and what we needed for our family. And we left the we left the parking lot that day with a brand new vehicle. So um, if you are looking for a new vehicle to fit your family like I was, yeah, y'all give save at sterling.com a a peep. They may have a pre-owned, they may have new, they have everything there. Y'all give them a uh give them a call or check out their website.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, for all the details. And thank y'all again, Sterling Automotive, for being our sponsor for this month. Okay.

Why Eating Out Felt Like A Treat

SPEAKER_03

90s food. 90s food. Let me tell you something about my childhood. I don't remember us going eat out very much. Like if we went eat out somewhere, it was because we already had to go to Lafayette to go grocery shopping. And we will, and you know, now as an adult, I know it's just because mom and daddy were hungry. So we went eat out while we were out. Um, but to say, like, hey, let's go eat out somewhere just to do it. No, we didn't. Uh-uh. We really just didn't. And by and and when we did go eat out, it was like fast food mostly places. And I was tickled to death. You hear me? It was a treat. Such a treat. Going to Taco Bell, going to Burger King, going just going anywhere.

SPEAKER_01

It was such a treat. So my mama, she worked, and so in the she they and I would go with her a lot. Like during the summer, she would let me come to work with her and she would take me to Taco Bell. And I just thought that was the most amazing thing.

SPEAKER_03

It was worth being bored all day because of that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You got to go to Taco Bell. Just because I got to go to Taco Bell, we give Mexi Milts. No pico sauce.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, Maxi Milk.

SPEAKER_01

And they don't do it no more. And when they bring it back, they want an arm and a leg for it.

SPEAKER_03

They want Mexi Melts were like 99 or 89 or 79 cents. I can't remember, but it was less than a dollar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

That's all it is, is a little ground beef and a little pico de gallo, some cheese.

SPEAKER_01

That's it. That's it. And I don't know why

Taco Bell Late Nights And Price Shock

SPEAKER_01

they're charging for that. Used to be when you'd go out late, I don't know about you, when we would go out, uh we get Taco Bell on the way back, of course.

SPEAKER_03

Well, you always get extra Meximo to have your little breakfast, hangover breakfast in the morning when you wake up. Oh. Yeah. Y'all got extra? Extra ones.

SPEAKER_01

A lot of money.

SPEAKER_03

It was only less than a dollar apiece. So we was like four and five, six Mexic melts, and we'd have two or three when we got back.

SPEAKER_01

When we'd go out, one time I punched my friend Kyra in the uh no, she punched me because I was aggravating her. Like we got so payade that uh she couldn't handle me no more in the Taco Bell Park and Taco Bell Park. And she punched me. I can't believe.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Thought I'd bring that up. But yeah, it was it was uh because they stay open.

SPEAKER_03

They do late. You know, they get just like Waffle House gets all the drunk people, Taco Bell Drive-Thru gets all the drunk people.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And um, but I mean I don't eat that much from Taco Bell anymore, but Taco Bell. It's been a while. You know, we used to have one at Church Point. I heard about this. It was in the gas.

SPEAKER_03

This was before my time here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Taco Bell Express. Express. Yeah. So they had Mexi Mel there because that's easy to make.

SPEAKER_03

My favorite was Mexican pizza. Did you like that? With the crunchy shell in the middle, and yeah, Mexican pizza and a Mexi melt was just enough food.

SPEAKER_01

Like that was the perfect meal for me. I would get soft taco supreme and a Mexi Melt. No pico sauce.

SPEAKER_03

On the Mexi Mel? So basically meat and cheese. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

But the Pico made it the flavor that it was like. Well, I didn't know that until later on in life because my mama, she doesn't like pico. So she would say, We want four Maxi milks, Mexi Melts, no Pico sauce. And then whenever I got older, I was like, wait, I like Pico. It's yummy. You know? So now when they bring it back, I get one, but I'm always mad because I gotta pay like five dollars for it. 129. No, it's more than that. Really? I want to say they wanted to charge me $3 and something. And I don't know what they're charging for. There's nobody to take your order anyway. You gotta go press a bunch of buttons. You gotta do it your own self. Yeah. If you go inside the place, yeah. Oh, there's nothing that aggravates me more. I tell you, technology is not everything. Not everything. So anyway, now that I'm off of that totebox. Taco

Small Town Chains And Simple Splurges

SPEAKER_01

Bell was great. We had a Sonic that came, I want to say in the 90s, the late 90s, early 2000s. I don't know. Somebody in church wanna correct me. Um, but it was great. Like we didn't have any places to eat except for we had uh Sonny's. And we might have had like gas station pizza, but um not anything like a uh like a like a yeah, Gay don't had nothing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean a local place like Johnny's Drive In um and a gas station pizza, maybe. Uh but you if you get to go to Kaplan, you had Sonic and you had Subway Um and that's a McDonald's. They had a McDonald's, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you know, but going out to eat was a treat, you know, back in the 90s. And honestly, we didn't have a whole lot of money to be spending on food. We just lived simpler. We did, you know. But we didn't know like when when we would get together, like when we had like a splurge night, we would make um hot dogs with chili sauce. Do you know what I'm talking about? That Ostex chili sauce. We're not talking about um what's that good one? Like wolf or horme, like horme. Ain't no, I had never heard of horme in my life, okay? Until way later. I was a teenager at least. We ate that chili sauce on some weenies and a bread. Not no bun, a bread. Uh for yeah. Blanket the bread. And we just thought that was the best thing in the whole entire world. We couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_03

It turned out just fine. Yeah. What are the popular chain restaurant chains came about in the nineties? Um apparently Applebee's and chilies began in the nineties.

SPEAKER_01

That's when I heard about hormail, which chilies. Because they use hormail and velve to make their uh queso.

SPEAKER_03

I'll be I didn't even know that.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that's cool.

SPEAKER_03

Now we didn't have this around here. Have you heard of the old spaghetti factory? No, no, we don't eat spaghetti around here too much. Like go to go I'm not going nowhere. To go or out somewhere to order. Now, Olive Gordon, that was huge for me. I love Olive Gordon, but I'm not eating spaghetti when I'm there. No, what I was eating I'm an Alfredo sauce for me all the way. Um, in fact, you get it in a tub and you dip your breadsticks in it. Yes. 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10.

SPEAKER_01

And you get as many breadsticks as you want. Endless breadsticks. And oh, yeah, me and my friend Leanne would do that a lot. That's when I was fancier. When I was a like her mama would take us to Chili's and Olive Garden, and that was peanut. So good. She would bring us to shop and go to the mall, and then we would go to Olive Garden.

SPEAKER_03

So good. So good. So good. When my mom and I would go shopping, we would go shopping all day. And it was always lunch at Olive Garden, and then we'd go in the mall in the mall and get a little coffee from CC's or something, and that was just peak life right there. Such a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01

We would get a pretzel at Auntie Ann's with my cinnamon pretzels? We are the salty with the cheese.

SPEAKER_03

We would get the cinnamon ones. And like they would just be coated all the way around in cinnamon sugar.

SPEAKER_01

Do you ever wonder if we passed each other in the pretzel line? Or at Olive Gordon. I bet we did. I bet we did. Yes. And God said later. Later, not now. Later in life. Not now.

Olive Garden Days And Mall Snacks

SPEAKER_01

My child. We need well, since we're talking about this, we probably need to go and have a whole 90s day. And we could eat at Olive Gordon. Look at your eyes. They're like, oh my God, that's so many calories.

SPEAKER_03

And go get Auntie Ann's. Yeah. I love I still love the salad over there. The salad dressing at the Olive Gordon. Oh yeah. Soup salad and breadsticks. That's it.

SPEAKER_01

Zupa tacana.

SPEAKER_03

Yes! Zupa tacana. That's the peak meal right there. Okay, well, let's just do that. And we'll have soup salad and crap. Can we uh dress like we can get some chokers to wear? Can we go to Goodwill and get some chicken? And get some 90s clothes.

SPEAKER_01

Or whatever. Whatever. Your daughters probably have something to wear. Got some bracelets we can wear for sure. Right? Oh, that would make for great content.

SPEAKER_03

It would. That would be so fun. We can mu I have butterfly clips. Oh. Can just be deck ourselves in butterfly clips. That sounds cool. We're getting into another episode right now. Because we'll be doing fashion on another episode. Okay.

Subway Cuts And Pizza Hut Magic

SPEAKER_03

Uh, what about blimpy? Were you blimpy or subway? I don't know about a blimpy. It's the same thing, I think.

SPEAKER_01

But it was always subway. We went to Subway. It was always Subway, yeah. And they would cut the bread. Like they would take the loaf and they would cut it like a triangle. Used to do that. Yeah, they don't do that no more. Used to do that. They don't do that more. I I think I prefer the way that they do it now because then I get more meat to bread ratio where you're not just taking a big bite of bread on either side of the beats. True. But I do remember when they did that. Yeah, me too. Now that you say it, and we used to make Subway sandwiches at home and we'd cut them like that. What? Pizza Hut. We almost went the whole episode without even mentioning pizza.

SPEAKER_03

How could I forget Pizza Hut? That was where you would go to eat pizza. I mean, in Crowley, we'd go to Crowley, and they the the appetizer. Now my parents rarely would order an appetizer anywhere. It was what they got.

SPEAKER_01

We never did.

SPEAKER_03

Cheese bread. Like it was garlic cheese toast. Mm-hmm. Just stop right there. Then I must. I could fill up on that alone. That was so good. And they had a jukebox in the back. Like you could play music on that jukebox. Like Mama can have a quarter to go put a song on.

SPEAKER_01

That was the whole experience. It was so fun. And then at school, they would, if you read so many books, it was the book it, okay? Okay. Then they would give you a free personal pan pizza if you read your books. So you was reading. Uh-huh. I was reading for my pizza. Uh-huh. And then the salad bar. Oh, yeah. We would just drink like just wrench our salad. And they'd have those little main noodles, you know. And some crunchy on it? Yeah. Or chow mein noodles. Or whatever they call it. Yeah. The little crunchies. And it just was a whole vibe. And the dark lit booth. I mean, everything was real dim. Yeah. Yeah. Chase and I, um, one time when we were in first grade together and we saw each other at Pizza Hut and he was so excited to see me. Oh. You remember did he know. Yeah, I do. Oh. Later, little did he know. He would matter. I'd be the woman of his dreams. Or maybe he didn't know. He didn't know. You didn't know. Yeah, maybe I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03

He was excited to see you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. But we would go to the one in Opalousis. And I hear that they're bringing back the 90s decor.

SPEAKER_03

That's what I heard too, or saw on Facebook or something. That they're bringing back like the uh the stained glass looking lamps and everything. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Bring it all back. I want the whole experience. Bring back the jukebox because that was the thing. I don't want none of that touch screen stuff. I want to press the button and it goes. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

And then the sad part, uh, I remember one time like putting in one or two quarters or whatever and picking songs, and they it never played while we were there. Because they had so many before ahead of me, but you had no way of knowing what was ahead of you or not. So I was like, Oh, I never even got to hear my that whatever song it was. Probably Hansen. Probably. Yeah. And I'm like, and we left, and my pizza.

SPEAKER_01

Somebody else got to hear you.

SPEAKER_03

Somebody else got to hear it.

SPEAKER_01

Mm-hmm. Oh well. Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut

Lunchables And Peak 90s Snacks

SPEAKER_01

Leave. So here's a couple of things that they came out with in the 90s that were popular.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, like the Lunchables. Lunchables made its debut with their stackable cold cuts.

SPEAKER_03

Um for field trips at school. If you had a Lunchables, yeah, you were cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Don't even talk about the pizza one. That was like really cool. Epitome.

SPEAKER_03

I remember a little a girl in my class, a friend, and she was kind of my friend, but um, she was like very picky on what she ate. Like she had to bring her lunch to school every day because she didn't didn't want the cafeteria food. Not allergic or nothing, just picky. Didn't want it. Didn't want. Um, and every day. Then pizza lunchables every day. And I'm just like standing in line for my lunch food. And I'm looking at wishing like her mama really loves her.

SPEAKER_01

And all she was having was a little old cold black with a uh piece of cardboard with uh some ketchup on it, you know, just nothing to be desired. No, but I can tear one down right now. I'll tell you what, because now they come with a Capri Sun and a cookie.

SPEAKER_03

That I I mean, I'll just look at that and I'm still hungry though. That ain't enough.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, no, I don't not even for a kid.

SPEAKER_03

Not even for a kid. My kids eat that and they still hungry after. Forget it.

SPEAKER_01

What about dunkaroos? Do you remember dunkaroos? And it was like a cookie and you could dunk it in the icing.

SPEAKER_03

The icing with the sprinkles in it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I remember that. My mama didn't buy me those though.

SPEAKER_01

No, not often, but like probably my friend had them at home and I would eat them at her house. Um Doritos 3D.

SPEAKER_03

I remember those in the tube, right? They were in a tube. Were they? Or I think I thought they were in a tube, not a can, not like a almost like a Pringles can. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Not a bag, but I could be wrong. Maybe the can help them keep their 3D shape. I don't know. Fruit by the foot. Love it. Was a um thing. Some fruit by the foot and gushers. Gushers. Love it. I I didn't care for any of that. Uh, but that you remember the one that you could unroll and it would tattoo your tongue? They still have those. Maria, Maria got some not that long ago. Oh, now this is what we would get, but not all the time. The uh Lil' Debbie Cosmic Brownies that came out in the 90s. Now we're more fudge round family. Okay. Oatmeal pie.

SPEAKER_03

My daddy would always get the brownies with the pieces of nuts on them. Was it pecans? Do you think it was pecans? No. They don't make that no more, huh? Walnut. No, not with all the nut allergies. Yeah, true. But that's what I remember picking them off. Because I didn't care for that.

SPEAKER_01

I hated those. Yeah. When they came. You know how we feel about nuts in our browns. Oh lord. It's unnecessary. How about the hubba bubble tape? I loved bubble tape. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. What about that fruit stripe gum? With the zebra on it? Yeah. Loved it. Loved it. Chicklets. Chiclets. Loved it. Chicks. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Loved it out. We had all that. We had all that.

Surge Drinks And Freezer Favorites

SPEAKER_01

And then let's talk about beverages. Surge. I was about to say, what was the most controversial beverage? Surge. Surge. I remember going a kid energy drink. Yes. Going to the store and choosing a surge out of the machine. Good.

SPEAKER_03

Not that I remember. Like I didn't remember thinking, like, oh, this is so tasty.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, Lord. We just, we were crazy about surge. Snapple was a big thing. Phantom. Fanta and high C. But um Sonny D.

SPEAKER_03

If you would go to my friend's house and her mama had Sonny D for breakfast or whatever. Oh, I would they would live in large. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I think my mama would get Sunny D, but you know what? She loved Fruitopia. Oh, yeah. I remember that. She would go and we she would get a Fruitopia and I would get a surge out of the machine. Oh, she would just let you have a surge. Or she'd like to mix a bunch of stuff together. Like she would take strawberry jello and sprite and mix it together.

SPEAKER_03

Who's that your mama? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

She liked a little cocktail, I guess.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But a kid cuisine. Did you ever have a kid cuisine? Frozen food?

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I think I remember that. And it has the little macaroni and cheese, and it has the little cake in it. And you know, Salisbury steak or chicken nuggets or whatever. See, moms were busy back then too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Go get your little kid cuisine out of the freezer and heat that up.

SPEAKER_01

Special when we had kid cuisine. Chef boy RD. Oh yeah. Can of balioli and spaghettios. My kids don't like it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_03

I loved it too. But um, I think we had got a can in like a box of those food, the food they give to schools or whatever. And I tried it like as an adult.

SPEAKER_01

It's nasty. No, because you know what it's supposed to taste like now. You know, like you've gone to Olive Garden for God's sake. You have lived the best Italian life. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03

Not to mention my grandma could cook a spaghetti, like was my favorite spaghetti ever.

SPEAKER_01

My grandma was Italian.

SPEAKER_03

So, but yeah, no, but um I'll I'll have the spaghettios. That was another thing that picky little girl, that's all she would eat was spaghettios.

SPEAKER_01

If you were that picky little girl that Koa sat next to, please message us. I would love to know.

SPEAKER_03

I'm not gonna say her name.

SPEAKER_01

You remember her name? A thousand percent I remember her name. But I'm not gonna say on Facebook later.

Listener Prompts Sponsor Thanks And Goodbye

SPEAKER_01

What are some quick quick, I mean, some foods that you remember, drinks that you remember from the 90s, um, maybe even alcoholic beverages that we wouldn't have known anything about.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Um, y'all let us know. We would love to hear. Yes. You re- recant your 90s glory of food.

SPEAKER_03

We would very much. Where would y'all go eat out? You know, what was what was the place or the thing you would eat all the time? Let us know. Yeah. Oh, that was fun. So fun. I can't wait for our next 90s episode.

SPEAKER_01

I know it. Thank y'all so much for listening today, and especially thank you to Sterling Automotive Group. They are just a hub of vehicles. A hub Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Ford, Lincoln, Genesis, um, GMC, Kia, Buick. If you didn't say that, all of them. Hyundai, even. So if you are looking for any type of vehicle, used or pre-owned, yeah. They got you covered. Got you covered. And their service is phenomenal. Yeah. So um go and check them out at save at Storling Sterling at Sterling.com. And thank y'all so much for being our sponsor. Whoop. Yep, that too. Coffee for Coffee Talk with the Cajun Mamas. Thank y'all so much.

SPEAKER_03

We'll see y'all next week. Bye, y'all. Bye.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for joining us on Coffee Talk with the Cajun Mamas. We hope you enjoyed your cup of coffee and our chat. Don't forget to subscribe and share with your friends. Until next time, keep the coffee brewing and the conversation flowing.