No One Today Would Believe the Items on the Original Michigan Little Caesars Menu

Taking a nostalgic look back at well known fast food chains can often reveal surprises. The difference are almost always seen in the menu. Consider an original McDonald's menu that featured just a few items - hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and drinks. That was it.

The trajectory of the menu at Little Caesars was decidedly different. The menu of the popular Michigan-founded chain has become much more basic in the decades since the first pizzeria was founded in the Detroit suburb of Garden City.

That very first restaurant was known as Little Caesars Pizza Treat and featured - here comes the surprise - spaghetti, broasted chicken, shrimp and fish. Likely that seafood was fried.

READ MORE: Little Caesars Once Gave Michigan 2x4s of Flavor with 'Pizza by the Foot'

Just three years after the Garden City pizza shop opened in 1959 a franchise location sprouted in Warren. That location also included chicken, fish and shrimp on the menu. That same menu continued to be served at Little Casears across southeast Michigan.

It was in the late 70s that the menu began to narrow to pizza. It was 1979 that the now famous PIzza! Pizza! concept was launched.

Get our free mobile app

A look back at the original Little Caesars locations from the Historic Detroit Facebook page brought both memories of the lost menu items and surprise at their existence from those too young to have known the original Little Caesars:

Wowwww...why & when da hell did dey stop making fish & shrimp

The fish was a favorite at our house

Chicken, fish AND shrimp?????????? Bring THAT back!

Little Caesars need to go back to the old school with chicken fish and shrimp and all the fries you can give me thank you thank you

We ordered from there in the early 60s. It was a treat. Large pepperoni pizza and a quart of spaghetti.

READ MORE: There's a Hidden Message in the Little Caesars Logo No One Notices

Today the menu at Little Caesars is pizza, breadsticks or cheese bread and chicken wings (notably baked rather than fried). While one might long to try items from the original menu compared to today's offerings, perhaps it's best to remember the adage to one one thing and do it great.

The Little Caesars website has a full history of the chain include photos of early restaurants.