Maine School Lunches From the ’90s That Absolutely Slapped

If you went to school in Maine in the 1990s, there are certain cafeteria foods you can probably still smell if you think about them hard enough.

And honestly, some of them had no business being as good as they were.

First up: rectangle pizza.

three slices of pizza sitting on top of a pan

Nobody knew what kind of cheese was on it. Nobody knew what species the pepperoni came from. The crust had the structural integrity of drywall. And yet, when rectangle pizza was on the menu, you knew it was going to be a good day.

Then there was the chicken patty sandwich. A suspiciously perfect circle of breaded chicken, slapped onto a hamburger bun that somehow managed to be both dry and damp at the same time. Add one packet of mayonnaise and suddenly you were eating like royalty.

a person holding a chicken sandwich in their hand

Tater tots? Elite.

Nachos with that radioactive orange cheese? Five stars.

Breakfast for lunch? Forget about it. Tiny pancakes, questionable sausage links and syrup that somehow ended up on every surface within six feet.

person holding tray with fried food

And every Maine school had at least one lunch nobody wanted. Maybe it was Salisbury steak. Maybe it was mystery casserole. Maybe it was something called “chop suey” that looked like it had already been eaten once.

But even the bad lunches were part of the experience.

You’d sit at those giant folding cafeteria tables, trading snacks like prison currency, drinking chocolate milk out of a tiny carton and hoping your friend didn’t ask for your last tater tot.

children sitting on chair eating

Were school lunches actually that good?

Probably not.

But in 1997, rectangle pizza absolutely slapped.