80s Party Food Ideas

Sure, it's easy enough buying the 80s posters, or jammin' to Duran Duran and just letting the good times roll.

But what food does a party purist serve at an 80's party?

Check out the following ideas and suggestions for an 80s party menu guaranteed to be not only authentic but, like, totally mondo:

80s drinks - Two words: wine coolers. A fashionable mix of wine, fruit juice and soda water, they were a huge hit with 20-somethings when they were first introduced in the 80s. And those who attended college during the 1980s will definitely remember jello shots. Seriously trendy cocktails of the day also included Long Island Ice Tea, Kamikazees, Grasshoppers, and Fuzzy Navels.

For the teetotalers, fill the cooler with Fresca, Tab, Crystal Light or Capri Sun.

80s party snacks - Although invented in 1964, buffalo chicken wings really only took off in 1981. And the rest, as they say, is history. Also think about serving heaping bowls of a relatively new-fangled snack called microwave (wow!) popcorn. "Lite" low calorie versions were huge.

80s party food - Sushi hit the scene! Veal or chicken francese suddenly became the favorite of 80s foodies in restaurants throughout the land, along with equally popular pasta salad - washed down with lots of cheap house wine - white, preferably.

80s cakes and desserts - Of course, no 1980s restaurant dessert menu would have been complete without mud pie or dirt cake. For a down-home (and easier to serve) dessert, try trendy 80s pudding pops. For the calorie conscious, remember that frozen yogurt stores could be found on every street corner in every major city, and was the decade's equivalent to Starbucks, at least for a few years.

Want to get your sugar rush on? Pass around favorite 80's junk food such as Skittles, Reece's Pieces, and Pop Rocks. Or, put them in a goody bag for guests to take home.

Gnarly, dude.

More about 1980's party food around the Web:

How to Plan 80s Party Food

80s party foods