"At the advent of the 1990s diet culture, fast food companies were looking for new ways to market their food to people concerned with calorie counting. Fajita wraps were marketed as a low-calorie alternative to burgers and fries. The fajita wrap was a food that most people thought was healthy, as it featured grilled rather than breaded and fried meat, and a low-calorie tortilla instead of a thick bun."
"Jack in the Box's Chicken Fajita Pita was introduced in 1988 and featured strips of chicken in a pita pocket with grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese. It was popular because it was only 350 calories, so people could enjoy a relatively light fast food delight. And as most chains switched course and began focusing on creating more elaborate sandwiches, Jack in the Box stayed true to its retro wrap ... until now."
Fast food chains marketed fajita wraps in the 1990s as low-calorie alternatives to burgers and fries, highlighting grilled meat and thin tortillas. Typical wraps contained strips of steak or chicken on a flour tortilla with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and a mayonnaise-based sauce. Jack in the Box introduced a Chicken Fajita Pita in 1988 featuring chicken, grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese, marketed at about 350 calories. Most chains later dropped fajita wraps while Jack retained its retro pita until February 2025, when the Chicken Fajita Pita was removed; some fans started a Change.org petition. Fajitas trace roots to 1930s vaqueros and were popularized in Austin in 1969.
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