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Red Robin’s Big Melt Bacon Burger LTO was a hit but the marketing for it fell short.

The Big Melt Bacon Burger didn't draw customers.

That was the explanation Red Robin Gourmet Burgers executives offered today for the company’s disappointing 0.5% increase in same-store sales for the first fiscal quarter, ended April 15, 2012 (see full financial results here). Comps in the previous quarter had been up 3.1%. Average check in Q1 was up 4.1% for the quarter, but guest counts fell 3.6%, a drop the executives said took them by surprise. The Big Melt “struggled to break through the clutter and provide the [sales] performance expected,” said CEO Steve Carley.

The new Tavern Double is a permanent addition.

Chief Marketing Officer Denny Post said 4.6% of customers purchased the $6.99 Big Melt, pslightly better than the 4% buy-in for the earlier Prime Chophouse burger LTO. But the Big Melt “didn’t drive incremental customer traffic,” Post said, meaning current customers simply traded down to the Big Melt.

The new Tavern Double burger also is priced is at $6.99 (with Bottomless Steak Fries), but with add-on “Styles” (for example, extra bacon and bacon aïoli  with the “Pig Out Style” build) at $1 each to improve its profit margin. The Tavern Double, a permanent menu addition, provides “a $6.99 starting point every day to trade up from,” Post said. The new burger also gives Red Robin another competitively priced burger to promote at lunch, where rivals’ discounting has hurt Red Robin.

Post said that competitors’ pricing “did hurt us disproportionately at lunch. They came down and played in at our $5.99, $6.99 price point.” She noted Applebee’s $6.99 Pick ‘N Pair lunch deal; Chili’s new Lunch Break at $6 and up, and others.

The Tavern Double burger is a platform and not just a one-off creation, Post said. The chain plans to add additional “Style” add-ons to keep the product fresh. “It’s a very easy way for us to add news [to the menu] and get buzz [on social media],” she said.

While providing “everyday affordability” is one current focus for management, the other is to reimage Red Robin’s bar area to make it more adult and sophisticated in perception. This is part of the chain’s ongoing “Take Back the Bar” program to build high-margin alcoholic beverage sales. In line with this goal, the chain named Donna Ruch to the new post of master mixologist this week.

McDonald's cheeseburger (shown above) gets dressed up as the McCruncher in test markets.

That was fast. On May 4, BurgerBusiness.com reported that McDonald’s had filed a federal trademark application for the name “McCruncher.” Apparently the name is just too good not to use.

In selected markets including several in Alabama, McDonald’s has begun testing a—you guessed it—McCruncher cheeseburger. Two things are interesting about it. One is that it dresses up that poor, long-neglected plain Cheeseburger. It gets white Cheddar, a zippy Chipotle Ranch sauce and crispy onion strings for crunch, and it’s plain no more. What’s also interesting is that the cheeseburger still is being menued for just $1, giving the McDouble  some much needed and tasty competition on the Dollar Menu. Blogger GrubGrade recently reported that McDonald’s elsewhere is testing a Bacon McDouble for $1.99.

Steak ‘n Shake this month added a Jalapeňo Crunch Steakburger to its menu as the popularity of fried onions as a burger topping increases.

Starting today, parents who purchase Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurants in the UK will have the option of a new proprietary sparkling drink called Fruitizz. A mix of 60% fruit juice (from apples, grapes and raspberries) and natural sparkling water, the beverage has no added sugars or artificial colors or flavors. Rather than be aseptically packaged like milk, Fruitizz will be dispensed from the regular fountain machines because, the chain says, children perceive fizzy fountain drinks to be “more exciting and desirable.”

The beverage is not sugar-free, however. Made for McDonald’s by Coca-Cola Co., 500 ml of Fruitizz reportedly has 49 grams of sugar and 200 calories. The chain stresses that these are not added sugars. “The calories are down to the natural sugar in the fruit,” Jill McDonald, CEO of McDonald’s UK, told The Mirror.

But some critics consider the beverage unhealthy for kids because of the sugar content. A headline in Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun screamed “ ‘Healthy’ McDonald’s drink has 12 teaspoons of sugar.” The article quoted dietitian Christina Merryfield of London’s Bupa Cromwell Hospital as saying, “A large cup of this drink has more sugar than a can of Fanta.” In fact, when test marketed in 62 McDonald’s stores in Wales last year, the drink was labeled as Fanta Fruitizz.

In announcing the rollout throughout the UK, McDonald’s said Fruitizz “will help parents give children one of their five daily portions of fruit and vegetables while still offering kids the fizzy treat they love when they visit McDonald’s.”

McDonald told The Mirror the chain has been developing Fruitizz for three years. She worked on it as marketing manager before she was named CEO in 2010. The chain says it was seeking “to create a fizzy drink that is unlike anything else currently available in high street restaurants. We tried and tested 80 formulations in order to create the right product that delivers nutritional benefit as well as a new, exciting taste.” The chain has not said if it intends to market Fruitizz in the U.S. or other markets as well.

TV, print and digital ad support for Fruitizz launches today. Leo Burnett, London, handles McDonald’s in the UK.

New team (from l.): Laurie Scanlin, Scott Weaver and Donna Ruch

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers expanded and reconfigured its F&B-development staff by hiring away executives from three other restaurant chains. The new hires will work with Scott Schooler, VP-Food & Beverage, and Executive Chef David Woolley, both of whom continue in those roles.

Scott Weaver joins Red Robin in the newly created post of director of culinary. He previously served as executive manager of culinary operations at The Cheesecake Factory’s Calabasas Hills, Calif., headquarters.

Another new post, master mixologist, is being filled by Donna Ruch, who has been with T.G.I. Friday’s USA since 2006, most recently as project manager for bar & beverage innovation. Her hiring reflects Red Robin’s long-held interest in increasing its bar business.

Laurie Scanlin’s title at Red Robin is director of research & development. She has been at fast-casual leader Chipotle Mexican Grill since 2008 as manager of nutrition and food improvement.

“We’re beefing up our Menu Team to continue to deliver on the promise of being America’s Gourmet Burger purveyor,” Denny Post, Red Robin CMO, said in a release announcing the hires.

Fast-casual continues to be the engine driving overall restaurant growth, and Five Guys Burgers and Fries remains the leader among fast-casual burger-menu restaurants, according to new data from Chicago-based Technomic.

Technomic has increased to 150 from 100 the number of top fast-casual chain brands covered in its annual report, in itself an indication of the category’s growth in size and importance. Overall, Technomic sees upwards of 400 chains now in defined as fast casual. See Technomic’s “10 F’s” list of fast-casual characteristics to understand how it defines the category.

The fast-casual category in total had sales of  $27 billion. The 150 largest fast-casuals accounted for $21.5 billion, up 8.4%. By contrast, sales by Technomic’s Top 500 chains of all types grew just 3.5% last year.

The Top 150 fast-casuals continue to grow in scope: their 17,447 units in aggregate represent a 5.2% increase from 2010.

Panera Bread is the largest fast-casual chain, with 2011 sales of $3.3 billion. Five Guys Burgers & Fries’ $950 million keeps it the largest burger-menu fast-casual chain. Loved by burger fans, hated by peddlers of social-media tools (which Five Guys doesn’t use), the chain had 918 units at the end of 2011.

Each year, Peter Backman travels from London to the NRA Show in Chicago to have a look at what’s up with the U.S. foodservice industry. The managing director of Horizons, the UK’s leading provider of data and insights about foodservice there and across Europe, Backman brings a unique perspective and authority to his assessment not only of the show but also of the entire industry.

Peter Backman

This year, his “What’s Hot in the USA” report finds “a real feeling of grim determination in the U.S. foodservice industry—not an attitude that the U.S. is known for.” What has tempered the usually cheery American optimism has been confronting the reality that while sales are rising again, so is inflation, making real growth fairly static. The U.S., Backman says, is coming to grips with what European operators already have accepted: “that this is what the world of foodservice is going to look like for some time.”

Despite economic pressures that would put innovation “in the back seat,” Backman notes  “At the NRA Show there was no shortage of innovative products.” A smartphone app that offers “scratch-and-win” capabilities is among them. Still, his conversations lead him to conclude that “the average foodservice operator—indeed the large majority—are being prudent, sticking to what they know works, keeping an eye on costs, and taking their time about adopting new ideas (unless they save costs) and adding new products to their menus.”

You can read Peter Backman’s “What’s Hot in the USA” in full here. Visit the Horizons website at www.hrzns.com; offer your feedback at info@hrzns.com.

Burger King announced a surprisingly strong beginning to 2012, reporting positive sales gains for most of its system. The U.S./Canada division had comp sales growth of +4.2% for the quarter that ended March 31, 2012 (compared with -2.0% for Q4 and -6.0% a year ago). This is the chain’s best showing in North America in two years. But while North America still accounts for 60% of all Burger King restaurants, its footprint here is declining: the chain registered a net loss of 58 stores in the U.S. and Canada over the past year.

The Q1 sales gain comes before the April debut of the new menu.

Interestingly, Burger King—owned by a Brazilian equity firm but which has sold a minority stake to British-based investment vehicle Justice Holdings Ltd.—is increasingly driven by unit growth and sales gains in Latin America and Europe. Latin America comp sales were +9.9% in Q1; EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) sales were +6.6%.

As reported here earlier, Burger King has added an innovative line of “Creole-style” burgers, called Churrasquito in Argentina. In Chile it offers a double-patty Premium Onion burger topped with grilled onion, thin-sliced ham and Cheddar.

Latin America is strong for BK, which offers the new Premium Onion burger in Chile.

Asia/Pacific (APAC) comp sales were the only disappointment at -2.8%. CFO Daniel Schwartz said much of the decline was due to troubles in Australia, where Burger King operate as Hungry Jack’s. Like Burger King in the U.S., Hungry Jack’s has overhauled its menu and is trying to make its brand image more adult. Removing the popular Aussie Whopper as part of the menu revamp generated enough negative feedback that it recently brought the beet-topped burger under a new name, Aussie XT.

Schwartz emphasized that Burger King’s solid Q1 sales came before the April introduction of its 13-item revised menu and its new TV campaign with Jay Leno, David Beckham, Sofia Vergara and others. Steve Wiborg, president of Burger King North America, wouldn’t quantify how well the campaign is boosting sales other than to say the chain’s sales momentum has continued into Q2.

Wendy’s pulled the promotion plug on its W cheeseburger, admitting that the $2.99 introductory price was too low and that, as critics suggested at the time, the sandwich cannibalized sales of the higher-price Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy Cheeseburgers, added just weeks earlier. Even though the W’s price was pushed up to $3.19, the problem continued.

The result: “We will not promote the W Cheeseburger nationally again,” Wendy’s CFO Steve Hare told analysts during today’s Q1 conference call.

The unusual confession came as Wendy’s reported results for the quarter ended April 1, 2012, that were significantly below expectations and that CEO Emil Brolick called “personally disappointing.” Same-store sales for North America company restaurants were up just 0.8%, with franchised stores up 0.7%. Margins for company stores fell to 11.8% from 13.4%, reflecting higher commodity costs as well as “unfavorable product mix.”

In response to a “What were you thinking?” question, Brolick explained that the W had been priced low with the idea of creating a mid-price tier that discount-minded “My 99¢ Value Menu” buyers could trade up to. Instead, Dave’s buyers traded down to the W. Wendy’s discovered that “Those 99¢ shoppers are 99¢ shoppers and it’s not likely we can move them up,” Brolick said.

Worse, the W proved to have “low drag along” power, meaning many diners bought only the cheap burger and not higher-profit fries and beverages as well. Average check for W buyers were $1.19 lower than that or Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy buyers. No doubt Wendy’s wishes it hadn’t introduced the W with a TV spot claiming it had “a price that might make you giggle.” No one’s giggling now.

The "Now that's better" campaign will be used outside the U.S.

But Brolick still wants to close the price gap between the My 99¢ Value Menu and premium-price burgers and chicken, a gap he said is too wide. But instead of trying again to build a mid-tier, Wendy’s will spend Q2 and Q3 this year looking at changes in the 99¢ menu. Without giving many details, Brolick explained that the idea is to reposition the 99¢ menu from being strictly low-price to being a high-value option.

“We are not moving away from having a 99¢ menu,” Brolick said, but Wendy’s may narrow the number of items offered. The chain needs to retain price-value consumers but also needs to improve margins, he said.

Brolick said the new strategy of concurrently airing two advertising themes is working well. The “Now that’s better” commercials with actress Morgan Smith Goodwin—whom he described as the chain’s “redheaded consumer advocate”—also will be used outside the U.S., since social-media feedback signals the campaign’s success, he said. The “Wendy’s way” commercials with Wendy Thomas will appear throughout the year to reinforce core brand values.

Despite the W fiasco, Wendy’s intends to add new burgers later this year. A Bacon Portabella Burger was one that was briefly hinted at during the call.  Wendy’s also continues to test Grilled Chicken Flatbread Sandwiches in selected markets in Massachusetts, Florida and a few other states. A rollout is expected later this year.

McD's Sydney Stack

[May 16 Update: Sydney Stack is making an earlier-than-forecast debut; appearing already at Macca's]

McDonald’s Corp. spends upwards of $50 million every four years to maintain its membership in the exclusive The Olympic Program (TOP), the top tier of sponsors for the Olympic Games. That’s a significant investment, but being the Official Restaurant of the Games yields enough return that the company recently extended its membership for another eight years (encompassing the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia; the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro; the 2018 Games in Pyeonchang, South Korea; and the 2020 Games at a yet-to-be-decided site).

At the London Games—held from July 27 to Aug. 12—McDonald’s is creating four restaurants. One will be 9,843 square feet, making it the largest in the system. That fact is so amazing that the mainstream press all reported it last July when McDonald’s announced it, and now it is being widely reported once again.

But what will be served at the Olympics in London or here during the games? Last July, McDonald’s Executive Chef Dan Coudreaut promised “the broadest menu every offered” in London, but the chain has provided no menu details since then.

There may be hints, however, in the Olympics-themed menu that McDonald’s has planned for Australia. There, special items will each be named for past Olympic host city. According to sources, the 2012 Olympic menu down under includes three LTOs that will be offered beginning May 23 May 16 until Aug. 14:

The Sydney Stack Burger: a burger the way Australian consumers like it, with a slice of beet plus lettuce tomato and pineapple (rival Hungry Jack’s last week added a beet-topped Aussie XT in response to complaints when it dropped the Aussie Whopper);
The Barcelona Omelette;
The Paris Chocolate Delight.

The Atlanta Pork McRib, the iconic sandwich Australians have been asking for, will be offered only from May 23 to June 5.

London Fish & Fries don’t join the menu until June 13 (for a two-week run), while Beijing Chicken will be offered for two weeks beginning July 4.

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◙ Burger King, meanwhile, has its own “menu nationalism” going. In Canada, the chain has added a Maple BBQ Whopper (at left) and companion chicken version. It’s topped with hardwood-smoked bacon, Canadian Cheddar cheese and a “Gourmet Maple BBQ sauce.” I think “gourmet” has even less credibility than the overworked “artisan,” but there it is. These same condiments are on the crispy chicken patty.

That gourmet maple sauce also is drizzled over the new Maple BBQ Poutine, which is finished with crumbled bacon.

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◙ Let’s jump back to McDonald’s and back to Asia for one of the most unusual and oddly global burgers I’ve seen. In Hong Kong, McDonald’s is offering a “Special” version (at right) of its McSpicy Chicken sandwich that has Oktoberfest overtones.

Here’s the build: sauerkraut-like pickled cabbage is topped with a German sausage patty and a crispy McSpicy Chicken patty on a long rye bun. Can’t picture it? Watch the TV commercial here.

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◙ Three cool young guys cruising the streets. Late night. Rolling in a 1965 Buick Riviera. An abrupt u-turn when they see something appealing.

Sound like a scene from “American Graffiti”? No, this is a new TV commercial (at left) for McDonald’s breaking this week in Austria. The ad promotes the very upscale “M” burger that’s back on the menu there. Take a look. The spot, from agency Heye, closes with  “As always. Since 1977,” a reference to the year McDonald’s opened in Austria.

Crispy is all well and good, but if you’re serious about biting into something with louder, more assertive texture as well as flavor, you want crunch. And restaurants are providing it, judging by increasing use of “crunchy” as a menu descriptor. We’re cuckoo for crunchiness.

Steak ’n Shake this week added the Jalapeňo Crunch, a double-patty burger topped with pepper-Jack cheese, chipotle mayo, salsa, jalapeňos and crispy onions. The burger was part of a larger menu revamp, reported here last week, that includes the chain’s introduction of breakfast tacos.

More burgers like Steak ’n Shake’s may be coming: McDonald’s Corp. on April 17 filed a U.S. federal trademark registration for the term “McCruncher.”

Such filings don’t guarantee that a term will be used, of course, but McDonald’s interest in it is interesting. Big Mac used the McCruncher name several years ago for a test item, a double cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and crispy onions. And last summer the chain tested a Zesty BBQ Cruncher sandwich, available with either beef or chicken patty plus peppered bacon, barbecue sauce, pepper-Jack cheese and crispy onion strings. It came and went. Is a new McCruncher test in the works?

Source: Mintel Menu Insights.

If so, it can’t be called a “Crunchburger.” Eater.com reported that Restaurateur/TV celeb Bobby Flay has trademarked that term—referring to his signature potato-chip-topped burger­­ (get his recipe here)—as well as the term “Crunchify,” which isn’t a word anyway.

It’s good to get in there and stake claims your terms, though, because “crunchy” is gaining strength as a menu descriptor. According to data compiled for BurgerBusiness.com by Mintel, 96 incidences of “crunchy” were found on QSR menus currently (Q1 of 2012). That compares with 73 incidences five years ago, and there has been a steady rise in usage in the interim (see the chart).

Fast-casual restaurants are not big on “crunchy.” Mintel finds only 15 uses currently, a decline from 29 in Q1 2008.

Casual-dining restaurants (such as O’Charley’s or Houlihan’s), however, are the champions of crunchiness. Mintel finds 115 incidences of “crunchy” on casual-dining menus now, compared with 93 five years ago.

Since Rich Melman opened R. J. Grunt’s in 1971, he has been Chicago’s undisputed restaurant king and and an industry visionary. Several of the many restaurant concepts created by his company, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE), have become national chains. Among them are Corner Bakery Café, Maggiano’s Little Italy and Big Bowl. More than three dozen of his casual- and fine-dining restaurant concepts dot the city. In 2010, a tiny, limited-menu burger stand called M Burger was created out of what had been the chef’s-table dining room at Tru, one of LEYE’s fine-dining restaurants. They punched out a wall for a door and started serving burgers.

Tim Hockett

BurgerBusiness.com spoke with LEYE Division Chef/Partner Tim Hockett, who guided the creation of M Burger and is keeping it growing, about an unusual burger-business success.

BurgerBusiness.com:I can recall dining at the chefs table at Tru, but I certainly don’t recall thinking, “You know, this space would be great as a burger shack.” Who did think that and how did it come to be?
Tim Hockett: I worked at Tru from 2001 to 2004 and then left and moved to Virginia. My wife was getting her Ph.D. so we relocated to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for a few years. I came back and was working with Rich Melman as a divisional chef. He usually picks a few chefs to work with him to tweak the concepts. And with Rich, everything starts with the food. Before he moves out a wall or considers a space, it’s about a great bao or burger or an incredible sushi roll. He develops a concept around food that he likes.

So I was helping Rich out in 2008 when fine dining came to a halt. I was just hanging out at the chef’s table on a snowy winter’s day. I’d been to Shake Shack [in New York City] the year before, and I was falling in love with burgers again. When you cook high-end food, you may think the burger’s beneath you. You want to do foie gras and truffles. But Danny Meyer’s incredible burger at Shake Shack changed my thinking. So I’m sitting there at Tru thinking, “This is the perfect site for that.”

The signature M Burger

Why perfect?
Because I just was looking out the window and there were just hundreds of people walking by at lunch. I walked out in about a six-block radius and saw that there was just nothing on that side of Michigan Ave. for lunch. There’s a Corner Bakery, which is something we started about 14 years ago, but not much else. Northwestern Memorial Hospital has spread out and taken over from [Tru] to the lake, so there are thousands of employees without many [lunch] options.

So the market need was there? Good place to start.
Exactly. But also it was a way to use the chef’s table space that wasn’t being used much. The whole “kitchen table” idea became a little tired. In the 1990s it was a hot idea when Charlie Trotter and Tru were letting people come behind the scene and eat in the kitchen. And we thought a burger stand would be something affordable for the people there. There really wasn’t anything like it. And then, too, the burger is kind of the holy grail for Rich. Pizza, burgers and fudge are three items he’ll never be satisfied with. He’s always looking for the perfect incarnation.

What was his reaction to the burger stand idea?
I called him up and said, “Hey, I think I know what we can do with this space.” At first he laughed and told me to keep thinking about it, which his nice way of saying he was going to pass on it.

But we actually built a whole mockup [of M Burger] out of cardboard at another site so he could walk through the square footage and see that it would work. When he saw it built, that’s when he fell in love with it.

We’re talking about a really tiny space for that first one, aren’t we?
Oh, yeah. It’s like 300 square feet for that one. No. 2 is just over 500 square feet and with the third we went back to 385 square feet. The fourth, at Water Tower [mall on Michigan Ave.] is just over 1,000 square feet.

Did the small space necessitate keeping the menu small or did you simply want it to be spare?
I knew I couldn’t do a grilled burger. I love In-N-Out on the West Coast and Shake Shack on the East Coast, and they’re both old-school roadhouse griddled burgers, and that’s what I wanted to do. I knew we could only fit 12 people in that space. If 12 are there, it’s packed! We wanted to do 500 burgers a day. That was the goal. And all that necessitated doing a smaller, thinner pressed patty.

The "big" M Burger at Water Tower Place.

How much thought and testing went into the signature burger choice?
We tasted 40 or 50 different versions of the burger. We tried green chiles, and Italian flavors and all that. What it came down to was that we liked simple the best. In fact, our latest addition to the menu is called the Old Fashioned. We went back to ketchup, mayo, lettuce, pickle, tomato and onion and American cheese. It’s hard to beat that.

Did you do a custom grind?
We have some great meat partners that [LEYE has] been working with for years. We have a great burger grind that Rich has developed over 40 years, starting with R.J. Grunt’s. So we tweaked it out to our needs and we were there. And the Grunt’s burger is still great. Topped with Cheddar and mustard, it’s one of my favorite burgers in Chicago.

Is it like a Shake Shack burger?
You know, we tried the Shake Shack grind, which is a four-meat grind, with chuck, short rib, brisket and sirloin. We tried different versions of that. But when it comes down to it, what we’ve developed with Grunt’s is what we decided to stick with. It’s a chuck burger that’s a double-grind secret blend. It’s pretty solid. Click here to continue reading The Tru Story of M Burger

DMK's No. 11 lamb burger

Coming to Chicago for the NRA Show this weekend? Then you’ll want to visit several of the city’s best burger joints.  You don’t think former President Bill Clinton’s coming just to deliver the keynote address do you? Even if you’re not coming to the Show this year, you’ll want to know what some of the cool burger places have on their menus, right?

BurgerBusiness.com has compiled a list of 14 notable places in the city where you can get a great burger. All are within a reasonable cab ride from wherever you’ll be. The list’s not definitive because this is a burger town. This is the headquarters city of the world’s biggest burger chain, after all.  Almost every restaurant has a burger on the menu and new burgercentric restaurants open all the time. You can’t go far wrong.

Go here to download and print the BurgerBusiness.com list, with addresses, links to websites and order suggestions. Enjoy.

It’s barely spring but Sonic Drive-in is expected to announce this week that it’s sending its two TV spokesmen, Pete and T.J. on what it’s calling “The Great Skeedaddle—Sonic’s Summer Road Trip.”

Rather than have Pete and T.J. (brought back in February by new agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners after more than a year’s hiatus) just sit and chat at some nameless Sonic, the idea is to let the lovable duo (played by improve aces Peter Grosz and T.J. Jagodwoski) send a few postcards from the edge. In the setup commercial, Pete admits he needs a break from his wife and a daughter who wishes he were cooler. T.J.’s love life is a bit shaky, so he’s ready to “get out of Dodge” on a road trip, too.

One spot parks them at a Sonic supposedly in Duarte, Calif., where they’re discussing their sunburns and the new offer of half-price milk shakes after 8 p.m. (other beverages are half-price during Sonic’s “Happy Hour” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily).

T.J. (left) and Pete discuss sunburns and shakes.

Next they’re said to be in Bullhead City, Ariz., talking about how Sonic’s breakfast burritos are available all day (not a new offer).

Sonic also is expected to announce a “Super Your Summer” element to the campaign, promoting its large SuperSonic Double Cheeseburger and SuperSonic Bacon Double Cheeseburger as fries/beverage combo specials

A new summer Sonic Blaster variety is the Hey Batter Batter Blaster with Real Ice Cream, brownie batter and chocolate chip cookie dough.

More menu introductions are expected through the summer. Whenever that starts.

The menu differentiation between Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and its fast-casual spin off Red Robin’s Burger Works continues to blur. Added today as the latest item for Red Robin’s menu is a Red’s Tavern Double burger with two beef patties topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and “Red’s Secret Tavern Sauce” on a toasted sesame bun.

This burger is a jazzed-up version of the Tavern Double burger created by Exec Chef David Woolley for the Burger Works menu when the first of the down-sized units opened last November, as first reported here. The Tavern Double is $4.99 at Burger Works, but Red’s Tavern Double is introduced at $6.99, which includes the signature Bottomless Steak Fries. The full-service version also can be further embellished in one of three “styles” (akin to In-n-Out’s “Animal Style” secret order or The Habit Burger Grill’s “Santa Barbara Style”) for a $1 upcharge.

The options: order it “Cantina Jack Style” and you get green-chile aïoli , roasted green chiles and pepper-Jack cheese; a request for it “Pig Out Style” signals addition of bacon aïoli  and, yes, bacon; say “Buzzalo Style” and you get Buffalo sauce, crumbled blue cheese, blue-cheese dressing and celery slices.

These three options are the inspiration for “The Tripps,” a three-headed, three-armed burger lover featured in a new TV spot airing today through May 24. Digital marketing includes radio site Pandora and ESPN.com. Periscope, Minneapolis, handles.

"The Tripps" promote the Red's Tavern Double.

The chain repurposes two of those aïolis with a new “Three-for-All” appetizer. It gathers Red Robin’s steak fries plus sweet potato fries and onion rings on one plate. Alongside are four dipping sauces: the smoked bacon aïoli  and green-chile aïoli  plus ranch sauce and sweet-and-spicy ketchup.

Finally, a new Salted Caramel Shake combines soft serve, milk, caramel sauce and Red Hawaiian sea salt.

The chain isn’t saying it, but the “Red’s Tavern” name used here sounds like something we’ll be hearing again with Red Robin or Burger Works. Even just as “Red’s,” the name’s punchy and catchy. After all, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar got tired of using its full name, too.

◙ Judging by the positive feedback following her first appearance, many diners will be more excited to see actress Morgan Smith Goodwin (below) return this week to Wendy’s advertising than they are to hear about the side dishes she’s promoting.

Wendy’s, as noted before, is pursuing a Geico-like strategy of having multiple ad campaigns, each with its own tagline. The red-haired Ms. Goodwin brightens the “Now that’s better” menu-promotional ads while the original Wendy, Wendy Thomas, concentrates more on brand building in her “Wendy’s Way”-themed commercials. Wendy’s execs talked to AdAge about the strategy last week. Commentors on this blog and elsewhere enthusiastically endorsed the first “Now that’s better” spot.

The new TV spot with Ms. Goodwin (left), promoting the addition of the new sides—mac & cheese, Chili Cheese Fries and baked sweet potatoes—breaks today (April 28). Kaplan Thaler Group handles Wendy’s. Another commercial has her touting late-night dining.

◙ McDonald’s CEO-to-be Don Thompson has often talked about bringing menu items from overseas to the U.S.  During the company’s April 20 quarterly earnings call, in fact, he promised that the chain “will share even more menu ideas [in the future] from our strong global pipeline.”

Belgian TV spots show McWraps being assembled.

While the chain always has an array of interesting burgers in foreign markets (see the double-patty Steakhouse Classic and Grilled Beef BBQ burgers in Austria now), sources say the first international hit to be brought here may well be the McWrap. The chain has smaller snack wraps here but not full-size wraps, and they’ve been popular wherever tried

McWraps are in Argentina and Chile.

McDonald’s has offered versions of the McWrap across Europe and the UK. It’s on offer in Belgium currently (in Chicken & Bacon and Beef & Pepper varieties). The idea already has been exported to South America, where they’re promoted as McRoulettes in Argentina and McWraps in Chile. In both countries, the wraps are offered in Classic (chicken), Bacon (with chicken) and Veggie. Brazil? No, the onion-ring-topped Texas Onion burger LTO is being pitched there.

BK's Churrasquito in Argentina

◙ Burger King has an innovative line of sandwiches on offer in Argentina, a key market (recall that the chain reported Q1 comp sales change of +9.7% in South America, compared with a -2.0% decline in North America).

Burger King’s new “Churrasquito” sandwiches look a little like the McBaguettes McDonald’s is selling in France. These Argentine sandwiches feature what’s described “Creole-style meat”—two long and flat pieces of beef like skirt steak for fajitas. There are three varieties: Churrasquito Tradicional (with cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo); Churrasquito Patagónico (with grilled onions); and Churrasquito Pampeano (with ham and cheese on the beef).

With the exception of Whopper varieties, Burger King historically has avoided moving menu items among countries, but the Churrasquito line certainly would make an novel addition to its U.S. menu.