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Wander around the burger world during National Burger Month and you encounter some fascinating things that need to be shared. Examples: → “Secret menus” are a boring, overdone topic but this one’s interesting: At Atlanta’s Diesel Filling Station, the “Just What the Doctor Ordered” burger is available but isn’t on the menu. It’s named for [...]

The battle for the late-night audience doesn’t only involve Leno, Letterman and Kimmel. Taco Bell’s “Fourth Meal” campaign in 2007 made late night its own daypart, but recently chains have been creating menus and promotions available only in those wee hours. Wendy’s began with a “Better Later” campaign that made diners aware that many of [...]

Looking to take on Denny’s, McDonald’s and every other kid on the late-night block, Steak ’n Shake has launched an audacious new AllNighter Menu available between midnight and 6 a.m. while also making its full breakfast menu available now from midnight to 11 a.m. (at participating locations, of course). The attention grabber on the AllNighter [...]

Burger King once again has revamped its coffee, this time adopting a “a new, 100% Latin American arabica bean custom blend” from supplier Seattle’s Best, a unit of Starbucks. The new Smooth Roast platform includes brewed coffee, iced coffee and, for the first time, lattés (beginning in March), which moves Burger King a bit closer [...]

If McDonald’s is serious about importing more menu ideas from its stores around the world then breakfast could become much more interesting. Outside the U.S. the humble McMuffin is getting a turn in the spotlight. Japan stores are offering a new stacked-up Mega McMuffin with double the sausage, as one part of the annual Big [...]

In his interview with BurgerBusiness.com earlier this month, J.M. Owens, president of the Greater Atlanta McDonald’s Operators Association, said that one challenge keeping McDonald’s from offering breakfast all day is simply space limitation: There isn’t enough grill space in a standard McDonald’s kitchen to prepare two menus—breakfast and lunch/dinner—at once. In Rockford, Ill., northwest of [...]

Bottom line, Wendy’s hasn’t found a way to make breakfast profitable. Speaking at this week’s ICR Xchange Investor Conference, The Wendy’s Co. CEO Emil Brolick breezed through his A Cut Above/Recipe to Win presentation, stopping just long enough to essentially say, “Oh, and breakfast? Maybe in 2016.” He pointed to a $14.6 million charge the [...]

McDonald’s is keeping the competitive pressure on Australian rival Hungry Jack’s (Burger King) by introducing a multi-item Aussie Range (menu) barely six weeks after its Nov. 13 unveiling of a Summer Range that included a Smokey BBQ Bandit burger, Scorcher Peri Peri Chicken sandwich and more. Following the QSR trend to bring back past LTO [...]

No one responds faster to trouble in the marketplace than McDonald’s. As expected, the QSR burger leader has answered October’s sales drop—its first monthly decline in nine years—with a quick menu infusion that focuses on the low-end of the price spectrum. To boost customer traffic, McDonald’s has added the new Grilled Onion Cheddar burger (which [...]

In Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, McDonald’s is testing the Egg White Delight McMuffin, a lower calorie (260 vs. 300), more healthful version of the iconic Egg McMuffin. In September, when it unveiled its new menu boards with calorie info, the chain had announced earlier that it intends to make an egg-white sandwich available nationally in [...]

Hardee’s this week added a new Ribeye Steak, Egg & Cheese Biscuit to its morning menu. The item combines thinly sliced rib-eye steak, a folded egg and Swiss cheese on one of the chain’s signature Made from Scratch buttermilk biscuits. It’s $2.99 alone or $4.69 in a combo with Hash Rounds and beverage. Sister chain [...]

The Wendy’s Company announced that in March 2013 a new version of its logo will be introduced on packaging, advertising, crew uniforms, restaurant signage, menuboards and websites. The iconic Wendy character (modeled on founder Dave Thomas’s daughter) remains but with an updated look. This is part of a larger brand transformation being directed by Craig [...]

Continuing its strategy of rebuilding its menu with waves of new items rather than with one LTO at a time, Burger King is readying Phase II of its new menu. Where the Phase I Summer Menu, introduced in June, was about beef, pork and BBQ flavors, the next wave—which should go national by or shortly [...]

Quarterly earnings conference calls by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, The Wendy’s Company and Jack in the Box provided interesting snapshots of where the burger-restaurant business stood through the first half of 2012. Same-store sales reports were positive if not stellar. Red Robin’s comp sales for it Q2 ended July 8 were up 0.8% thanks to [...]

McDonald’s is taking aim at quick-service restaurants’ last unconquered frontier: late night sales. And it is doing so by treating the time from midnight to 5 a.m. as an early-breakfast opportunity rather than a late-dinner or snack period. In 127 24-hour central Ohio locations, the chain has launched a Breakfast After Midnight program, offering such [...]