βurgerβusiness

[UPDATES: Sonic has added a $2.99 burger and shake combo; Fatburger has priced its Baby Fat  burger at $2.99] Not quite, but $5 now is more often the ceiling than the middle. Quick-service restaurants’ pre-recession 3-tier pricing model of “budget/everyday-value/premium price” is in danger of being rewritten as “free/$2.99/$5.” July closes with White Castle promoting [...]

The recession-defying success of such new-breed burger concepts as Five Guys, Smashburger, The Counter, Mooyah and others hasn’t been lost on the companies that manage college dining programs. On at least three campuses this fall, Sodexo will introduce a new proprietary burger concept called The Original Burger Company that’s heavy on burger customization. Taking the concept [...]

What’s with Steak ‘n Shake and burger names? The Indianapolis-based chain has rolled out two new burgers, dropping coupons this past weekend for a Western BBQ ‘n Bacon Steakburger and something called a Wisconsin Buttery Steakburger. That second one is more than a little suggestive of Prairie du Sac, Wis.-based Culver’s trademarked ButterBurger name. Wisconsin [...]

 There’s no denying CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder’s contention that Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s advertising needs to bang a drum to overcome McDonald’s sevenfold TV spending advantage. Big Mac’s ad budget is steroidal; only a strong, distinctive message can compete with it. But isn’t the question whether the middle-school snickering of Hardee’s “a-hole” campaign for its Biscuit [...]

Going in search of customers and asking for their business fell out of favor when the good times came and livin’ was easy. Now that consumer spending has tanked, smart burger chains once again are getting up and seeking out customers. Vancouver, Wash.-based Burgerville this week launched the Nomad (at right), a 24-foot-long restaurant on wheels. At [...]

[Dec. 19 Update: The NYCrispy burger has reappeared on McD's menu in Belgium.] If you were excited to try your first McDonald’s Angus Third Pounder burger earlier this month, imagine what a rush it would have been to bite into a NYCrispy instead. Even cooler, it would mean you’re summering in Madrid or Barcelona. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buTqWXUOuU0The [...]

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are testing lower-price snack-menu items, but don’t look for the chains to join the 99-cent bandwagon, says CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder. Presenting today at Oppenheimer & Co.’s 9th Annual Consumer, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure Conference in Boston, Puzder said CKE’s two chains will continue to focus marketing on large, premium-price [...]

[July 27 UPDATE: One of the TV commercials for the 650-calorie sandwich has been added at left]. Give ‘em credit for having the courage of their convictions: Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s know that their “hot chicks eating burgers” marketing strategy sells burgers. So we can tsk-tsk if we want; they’re going to keep doing it. It’s [...]

[Note: As of March 20, advertising is done but the Bacon & Blue will stay on menus for awhile.] [The Bacon & Blue was launched nationally on Feb. 22. See update here.] [July 14 Update: Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch confirmed the test of a Bacon & Blue Burger, which he said is built on a quarter-pound patty. No [...]

Last year, Ruby Tuesday garnered huge nontraditional-media mileage by tapping into our primal enjoyment of seeing things getting “blowed up.” It works for “Mythbusters”; it worked for the casual-dining chain. When it appeared Ruby Tuesday “accidentally” took out a competitor’s nearby restaurant live on the Web instead of destroying the last of its own old-style [...]

Farmer Boys’ announcement that it has added a “slider” makes it official: Everyone is now on the mini-burger bandwagon. If any other chain decides it wants on, tough. They’ll just have to wait for the next trend. But the 65-store chain–based in Riverside, Calif., and boasting a full breakfast-lunch-dinner menu and a loyal clientele–doesn’t seem to understand the ”slider” concept as [...]

McDonald’s this week (July 2) rolls out its new Angus Third Pounder burgers, ahead of the widely expected August introduction (given credence by this site among others). McDonald’s credits Southern California franchisee Mike Pernecky with first developing a third-pound Angus burger, and the sesame-seed-bun-style Angus burger that the chain has been testing in SoCal–rather than the tasty-looking ciabatta-roll Angus (though [...]