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Whether it succeeds or fails, Good Times Restaurants Inc.‘s recent 10-k filing with the Securites & Exchange Commission should serve as a Harvard Business School case study in how this recession knocked the legs out from under many small businesses and how some businesses fought to right themselves. Good Times hopes to survive by reducing prices, reengineering [...]

 That funky orange cushion sitting between the burger patty and the onions? Uh, yeah, that’s cheese. A pillow of “flame-grilled cheese” that looks bigger than the meat. As it also does with its signature Whopper, Burger King creates variations of its two-handed Steakhouse burger in selected markets. In The Netherlands, the chain has menued the Grilled Cheese Steakhouse  for the [...]

The BurgerBusiness.com diner is closed up and taking a little break for family business. Next week we’ll get back in burger mode. If you’re looking for something to read in the meantime, we’ve assembled this list of the #1 predictions from more than a dozen food, restaurant and consumer crystal-ball forecasts. Links to the full lists [...]

Brunch is back in vogue. NPD’s research finds brunch sales up 8% through August versus last year. Not much else in foodservice is up 8% this year. Why the increase? Perhaps because brunch is a relatively cost-effective way to get the family together for a meal away from home. Or maybe it’s because burgers have [...]

[Update: Blueberry Biscuits have been reintroduced to Hardee's breakfast menu.] ► Wendy’s operators we’ve spoken with say the company hasn’t yet told them when it plans to introduce the Fresh Wraps line (Baja Chicken and Smokehouse BBQ) that it has been testing and that we’ve been writing about for months. But it seems a rollout could be coming [...]

McDonald’s 1,400 Canadian units will celebrate the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in various ways that include introduction of a new Parmigiana Chicken Snack Wrap. The limited-time item—combining Parmesan cheese, marinara sauce and crispy or grilled chicken in a tortilla—will join the Canadian menu on Dec. 29. Canadian units in March 2009 were the [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sth7Hs2OlD0Midway through enjoying a McDonald’s Angus Bacon Cheese or Wendy’s Bacon Deluxe or Carl’s Jr. Western Bacon Six Dollar Burger, the thought occurs: Doesn’t it seem like almost every burger now is bacon topped? Like the McDonald’s Australia commercial at left, the menu mantra appears to be, “Bacon. Bacon. Bacon.” And, in fact, the lingering [...]

[Dec. 14 Update: Hardee's is pumping up the breakfast volume even sooner than expected! The chain relayed a response to this post via Twitter: "Made from Scratch biscuits have no competition.No plans for borrowing from sista chain. Will sweeten up the menu next week."] Jack in the Box is preparing to make January an even more hotly [...]

We haven’t finished with 2010 food/menu forecasts. These are the most intriguing of the past week: ► Technomic limits itself to just five predictions, including even greater popularity of giving familiar dishes new spins. ► Mintel identifies resilience (the ability to adjust to the “new economy”) as one of seven consumer-behavior trends that will shape [...]

McDonald’s on Dec. 18 launches the U.S. portion of its multifaceted global promotion linked to James Cameron’s über-ambitious “Avatar.” The chain expects the “Thrill Your Senses” tie-in campaign not only to boost Big Mac sales but also to yield long-term brand equity through association with the film’s cutting-edge digital technologies. “I think its [value is] [...]

[Dec. 12 Update. Burger King has created a new Whopper microsite for its "Taste  is king" campaign in the UK.] Iconic or ironic? While raising eyebrows with its “Guilt Free Showercam” effort to boost UK breakfast sales, Burger King is launching a pan-European Whopper campaign declaring that “only one thing matters to us: taste.” That [...]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWQ5sX0-5Q[Dec. 21: The Kim Kardashian TV commercial (left) has been added.] [Dec. 16 Update: As expected, salads were introduced today. Go here to see Kim Kardashian's video invitation to a Jan. 13 "interactive lunch" on Facebook. A TV spot (left) breaks next week.] Carl’s Jr. next week launches a three-item line of premium entrée salads as [...]

Many good 2010 menu/business forecasts have been compiled and released, so we’ll take a look back instead. It’s not just contrarianism; 2009 has been a remarkably robust year for burger news, providing sustenance for this and the many other burger blogs. Let’s review some of the year’s highs and lows. BurgerBusiness.com’s 2009 Burger of the [...]

Burger King unveiled its Whopper Bar prototype in March at Orlando’s Universal CityWalk as a sleek dining environment of the future. But, so far, the concept is functioning more practically as a menu testing ground. Last month, Burger King moved the Bourbon Whopper from the Whopper Bar menu to its stores across Canada. Now, Funnel Cake Sticks—a powdered-sugar-coated side [...]

If you were holiday shopping (or more likely working) and missed them, these were the best of last week’s lists, forecasts and analyses: ► Locally sourced produce and proteins rank Nos. 1 and 2 on the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot” survey for 2010. ► A continuation of the “better burgers” bandwagon is among 20 [...]