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McDonald’s is testing a new, toppings-heavy version of its third-pound Angus burger in San Diego. The test of the Clubhouse Angus was disclosed today by McDonald’s executives in a Manhattan meeting with Wall Street analysts and was reported first by Mark Kalinowski, restaurant analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott. Actually, the burger in test isn’t really [...]

Burger King offers it, but only in Canada. Wendy’s recently began offering it in Canada, too. And when the first Canadian Smashburger opened this month in Calgary, it was on the menu. “It” is poutine, the iconic Canadian/Québécois side dish of crisp french fries and squeaky cheese curds covered in brown gravy. As these three [...]

Jim Skinner’s last McDonald’s Corp. shareholders meeting as its CEO today followed the script of so many meetings that preceded it. Skinner and Don Thompson—McDonald’s president-COO, who succeeds him as CEO on July 1—vowed to stay a course that has been reaping rewards (such as the 8.9% jump in Q1 comp sales). A parade of [...]

Wendy’s this week announced a partnership with child-learning company LeapFrog that puts LeapSchool Friends toys in its kids meals. But that comes as new research from Chicago’s NPD finds that kids meal toys may be losing their appeal. For the year ended in December 2011, NPD says, the number of restaurant visits that included a [...]

Craig Culver, his wife, Lea, and his parents opened the first Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers restaurant (a converted A&W) in Sauk City, Wis., in 1984. Culver’s now is the 11th largest burger chain in the U.S., with more than 450 locations in 19 states. Craig Culver remains its CEO and its guiding force. Last [...]

CKE Inc., the parent of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger chains, is the latest restaurant company to jump back into the public-ownership pool, filing for an initial public offering of stock that could raise an estimated $100 million. This reverses the public-to-private route taken in July 2010 when CKE was acquired and taken private [...]

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

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]