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New Year’s Day has two traditions: One is the hangover; the second is the rich, fatty, protein-rich Hangover Burger that cures what ails you. Among those who’ll be ready to greet bleary-eyed revelers is Slater’s 50/50, the innovative concept with locations in Anaheim Hills, Huntington Beach and San Diego, Calif. It’s readying the Bloody Mary [...]

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 [...]

Wendy’s is confronting a “fiscal cliff” of its own but has done a better job of negotiating its less-dire version than has Congress. One of the chain’s resolutions for 2013 has been to create a new two-tier value menu to replace the ineffective My 99¢ Everyday Value Menu. The Right Price Right Size Value Menu [...]

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 [...]

The restaurant industry’s advertising spending ballooned by 12.1% during the third quarter while total U.S. ad spending for all products and services rose just 7.1%, according to data from Kantar Media in New York City. For full-year 2011, restaurant ad spending rose by only 4.4%. The increase in restaurant ad spending is especially surprising considering [...]

The quick-service category continues to provide the restaurant’s only positive growth in customer traffic, according to new data from NPD Group. It finds that for the July-August-September quarter of 2012, net overall restaurant visits were flat. QSRs, however, continue to show traffic gains, up 1% in Q3. That’s the fourth consecutive quarter of customer growth [...]

Earlier this year, BurgerBusiness.com shared data from NPD Group showing that even as the total number of U.S. restaurants declined by 1.1% in 2011, the number of burger restaurants grew. And recently we listed more than three-dozen significant new burger-joint openings in 2012. The burger business keeps growing, and the 13 brands detailed below are [...]

Multi-person boxed burger meals have taken a step closer to the U.S. with McDonald’s introduction of the concept in Japan. As it did in Australia when it originated the Family Box meal platform in 2010, McDonald’s offers three different price/component choices in Japan. The basic Family Meal includes one Big Mac, a teriyaki burger and [...]

The chef/restaurateur you love to hate meets the food you love to eat. Gordon Ramsay is opening a burger joint. Gordon Ramsay BurGR opens Dec. 22 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, four days after another new eponymous operation, Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill opens down the street at Caesars Palace. That [...]

McDonald’s Corp. rebounded quickly from the black eye of October’s first drop in same-same sales in nine years. November comp sales rose 2.4% globally and 2.5% in the U.S., thanks, the company said, to “the ongoing popularity of McDonald’s breakfast along with balance across everyday value offerings, premium menu options including the limited-time Cheddar Bacon [...]

This has been a really good year for burgers if by burgers you mean chicken. From Chicken McBites, Popcorn Chicken and Chicken Dippers to the Mozzarella Chicken Supreme, McBistro Chicken, 20-piece McNuggets and shareable Chicken Box, burgers often seemed consigned to a back seat. McDonald’s new Cheddar Bacon Onion was offered with choice of an [...]

Smashburger disproved the notion that a brand couldn’t be both local and national when it created special burgers for each of the markets or regions in which it operates. For example, in Costa Rica, where its first store opened on Dec. 1, Smashburger devised a burger topped with local favorites chorizo, grilled Turrialba cheese, refried [...]

The best of times. The worst of times. Some of the December Burger of the Month specials at burger joints echo beloved end-of-the-year children’s stories. The Roast Beast at Seattle’s Blue Moon Burgers nods to Dr. Seuss’s “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” It begins with the house-standard seasoned third-pound beef patty and adds slices of [...]