Burgerville, Jack and Others Rev Up Menus for Spring

Jack in the Box‘s introduction this week of a Grilled Chicken Salad close on the the snow belt that spring is at hand. Salads, chicken and other lighter dishes mean we’ll be going back outside soon. Priced at $4.99, Jack’s chicken salad also may signal chains’ desire (or need) to phase premium-price items back onto menu boards.

I’m not certain that Tim Hortons’ new Pomegranate Cheese Danish is necessarily springy, but it is different. Another interesting signal from this week’s announcements is that menu innovation is coming out of hibernation. Consider:

► Burgerville‘s seasonal LTO for March is a $4.79 Pickled Pepper Cheeseburger (at left). It just begs for “Feeling peckish?” as an ad slogan, doesn’t it? The build is a quarter-pound beef patty topped with Tillamook pepper-Jack cheese, baby spinach and red onions. And as advertised, the finishing touch is pickled peppers from Mama Lil’s, a family-run pickle picker and packer in Washington. Smoky-garlic aïoli and a toasted ciabatta bun complete it. Portland chef-restaurateur Grace Pae, who works on menu development with Burgerville, is credited with creating the pickled-pepper burger. The chain is donating 25 cents for every Pickled Pepper Burger sold during its six-week run to Oregon Food Bank programs.
Burgerville’s featured side dish is Rosemary Shoestring Pototoes, fries tossed in rosemary-garlic-infued olive oil and bam’d (sorry Emeril) with rosemary seasoning.

► Whataburger was so happy being on the trendy “melts” bandwagon that it has followed its Patty Melt special with a sandwich it is calling a Grilled Chicken Melt. Yes, it’s technically not a “melt” but rather a grilled chicken sandwich (with Monterey Jack cheese and grilled bell peppers and onions and on a bun rather than toast, as a melt should be), but I like the idea of extending the “melt” category. Who’ll be the first to rename their Reuben a “corned beef melt”?

► Other new menu items worth noting: Back Yard Burgers is on the chicken train, too, having introduced a Black Jack Chicken sandwich. Burger King on Friday will unleash its latest Whopper creation in Japan, this one a Spicy Italian Whopper. In Alabama, Jack’s has added a Hot-As-Farr burger with jalapeños (I’m guessing “farr” is a joke on how “fire” is pronounced there). And here’s a shout-out to Chicago’s DMK Burger Bar for creating an homage to the Big Mac. The new “Big DMK” goes on the menu this Saturday.