Double cheeseburger fans are going to have to face a grim reality. The rising cost of raw materials means that McDonald’s has to pay more for beef– and the double cheeseburger will probably have to leave the dollar menu.
“The cost implications of having that value menu have changed when you see what’s going on in beef and chicken,” CEO Ralph Alvarez told investors, “The way the dollar menu looks today won’t be the way it’s going to look next year. In this current environment, we’ve got to make sure we’re pricing smart, not just pricing low.”
The Chicago Tribune reports that McDonald’s did not elaborate on what exactly they will be changing about the popular menu, but did disclose that “tests” are underway in which the double cheeseburger is more expensive.
Get them while they’re cheap.
Changes ahead for dollar menu [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: Matt McGee )
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@dj_skilz: Hey don’t you knock my Taco Bell
! You can get the cheesy beefy burrito thing for .89 and, with a large drink, it is under 3.00. That burrito is enough to fill you up, too! (No, I do not want to know how much fat is in it. I don’t eat them everyday. Leave my junk food alone! *sticks fingers in ears and stomps away*)
@jst07:
You can get them @ 2am?? Here in Columbus, specifically near Ohio State campus, they stop serving the double cheeseburger @ 11pm.
@Methusalah: The real cost shouldn’t include labor…you will pay the labor regardless of how many burgers you sell (at least in the short term).
Oh man, the double cheeseburgers are about the only thing I’ll eat at McDonald’s. What next? Wendy’s axes the 99 cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger? They tried that, and I don’t think it went over too well.
“The rising cost of raw materials means that McDonald’s has to pay more for beef”
Um… And bread. And cheese. And ketchup. And onions. And pickles. And workers. And electricity. And paper wrappers. And paper bags…
I work with people who eat at McD’s pretty much everyday If not there then some other sort of fast food. Pretty much all of them are obese also! This is TMI,but you don’t want to follow them in the bathroom either. That stuff is terrible for you!
I’ll admit I eat there MAYBE once or twice a year,but only when I’m sick of everything else.
They can just get rid of the bun and give you a plastic glove (that they aren’t wearing anyway!) to hold onto the “meat” patties.
Seriously. You guys are making me crave McDonald’s right now.
The day finally came last week when they stopped doing Doubles for $1 in Austin last week. Hungover as hell, I journeyed to the McDonald’s in search of instant relief, and was blindsided by the $1 Double being replaced by a single.
Wow, 100 comments and no one mentioned the secret trick to asking for a “Double Cheeseburger Like A Mac”? For years now I have been asking for it and every mcdonalds does it. Pretty much you get a big mac, sans the middle peice of bread, for 1/5th the price of the actual big mac.
If they got rid of the dollar menu at McDs (the 1.39 menu in canada btw), I think I would just stop eating there.
Damn you, Consumerist. I’ve managed to steer clear of McDonalds burgers for over a decade, but just reading the phrase “Double Cheeseburger” has me salivating like Pavlov’s dogs.
I find it odd that they’re singling out the double cheeseburger – isn’t the McChicken or the 4 pack of nuggets costing more? I can’t see fries jumping in price due to how their costs are frequently offset by drinks, but you’d think it was all the meat items, not just one…
I just had this for ‘dinner.’ $1 DCB, $0.99 Xlarge soda, and a $1.79 large fry. $4.07 w/ tax.
I’m gettin’ fat while it’s cheap to help me last through the lean decades ahead. =/
All I like is the fries, anyway.
@Scazza: You mean add lettuce and tomato w/ special sauce? They charge $0.40 for the tomato, $0.35 for lettuce and $0.25 for special sauce, $0.65 for a sesame seed bun substitution, and at my McD’s anyway. I thin that makes it $0.10 cheaper with more chance to screw up the order. I think that $0.10 pays for the cardboard box.
At both the McDs I have been to in the past month, it’s been $1. The 4 nuggets too. What else would I get? If they raise it up, they better start a special on something else or mail out more BOGO free coupons or my money and ravaged digestive tract will be going elsewhere.
@Bearcat44: YES! El Pollo Loco. You’re probably sick of it out there but I absolutely love that place. Have you ever been to Burgerville? I went in Oregon and Washington, but I hear there are some in Northern California
Glad this is happening…last thing we all need is cheap fast food!
Forever since they only staff two people to make the food and take orders at both the counter and drive thru…at least I think that is how my local McDonalds is doing it.
@christoj879: My bad, not a good investment decision.
I passed the 20-year mark last February not partaking of Evil Clown’s menu.
That redheaded sonofabitch pedophile will get another dime from me when he pries it from my cold, dead fingers.
He’ll have to stand in line to try.
@Imaginary_Friend:
Massive food poisoning in Feb 1988 from a McRib sandwich. Haven’t darkened Evil Clown’s door since.
They should shrink the burger…I found out today that they shurnk the Coke cans in Hong Kong.
@michaelleung: I’d like to shrink Evil Clown down to cockroach size, the better to fit under my rapidly lowering shoe.
Crunch!
@EE: Order a cup of water and then refill with soda. Much cheaper.
@stevegoz: a dime for the bun? Where do you live? Where I am even the cheap buns are $1.49 for 8, that comes out to almost double that. And generic sliced american cheese is about the same.
sadly the only thing i ate there…back to the wendys jbc. wendys nuggets are better anyways
it’s called loss leader…
McDonald’s has to pay more for beef
WHAT? They use actual BEEF? I thought it was a mixture of horse meat & plastic in those burgers.
So it’s half the price of the one here in the UK and probably bigger too? Makes me feel great.
I’ll never forget the hilarious ad: “Double Cheeseburger? I’d hit it. I’m a Dollar Menu guy.”
Oh well, I rarely ever eat “McDogfood” (that’s what my mom calls them) anyways.
On a somewhat related note, Carl’s Jr. just raised the Spicy Chicken from 99 cents to $1.29.
Oh, and the Jack In The Box Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger is the best dollar burger still around, imo.
Mickey D’s does uses real meat in their burgers?
Double Cheeseburgers have been $1.50 for about a year now in my town.
Bozeman, MT for all who are interested.
I think they will keep it since they have conditioned the public to cheap prices that don’t meet costs for so long…They could go the good old American Way route (like the airlines for example) and subsidize the “demands” of the public with employee pay & benefits cuts, rather than passing on increases…’Cause darnit we NEED burgers and air travel
@theblackdog:
I wish we had them here in Florida.
I could use a Jumbo Jack about now.
@edrebber: When I worked fast food, I hated people like you, and so do a lot of other workers.
What killed me is it was usually the folks who drove up in expensive cars that would order water and then pour soda. My boss had a theory that it was how they could afford their car.
There’s beginning to be a rumor about a significant increase in Federal Taxes on fast food anyways, in the same vein as tax rates on cigarettes, alcohol and gas. I can’t seem to find the link at the moment…
Anyways, the story is that the Fed. is looking to offset increases in entitlement spending in programs such as Medicare and Medicaid particularly given increasing obesity rates, which are contributing to higher healthcare costs generally.
So – eat up while you can!
I’ve always wondered why the double cheeseburger was $1 when a single cheeseburger was $.99. I get them on occasion. If they go up 20 or 30 cents, no biggie.
@Methusalah: I heard from a store manager (in the greater Boston area) that they DO take a loss on selling the double cheeseburger on the dollar menu. They can’t wait until McD corporate allows them to remove it and actually make a few cents on the damn thing!
Well, inflation can’t be helped and the price was fair while it lasted. Maybe McDonald’s can do a “$2 Tuesdays” thingy like they used to do where you got two cheeseburgers for $2.
At least the BK Jr whopper tastes somewhat like a real hamburger. I wish we had WhatABurger here in Indiana. Have them in Arizona and they are good. Also, El Pollo Loco would be great.
@MrBill38:
Yes! Whataburger is great!
@DrJimmy: See? This food poisoning subtext bothers me much more than the price increase. The reason I ask is I remember taking my niece to get a tetnus shot last year and her pediatrician made a point of asking me if she ate at McDonald’s (and then after a pause, added “or other fast food”). I told her she did a few times a year and the pediatrician seemed to stress that she should get a booster shot for Hep A.
All the anecdotal tales of intestinal woes after eating at McD’s may be telling.
Get ready for McRamen Noodles and the McSpam Deluxe to finally make their debuts.
Wow, just looked at the picture. How common are those double drive thrus? Our town’s new replacement McD’s has one and I’m surprised that it hasn’t caused more road rage like hilarity.
They’re pretty common, but it’s usually a renovation thing after business has proved to require it @BlazerUnit
And I think the idea is that most people who will get the burger will buy a drink, even the cheapass dollar drink. The goal is to get them coming in to sell them on something else.
I was at a McDonalds yesterday here in Seattle WA, and the Dollar menu featured a “double HAMBURGER” for a buck. The double cheeseburger was $1.29.
I had the double hamburger, it was OK but I missed the cheese. I’m just not sure it’s worth the other 29 cents.