Beyond selling off a bunch of company-owned restaurants to franchisees, McDonald’s has been a bit vague on the details on how it intends to turn around struggling sales at the chain. Yesterday the company offered a glimmer of its vision for the future, sharing a plan with franchisees to trim its drive-thru menu, add some more midprice offerings and expand tests of its (limited) all-day breakfast menu. [More]
fast food
McDonald’s Plans Simpler Drive-Thru Menu To Speed Up Orders, Expanding Test Of All-Day Breakfast
By 5.12.15
Wendy’s Selling 640 Restaurants In U.S. And Canada
By 5.6.15
It seems selling fast food restaurants to franchisees is somewhat de rigueur these days: After McDonald’s recently said it’s using that plan to steer its big turnaround plan, Wendy’s announced today that it’ll be selling a total of 640 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada this year as well as its baking operation in Zanesville, OH. [More]
McDonald’s Big Turnaround Solution: Sell More Restaurants To Franchisees
By 5.4.15
When new McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook said he would unveil turnaround plans for the sagging fast food giant on May 4, some people were expecting more than just a decision reorganize the company’s international business and sell off a bunch of company-owned stores to franchisees. [More]
McDonald’s Testing Simplified Version Of Build-Your-Own Program, Adds Drive-Thru Option
By 4.30.15
A day after we learned that McDonald’s had eliminated nine items from its menu so far this year, the fast food giant announced it would also adjust its build-your-own-burger test program to be easier for customers and franchisees to use. [More]
Wendy’s Jumping On Organic Bandwagon With Addition Of Honest Tea At Restaurants Nationwide
By 4.30.15
Though not many of its fast food rivals have taken the plunge into organic waters, Wendy’s is just going with the trend embraced increasingly by consumers, announcing that it’ll be serving Honest Tea nationwide at its restaurants, brewed fresh by workers and sweetened with fair-trade sugars and natural flavors approved in USDA certified organic foods. [More]
Chipotle Says All Its Food Now GMO-Free
By 4.27.15
For two years, the Chipotle chain of restaurants has been labeling which of its menu items may contain genetically modified ingredients, and starting today the company says that all of its food will be GMO-free (while simultaneously acknowledging that GMOs may be completely safe). [More]
McDonald’s Closes 700 Locations In First Half Of 2015
By 4.23.15
Just yesterday McDonald’s new CEO Steve Easterbrook claimed that he was in the midst of developing a turnaround plan for the once unstoppable fast food force. However, it appears his ideas on how to reverse sagging sales and criticism of labor practices comes a bit too late for about 700 locations that have already closed or are slated for closing this year. [More]
Popeyes Manager Says She Was Fired For Refusing To Pay Back Money Stolen By Armed Robber
By 4.22.15
When a fast food eatery is held up, should the manager on duty be responsible for reimbursing the owner? Common sense might tell you “no,” but a former Popeyes employee claims that she was fired after she refused to pay her employer for the money stolen during her shift by an armed robber. [More]
McDonald’s CEO Says He Has Turnaround Ideas Up His Sleeve
By 4.22.15
Facing sagging sales, increasing criticism of its labor practices, and growing disenfranchisement from its franchisees, McDonald’s recently installed CEO Steve Easterbrook is at the head of a flagging company that was once viewed as an unstoppable fast food force. But Steve-E claims that he’s got some ideas on how to reverse the course before this burger Titanic strikes the iceberg. [More]
Taco Bell’s Founder Originally Intended To Start A Burger Empire
By 4.20.15
If you drive to Downey, CA, you can find the oldest existing McDonald’s eatery and the currently vacant building that housed the first Taco Bell. And the tie between the two famous fast food names goes deeper than that. It was in the parking lot of the very first McDonald’s that the man who would eventually create the Taco Bell empire dreamt of a fast food empire stretching from coast to coast. [More]
McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast Test Will Not Include Full Breakfast Menu
By 4.17.15
McDonald’s recently confirmed it would soon begin testing an all-day breakfast menu in the San Diego area, but when that test kicks off next week, fans of certain McD’s breakfast items may find themselves still hungry, as not everything from the morning menu will survive past 10:30 a.m. [More]
Taco Bell Denies Its Loyalty Program Will Be Called “Taco Baller” Despite Trademark Application
By 4.16.15
How many soft tacos and burritos have traveled down your gullet without anyone ever recognizing the event? The number might be inestimable for some, but starting soon, Taco Bell customers will be able to mark each food occasion by way of a new customer-loyalty program the company is rolling out sometime this year. [More]
McDonald’s Franchisees Say Company Has “Jumped The Shark”
By 4.15.15
For years, a number of McDonald’s franchisees have been griping with their corporate overlords about constant menu tweaks, limited-time offerings, and a push for bargain pricing. And the latest survey of franchisees seems to indicate that this tense relationship is only getting worse. [More]
Some McDonald’s Locations Exchanging Free Egg McMuffins For Taco Bell Breakfast Receipts
By 4.13.15
If you’re the kind of person for whom a second breakfast is a matter of course, you might want to consider moving to northeastern Pennsylvania in the next few days: Some McDonald’s locations there have been offering up free Egg McMuffins this month in exchange for Taco Bell breakfast receipts. [More]
Exec Who Created Ronald McDonald Says McDonald’s Can Figure Out All-Day Breakfast
By 4.8.15
After years of teasing customers with the possibility of all-day breakfast, McDonald’s has finally begun small-scale testing of the concept in California. The former McDonald’s ad man who gave the world Ronald McDonald and the “You Deserve a Break Today” slogan says he’s sure that the fast food giant will figure out a way to make McMuffins at all hours of the day. [More]
McDonald’s Launching Line Of Bigger Burgers For A Limited Time
By 4.7.15
In the latest in a series of changes announced by McDonald’s as it tries to win its way back into the hearts and mouths of consumers, the chain is launching a line of larger burgers starting later this month, for a limited time. [More]
Here’s How You Get A Fast Food Chain To Foot The Entire Bill For Your Wedding
By 4.7.15
Want a fast food chain to sponsor your wedding, provide gifts and generally shell out a bunch of cash so you don’t have to? It’s simple! Just be born with one half of a chain’s name, meet and fall in love with someone who has the other half and voila! You’re getting hitched for free, courtesy of Burger King. [More]
Escaped Pig Snaps At Customers While Blocking Burger King Drive-Thru
By 4.2.15
This just in: Word of fast food restaurant’s use of bacon has apparently spread beyond the human realm to the farm, where the news apparently prompted one pig to escape his confines and head for Burger King to disrupt mankind’s quest for animal products. [More]
