A value menu (not to be confused with a value meal) is a group of menu items at a

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

that are designed to be the least expensive items available. In the US, the items are usually priced between $0.99 and $2.99. The portion size, and number of items included with the food, are typically related to the price.

Examples

Arby's

Arby's Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, ''Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)". Arby ...

announced the launch of their value menu on April 9, 2010. Items on the value menu vary based on location, but typically include small or value size roast beef sandwiches, curly fries,

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixtu ...

s, chicken sandwiches, ham and cheddar sandwiches, and turnovers.

Burger King

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant ch ...

added a value menu in 1998 with items priced at 99¢ (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

), . In 2002 and 2006, BK revamped its value menu, adding and removing products at 99¢, and later increasing some prices to $1.39. Many of these items have since been discontinued, modified or relegated to a regional menu option. The Burger King Whopper was the very first 99 cent burger and it revolutionized the 99 cent menu in the fast food industry.

McDonald's

After numerous attempts beginning in 1991, experimenting with a variety of menus and pricing strategies,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

launched its first national value menu, the ''Dollar Menu'', in late 2002 in the United States. The latest iteration was rolled out on January 4, 2018 in the United States. It features a dozen items at various price points: $1, $2 and $3, with four items per price point. It no longer featured fries, which was criticized by ''

Good Mythical Morning ''Good Mythical Morning'' (abbreviated as ''GMM'') is an American comedy, talk and variety YouTube series created by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. The show first aired on YouTube on January 9, 2012, and continues to be uploaded every weekd ...

'' along with the lack of items at the $1 price point. In Canada, fries are available for

CA$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

1.59 on the Value Picks menu.

Subway

Subway currently offers a $4.99 footlong menu in the United States. The promotion began in 2004 as a $5 footlong menu ().

Taco Bell

In 1988,

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

lowered the prices of all new items and launched the first three-tiered pricing strategy and free drink refills. In 2010, Taco Bell introduced the $2 Meal Deals menu, featuring a menu item (i.e., a chicken burrito, a beefy 5-layer burrito, a

double decker taco The Double Decker Taco was an offering of Taco Bell restaurants. It was a traditional crunchy taco with a tortilla secured to the outside with a layer of refried beans. History The Double Decker Taco was introduced as a limited-run promotional item ...

, or a Gordita supreme), a bag of

Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...

, and a medium drink. On August 18, 2014, Taco Bell launched a new value menu called

Dollar Cravings Dollar Cravings (or $1 Dollar Cravings) is the value menu of American fast-food restaurant Taco Bell. Dollar Cravings was launched August 18, 2014 in reaction to the new McDonald's and Wendy's value/dollar menus. The current menu contains 13 food ...

that included eleven food items each priced a $1. On December 15, 2017, Taco Bell launched a new advertising campaign called "The Belluminati" to advertise its Dollar Cravings menu.

Wendy's

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was ...

is generally credited with being the first fast food chain to offer a value menu in October 1989, with every item priced at $0.99. (). However, the general price for value menu items is now around $1.55.

References

External links

Fast Food Steps Up Value Menus
Bruce Horovitz, January 11, 2006.

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

, ''Money''. {{Meals_navbox Restaurant menus Fast food