Is $6 too much for a fast food burger? Judging by how many quickly-served, higher-quality burgers are hitting the market lately selling for $5, $6, and up—strictly for the sandwich, not a whole meal—diners seem to be game for paying more for better, bigger burgers.
This is a big week for big burgers. Wendy’s is introducing its new Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy burgers, a reinvention of the chain’s burgers that’s been in the works since early 2009, and which will sell, depending on size, for $3.49 to $5.79 in most locations. At the high end of the price spectrum, Wendy’s patrons get a whopping three-quarters of a pound of beef. Carl’s Jr. and sister chain Hardee’s, meanwhile, are launching their new steakhouse burgers, which will sell in a half-pound “Six Dollar Thickburger” version.
Going big isn’t foreign territory for these chains. A couple years back, the trio above, as well as McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, and others all began rolling out monster burgers with upwards of one-third pound beef (and 900+ calories) for $4 and up.