What is American cuisine? It’s a very long list.
Both farm-to-table and fast food leave room in the definition of American cuisine. What are the origins of authentic American cuisine?
A new year means new deals for fast food fans.
National chains like Burger King, Taco Bell and Wendy’s have launched new discount menu options this year, building on recent efforts among restaurants to respond to consumers concerned about inflation and rising food prices.
The so-called “value meal war” began to gain momentum in the spring of 2024 when McDonald’s launched a $5 meal sale. Many other restaurants have joined in, announcing (or sometimes reminding customers of) lower-priced options.
Many of these great meal deals and sales will be available for customers to enjoy until 2026, and some are introducing new ways to eat for less.
Here are some of the latest sales and previously announced sales.
Wendy’s “Biggie Deals” menu
Wendy’s has revamped its Biggie Deals menu, launching more options on January 14th.
The menu includes $4 Biggie Bites, $6 Biggie Bags, and $8 Biggie Bundles.
- $4 Biggie Bites: Choose from 4 pieces: Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Junior Cheeseburger, Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. Nuggets and Junior Fly. Then choose from 4pc. Nuggets, junior fries or a small soft drink.
- $6 biggie bag:Choose from Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Junior Cheeseburger, Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, or Double Stack. We also deliver 4 pieces. Nuggets, junior fries and a small soft drink.
- $8 Biggie Bundle: Choose two from Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Junior Cheeseburger, Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, or Double Stack. Also included are junior fries and a small soft drink.
Burger King’s new Whopper meal plan
Burger King launched $5 meals earlier this month with a new Whopper inspired by the restaurant’s fans.
Customers can get a double cheeseburger, fries and a drink for $4.99 at this fast-food chain. Or choose the new Ultimate Steakhouse Whopper, featuring a flame-grilled patty, onion rings, crispy bacon, sautéed mushrooms, Swiss cheese and creamy peppercorn aioli on a toasted sesame-seed bun.
Last year, the chain offered $5 duo combo dishes, where diners could choose a combination of any two items from the duo options, and $7 trios, where diners could choose three items to complete the combo. These benefits will continue to be available to you.
Taco Bell Luxury Value Menu
This year at Taco Bell, the new Luxe Value Menu gives customers the opportunity to enjoy 10 “covetable” items for $3 or less. Five of them are new items and five fan favorites from the company’s Cravings Value Menu.
The new Luxe Value menu items will be available starting January 22nd and include:
- Mini taco salad $2.49: Seasoned beef, chipotle sauce, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and refried beans are served in a crispy golden tortilla bowl.
- Beef Potato Griller $2.49: It features seasoned beef, crispy potato bites, nacho cheese sauce, chipotle sauce, and reduced-fat sour cream wrapped and grilled.
- Chips and Nachos Supreme Dip $2.49: Layers of seasoned beef, refried beans, nacho cheese sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, pico de gallo, and a three-cheese blend are served with tortilla chips.
- Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker $2.99: Features all-white meat grilled chicken, avocado ranch sauce, three cheese blend, lettuce, and tomato. Fold, grill and serve.
- Limited time salted caramel churros, $1.99: Crunchy on the outside, sweet and creamy on the inside, these churros are sprinkled with salted caramel sugar.
Fan-favorite valuable items that will be returned include:
- Cheesy Rollup $1.19
- Spicy potato soft taco $1.29
- Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito $1.49
- 3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt $2.29
- Cheese Double Beef Burrito $2.79
Freddy’s Frozen Custard launches new taco, Frosted
A new value menu with new additions to Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steak Burger has been born.
Freddy’s Value Menu includes the new Smash Burger Taco with Hot Chocolate Frost for $3.49. The menu also features $2 mini-sized frosts, including a limited-time lemon cream frost and orange cream frost.
This sale is available for Freddy’s fans until early March.
Kentucky Fried Chicken’s new $5 bowl
Kentucky Fried Chicken is kicking off the new year by introducing $5 bowl options for customers, including a new collaboration with Canadian chef Matty Matheson. This includes Matty’s Cheese Naggy Gravy Bowl, which comes with fries, brown gravy, crispy chicken nuggets, and coated cheese curds.
Other $5 bowls include:
- Nashville Hot Mac & Cheese Bowl: Macaroni & Cheese, 5 Original Recipe Nuggets, 3 Cheese Blend, Nashville Hot Sauce.
- Nashville’s Hot Famous Bowls: Mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, 3 cheese blend, 5 original recipe nuggets, and Nashville hot sauce.
- Mac & Cheese Bowl: Macaroni and cheese, 3 cheese blend and 5 original recipe nuggets.
- Famous bowls: Mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, 3 cheese blend, and 5 original recipe nuggets.
Denny’s Slammin’ Meal Deals Menu
Through mid-April, Denny’s will offer customers 10 new meal options starting at $5.99, covering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Meal options include:
- 2 egg breakfast slam: Two eggs cooked just the way you like them with crunchy hash browns and toast.
- breakfast quesadilla: Scrambled eggs, melted cheddar cheese, and crispy bacon baked in a warm tortilla.
- Two Meat Scrambler: Scrambled eggs with bacon and sausage, topped with melted cheddar cheese, and served with hash browns and toast.
- Fish sandwich and fries: Fillet of pollack is sandwiched between toasted buns and topped with lettuce, tartar sauce, and pickles. Served with wave cut fries.
- Grand Slam Burrito: Bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, and cheese wrapped in a tortilla.
- daily value slam: Choose from pancakes, brioche French toast, or biscuits and gravy. Serve with eggs, bacon and sausage.
- Super slam: Two pancakes, two eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns.
- Chicken tenders & fries: Serve fried chicken tenders with your favorite dipping sauce and wavy fries.
- Classic burger and fries: All-beef patty served on a brioche bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickles. Served with wave cut fries.
- One Piece Country Fried Steak: Country-style beefsteak with gravy. Served with your choice of two sides and dinner bread.
McDonald’s Value Menu and Subway’s Meal of the Day continue to be offered
Some restaurants that capitalized on the value menu and meal sale trend last year, including McDonald’s, Subway and Dairy Queen, are offering more affordable options to their customers this year as well.
mcdonalds
McDonald’s continues to offer value menus and $5 meal deals. Meal deals were added to the chain’s menu in June 2024.
The $5 meal deal includes multiple options:
- McDouble, McChicken, Daily Double
- small fries
- Chicken McNuggets 4 pieces
- small soft drink
McDonald’s Mac Value Menu is also continuing, allowing customers to buy one and get one on select items for $1, including breakfast biscuits, cheeseburgers and fries.
subway
At Subway, the sandwich restaurant’s Meal of the Day deal continues to give customers the chance to purchase a 6-inch sub for $4.99, and they can also add a drink, chips or cookie to their meal for an additional $2.
A different sub-menu will appear for each day of the week, and the menu will change in 2026.
- Sunday: Spicy Italian
- Monday: Meatball Marinara
- Tuesday: Classic tuna
- Wednesday: Sweet onion chicken teriyaki
- Thursday: Oven roasted turkey
- Friday: Black Forest Ham
- Saturday: Italian BMT
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen’s sale continues into the new year and includes a $7 meal plan with a choice of Original Cheeseburger, Crispy Onion Cheeseburger, or Chicken Strips in addition to the usual order of fries, drinks, and sundaes.
USA TODAY’s Melina Khan, Mike Snider and Gabe Hauari contributed to this report.
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
