Subway's Ultimatum And McDonald's Snack Wraps: The Week In Fast Food

What do Burger King, KFC, Wendy's, and Sonic all have in common? They are all happy to add a chicken snack wrap to their menus while McDonald's continues to fend off questions about its most beloved value menu item of the 2010s. Read more about this story and the rest of this week's fast food news below.

If you're a Subway franchisee then you better get with the times or find yourself a new business to run. Restaurant Business reports that Subway CEO John Chidsey recently told franchisees at a company conference that they should remodel their restaurants or part ways with the company entirely. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

No, the McDonald's Snack Wrap is not back on the menu... yet? For years, fans of the long discontinued menu item have begged, pleaded, and remained hopeful as McDonald's has yet to make any official announcement on whether its Snack Wraps might return to U.S. locations. In the meantime, however, virtually every McDonald's competitor has lured those nostalgic customers with their own version of the fast food chicken wrap. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

Spring has sprung, or at least for Starbucks it has. While some of us continue to yearn for warmer days ahead, Starbucks has debuted two new limited-time drinks meant to usher in springtime with a bit of flowery flavor: the Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha and the Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte. – Angela L. Pagán Read More

Both Hardee's and Carl's Jr. offer charbroiled burgers called the Famous Star and the Super Star. The two brands sport the same smiling star logo. And despite being two different establishments, the websites are identical. Are these two restaurants the same thing, just with different names? It's a little more complicated than that: The long-running fast food chains have a shared history, some overlapping business deals, and a dual desire for individuality. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

Many fast food restaurants have been experimenting with artificial intelligence in recent months, trying to figure out how best to use the evolving technology to drive sales and increase efficiency. Many restaurant chains have tested AI-assisted drive-thru lanes, but the recent struggles of one AI company illustrate the potential shortcomings of this model. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

Since the height of the pandemic, the wages of fast food workers and restaurant industry employees in general have been thrust into the spotlight—it was these workers, after all, who showed up every day to fulfill our takeout and delivery orders. California governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that would raise the minimum wage for fast food workers in the state from $16 to $20 an hour starting April 1, 2024. However, the staff of Panera Bread's California locations were caught up in the particulars of the deal. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

There was a chill in the bones of Zaxby's fans across the country on December 6, 2017 as the Georgia-born chicken finger chain announced it had spun its last milkshake. But as of this week, fans rejoiced as two seemingly improbable things happened: Zaxby's brought back its milkshakes and the city of Macon, Georgia announced its bid to become "the milkshake capital of America." - Su-Jit Lin Read More

If there's anything Red Robin is known for besides its weirdly catchy jingle ("Red Robin, yummmmm"), it's the fact that the quick service restaurant chain serves bottomless steak fries: Just say the word, and those starchy wedges will keep heading your way. Endless anything is a draw for many diners (just ask Red Lobster), but at Red Robin, the bottomless options are on a whole other level. In case you weren't aware, this restaurant offers unlimited free refills on over 30 different menu items. - Dennis Lee Read More