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If you want to stretch your dollar without shrinking your appetite, you're in luck.
Fast-food companies, looking for a way to attract budget-conscious customers and keep them spending, are increasingly offering more food for less money.
Jeffrey Davis, president of restaurant research firm Sandelman & Associates, said adding bigger, higher-quality sandwiches to dollar menus allows fast-food restaurants to give people the premium sandwiches they want at a price they can afford.
But with commodity prices rising, lowering the prices of fast-food sandwiches could squeeze margins, especially if it doesn't lead to better traffic and sales.
The chains say the drawbacks don't outweigh the benefit of offering more value to customers dealing with rising prices and a weak economy.
Perhaps the most noticeable example of the more-food-for-less strategy is the appearance on more dollar menus of the double cheeseburger, long a staple of the regular menu and combination meals.
Unlike the value- and dollar-menu regulars, like a small order of fries or "junior" version of a larger burger, the double cheeseburger is a more marquee -- and more expensive -- choice at most fast food chains.
McDonald's (MCD, news, msgs), ahead of the curve on the value menu front, is the exception. Its double cheeseburger has been on the dollar menu since its introduction in 2003 and is one of the chain's biggest sellers. McDonald's touted the "everyday appeal" of the dollar menu in its most recent sales report.
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"People are looking for premium items, but there's also a push for value," Davis said. "They're giving you a little bit more for what you pay."
That's good news for diners like Shekia Scott, a Boston resident who was visiting New York recently. While lunching with friends at a Burger King near Penn Station in Manhattan, Scott said higher prices for food and gas were hurting her budget. But, she added, "the dollar menu's been a help."
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Trading down to McDonald'sConsumer belt-tightening is driving business to burger chains, partially at the expense of sit-down restaurants, says a McDonald's executive.
"Teenagers are very sensitive to changes in gasoline prices," he said. "Typically what they have left over to spend, they will spend on fast food."
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