The value meal trend that started in spring 2024 is still being served up at many of America's favorite fast-food restaurants.

McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's kickstarted the value meal wars back in May 2024 as a way to cater to consumers concerned about inflation and higher food prices. Well, inflation hasn't been vanquished from the economic menu, so value meals have become a mainstay.

In 2025, there's been new entrants beyond the fast-food chains including Outback Steakhouse, whose limited time Aussie 3-Course Meal for $14.99 launched this week.

Also joining this month, convenience store chain Circle K began offering $3, $4 and $5 meal deals.

Restaurants react to consumers dining out less

Food away from home has increased 3.6% over the 12-month period ending in December 2024, compared to a 2.5% increase for all food and a 2.9% increase in all items, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index. Limited service meals have risen slightly higher (3.7%) than full service meals at 3.7%.

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"Consumers are continuing to feel the sting of inflation and so more than half of Americans are eating out less than they used to," Christopher Hydock, a professor at Tulane University’s School of Business, who specializes in consumer experience and retail pricing, told USA TODAY.

He highlighted trend data from market researcher CivicScience which found 59% of the 1,535 U.S. adults surveyed in October 2024 said they had dined out less often in the previous six months, with many spending more on groceries so they could eat at home.

"With less customers eating out, restaurants are forced to compete for fewer customers which forces them to find ways to differentiate their offerings," Hydock said. "Since price is also increasingly a concern for customers, value meals are one logical way of doing so."

Here's a look at some of the meal deals currently on the menu.

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McDonald's $5 Meal Deal, plus McValue menu

Earlier this month, McDonald's proclaimed that its $5 Meal Deal, added to the chain's menu in June 2024, would remain available until the summer.

The $5 Meal Deal includes:

• McDouble or McChicken 
• Small fries 
• Four-piece Chicken McNuggets 
• Small soft drink 

McDonald's also debuted a new McValue menu, which lets customers buy one, add one for $1 on select items.

Burger King: $5 Duo and $7 Trio deals

Burger King brought its $5 Duo combo meal to the menu in June, letting diners choose a combination of any two items from the Duo options. Since then, it has added a $7 Trio, letting you choose three items to fill out your combo. You can choose two or three of these items:

• Whopper Jr.
• Original Chicken Sandwich
• Bacon Cheeseburger
• 8 Pc. Chicken Fries
• Medium French Fries
• Medium drink

Wendy's 2 for $7 value meal deal

Wendy’s has offered its $5 Biggie Bag, which includes a Crispy Chicken Sandwich or Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, plus nuggets, fries, and a drink, for more than five years. Earlier this month, the chain added a new 2 for $7 deal, with a choice of 16 different menu combos until March 2.  

You can choose two of these for your meal:

• Spicy Chicken Sandwich
• Classic Chicken Sandwich
• Dave’s Single
• 10-piece Chicken Nuggets

Taco Bell's has more Luxe Cravings Boxes

The Mexican-inspired fast food chain recently expanded its Luxe Cravings Boxes lineup by adding $5 and $9 options to the original $7 combo meal deal launched in June 2024. Each of the meals has multiple menu items and a medium drink.

• $5 Classic Luxe Cravings Box: Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists and medium fountain drink.  
• $7 Supreme Luxe Cravings Box: Chicken Chalupa Supreme, Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, Crunchy Taco, Chips & Nacho Cheese Sauce and medium fountain drink.
• $9 Discovery Luxe Cravings Box: One of Taco Bell’s most recent menu item innovation (rotates regularly), Doritos Locos Taco, Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists and medium fountain drink.

Sonic's 'Daily Cravings & Savings' menu

Sonic debuted a new "Daily Cravings & Savings" value menu lineup earlier this month featuring different discounted items each day of the week, with some deals changing monthly – and some available only in the Sonic app or online.

The chain also updated its fun.99 menu (all items are $1.99) to include the Jr. Deluxe Cheeseburger, Queso Wraps (Southwest and Bacon Ranch), French Toast Sticks, Small Floats (available in Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, Barq’s Root Beer, and Fanta), and the Soft Pretzel Twist.

Here's what is on the "Daily Cravings & Savings" menu for February:

• Mondays: $1.99 Quarter Pound Double Cheeseburgers.
• Tuesdays: Half-Price Classic Sonic Cheeseburgers after 5 p.m. (in-app & online).
• Thursdays: $1.49 Chili Cheese Coneys.
• Everyday Deal: Half-Price Drinks and Slushes (in-app & online).
• Everyday Deal: The fun.99 menu has the Jr. Deluxe Cheeseburger, Small Floats, Queso Wraps, French Toast Sticks, and the Soft Pretzel Twist, available for $1.99 each.

Subway 'Meal of the Day' deal

Subway currently has a limited-time "Meal of the Day" deal, available since Jan. 6, which gives customers a 6-inch sub for $6.99 or a footlong sub for $9.99, with a choice of two cookies or a bag of chips, and a small fountain soda.

Each day of the week features a different sub:

• Monday: Cold Cut Combo
• Tuesday: All-Pro Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki
• Wednesday: Meatball Marinara
• Thursday: All-New Baja Chipotle Chicken
• Friday: Tuna
• Saturday: The Ultimate B.M.T.
• Sunday: The Philly

Dairy Queen $7 Meal Deal

The restaurant chain has a meal deal that includes dessert. Choose from an Original Cheeseburger or Chicken Strips, then you also get a regular order of fries, drink and a sundae.

Are value meals a good deal?

That depends on your point of view, Hydock said. Occasionally, the menu items don't always match what the customer wants or may include more food than they desire, he said. Still, value meals "let customers feel like they are getting a good deal, and they allow companies to maintain revenue," Hydock said.

"I would say yes, overall, customers having an extra option (the value menu) is a good deal for customers. Of course, there may be instances where a restaurant offers a value combo of undesirable options at a higher-than-normal price," Hydock said, "but I think that is more of the exception than the rule."

Contributing: Amaris Encinas, Gabe Hauari, Saleen Martin and Mary Walrath-Holdridge

Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider &@mikegsnider.bsky.social &@mikesnider.

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