The holiday season includes all sorts of comforting, familiar flavors. For some people, that means getting a chance to have some home cooking as people gather for traditional holiday meals.
In other cases, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day is a time for pumpkin pie, peppermint drinks, hot chocolate, and other foods associated with winter and the holidays. Given the cold weather in much of the country, people want warm, comforting, filling, and familiar foods.
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Fast food, in many ways, fits that bill. Some adults who rarely visit a McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's might find themselves stopping for a Big Mac, Whopper, Chicken McNuggets, or other classic favorite during this time of year. It's easy to justify after a long day spent shopping and braving snow, ice, and other miserable conditions.
The big fast-food burger chains, however, generally offer few limited-time offers (LTOs) during this time of year because they face a mix of crowds and labor challenges. Wendy's (WEN) -) does offer a seasonal Peppermint Frosty and an associated cold brew coffee, and some McDonald's locations offer a seasonal "Holiday Pie," but Burger King's menu, at least this year, has not included any big holiday changes.
That will change on Dec. 7 when the Restaurant Brands International (QSR) chain brings back a sandwich line based on a comfort food classic.
Burger King/TS
Burger King brings back its take on a comfort food classic
Burger King has leveraged its signature Whopper sandwich into all sorts of new variants. Some are more serious than others with the Impossible Whopper, which features plant-based patties, becoming a permanent menu item.
In most cases, the chain has used the Whopper name to get attention for new LTOs that keep the sandwich's basic form while adding new toppings or other variations. The Whopper Melt line, which Burger King introduced last year, uses round pieces of bread rather than a traditional hamburger bun.
It's a small change, but, melts are an American diner classic. It's a Burger King take on comfort food that's both familiar and a little different.
For the holiday season, Burger King has brought back the Whopper Melt line nationwide, along with a new version of the sandwich
Burger King brings back Whopper melts, adds a new one
The new Whopper Melt line includes the Classic Melt (basically a Whopper with different bread), the Bacon Melt, and the new Shroom n’ Swiss Melt. The chain tested the Shroom n' Swiss Melt at select locations last year.
Unlike the classic Whopper, the Whopper Melts use two smaller Whopper Jr. patties.
"The returning Classic Melt features two slices of toasted bread rounds sandwiching two Whopper Jr. Patties, melty American cheese, caramelized onions, and Stacker Sauce," Chew Boom reported. "Meanwhile, the fan-favorite Bacon Melt consists of two toasted bread rounds sandwiching two Whopper Jr. Patties, American cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, and Stacker Sauce."
For the Shroom n’ Swiss Melt, the company shook things up a little bit. That sandwich will offer two flame-grilled Whopper Jr. patties, with two slices of melted Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, and Royal Sauce between two toasted bread rounds.
Burger King will bring the Whopper Melts line to stores nationwide on Dec. 7. This menu addition is in line with comments Restaurant Brands International CEO Josh Kobza made during his company's third-quarter earnings call.
"I think you can probably expect that a lot of those will continue to be focused on our core equities. We think that Burger King has some really special things about it between the Whopper flame grilling and 'have it your way.' And while we'll always bring kind of new twists on things, I think you can expect more focus on a lot of those core equities from us," he said.
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