Secret menus have become, well, not much of a secret. McDonald's (MCD), for example, has embraced its formerly secret menu by offering some of its most popular items on its regular menu.
That's an idea Starbucks (SBUX) has embraced as well as the chain has moved a number of once-secret items to its regular menu. That's a fan-friendly move as it takes something that's being ordered anyway, gives it an official recipe and makes it available to everyone -- not just people in on the secret.
Secret menus exist at pretty much every fast-food restaurant. These consist of items that the restaurant has the ingredients to make which are not listed on the actual menu. At Starbucks that has led to people creating their own drinks while McDonald's secret menu tends to involve people combining foods into something new.
Who knows why someone would want a cheeseburger topped with a Filet O' Fish, but such a thing gets created by McDonald's customers all the time. Secret menu items can vary. In the case of McDonald's, customers order off the menu and assemble their own secret menu items, while Starbucks customers sometimes simply order drinks by name that aren't actually on the menu.
Burger King, which has embraced creativity with its endless variations of the Whopper, has a secret menu as well. It's not as open a secret as McDonald's secret menu, but it exists and you can order off of it.
Burger King/TS
What's On Burger King's Secret Menu?
Burger King has not made its secret menu items public in the way McDonald's has, but people in the know can still order off of it. Like all secret menus, there's no actual rules here. You may order something by name from the secret menu and get a blank stare from the person waiting on you.
Employees aren't trained on these items, so you may not be able to order them by name, but, you should be able to order them by specifying what you want from the Restaurant Brands International (QSR) chain.
- BK BLT: This one is pretty simple as all you have to do is ask for bacon on a Whopper or Whopper Jr.
- BK Ham and Cheese: Burger King used to offer a ham and cheese sandwich on the long roll it used to sell its classic chicken sandwich on. Now, you can custom order one by asking for ham and cheese on your choice of bun.
- Frings: Burger King has french fries and it sells onion rings. If you ask nicely, the fast-food chain will make you a half and half order of each.
- Mustard Whopper: Burger King has offered a lot of different Whopper variants on its own, but that has not stopped customers from creating their own. The Mustard Whopper adds mustard instead of mayo to the classic sandwich (although you can also opt for both).
- Suicide Burger: Perhaps the most famous item on the Burger King secret menu, the Suicide Burger builds off the chain's Triple Stacker (which is only sold in some locations. To make the suicide burger, order your sandwich with four burger patties, four slices of cheese, bacon, and special sauce,
- Rodeo Burger: Simply ask for a few onion rings and barbecue sauce to top your burger.
Why Does Burger King Have a Secret Menu?
Secret menus make people in the know feel like they have some special knowledge. For the chain, that creates a bit of a fan club-like mentality which gives customers a stronger connection to the brand. People who don't know about the secret menu can learn about it easy enough, so it's an exclusive club that pretty much anyone can get into.
Secret menus can create problems. Someone might order "Purple Drink" at Starbucks and not get what they expect because there's no official recipe, but that's not a problem when a customer specifies what they want.
Burger King may not officially recognize these items, but if you tell the person at the counter what you want, they will make them for you.
