Enter the mid-tier burger

Faster than you can say “Forget 99 cents!,” two big fast-food chains are unwrapping burgers that could lure customers away from the low-priced choices that eased the brands through the Great Recession.

Call them mid-tier burgers, priced to fill the gap between each chain’s new premium choice and the smallest sandwiches on their respective menus.

Indeed, “mid-tier product” is the description Wendy’s uses for its W burger, which will be rolled out in December. “This is going out at a $2.99 price point,” new CEO Emil Brolick explained to investors yesterday. “One of the things we want to do is put a product out there that we think is going to encourage people to trade up. Perhaps those individuals that are purchasing [a] 99-cent item will trade up to this product.”

The lure, he said, is a strong flavor and a high-craft aspect to the burger, which has about “two, 2.5 ounces” of fresh beef.

That seems to be the same strategy Burger King is employing with its new BK Toppers line. The burgers are dressed with flavorings like Swiss cheese, mushrooms and barbecue sauce. They’re heftier than the W’s, with 3.2 ounces of beef, but will be priced at $1.99, according to franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group.

That puts it between BK’s regular and Mini burgers on the low-price end, and the new BK Chef’s Choice at the high end, with a price of $4.99.

The two giants aren’t alone in sandwiching mid-priced burgers between their bargains and their biggies. Carl’s Jr. recently added new Steakhouse burgers, arrayed on the menu between its Six Dollar Burger line (typically priced around $4) and its Famous Star singles.

Missing among the converts is the segment’s true king, McDonald’s. First in size as well as sales growth, it’s been relying with stunning success on its beverages and snack-type items, leaving its burger line-up largely untouched since the rollout of the Angus line.

Throwing in the napkin on high-cost states

The cost and aggravation of meeting government requirements may be bad for restaurants, but they’re proving a boon for moving companies. The home office of Carl’s Jr. says it’s had enough of California’s regulatory and tax burdens and will carefully study brochures for a possible new home in Texas.

The pronouncement from Andy Puzder, CEO of parent company CKE Restaurants, follows the throw-up-his-hands gesture a few weeks ago from Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of the Illinois-based Jimmy John’s sandwich chain. The step-up in the state’s tax rate was the last straw for him. Now, he told the local media, he’s considering a relocation to a more business-friendly state.

The two may be starting a parade. Both their states are contending with huge budget deficits that have many observers fretting about insolvency (bankruptcy is not an option for states, so they merely default and stop paying their bills; Illinois has already reneged on costs like medical reimbursements to some institutions).

The list of other states in that plight is a long one. On Tuesday, for instance, Gov. Andrew Cuomo described New York as being functionally bankrupt.

Fortunately for those of us who live and work in the state, he’s emphasizing efficiency and cost cuts over tax increases. But the Empire State is unique in that respect. Consider, for instance, that Illinois raised its corporate income tax by 46%, to seven cents of every dollar in income. It makes you want to help Liautaud with the packing.

Some cities have tried to turn that situation into fertilizer, so to speak. Knowing how burdens can drive businesses away, they’re striving to streamline the permitting process and even cut some of the costs of doing business. New York, for instance, is trying to make the Big Apple an easier place for small businesses to reside. Mayor Bloomberg has also thrown such bones as promising not to wallop businesses with fines under the city’s new letter-graded inspection system.

Chicago, meanwhile, has a neat program that doesn’t get much attention: If a restaurant or other start-up businesses is set up to be green, the city will work with the entrepreneur to streamline the permitting process. As any operator who’s braved the Long Island market or many areas of California will attest, that’s a considerable enticement.

More on the masked bidder for CKE

Reuters reported this morning that the second bidder for CKE Restaurants, the parent of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, is Apollo Managemet, a private equity firm with a stake in the Garden Fresh buffet chain. Reuters cited unidentified sources, and noted that Apollo neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

Apollo has also been a lender to U.S. Foodservice, the restaurant distribution giant, and Kronos, a supplier of foodservice time-management technology.

The amount of the second bid was not disclosed in the Reuters report.

Who is that masked bidder?

You have to wonder why the second company to tender a bid for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s is hell-bent on masking its identity. Suitor No. 1, after all, is all but hiring skywriters to tout its interest: “Thomas H. Lee wants to do burgers!”

So why the secrecy for would-be buyer No. 2? After thinking about it at length today, I’m convinced there are three possible answers:

1) The bidder is actually Bruce Wayne, who's thinking of the possible movie tie-ins. It’s always dicey when you live over a secret cave and have an alternate crime-fighting ego in the age of YouTube. Besides, Alfred’s not getting any younger, and he could spill the beans about the capes and all those nifty toys if reporters come a-calling.

2) The would-be buyer doesn’t want to drive up the price of CKE Restaurants, the chains' parent, by sparking a bidding war. That, in turn, could be the case if the acquisition is a strategic one. If the addition of those brands makes terrific sense for the suitor, the market might bet the second party would be willing to sweeten its offer.

So what companies fit that fit that bill?

How about Yum Brands? Burgers are a gaping hole in its franchise portfolio, and both Carl’s and Hardee’s have geographic room to grow.

Or how about an East Coast brand that could suddenly have a big presence in the West and Central West? That description could apply to a few brands, including Chick-fil-A. Then again, that’s not the type of operation to do something rash. But it would have the wherewithal.

3) This cloaked suitor doesn’t want to alarm its current employees, or possibly even its investors. It’d rather complete the deal before it needlessly worries key constituencies and creates a nightmare for itself.

But that sounds unlikely. So I’m putting my money on the likelihood that the challenger is a restaurant company who sees the two regional burger chains as good complements to its current holdings.

Then again, I had Kansas winning the NCAA championship.

Who should be buying Carl's Jr.

I’m sure the Vegas odds-makers are already taking action on who'll be the next owner of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, the two main brands in the portfolio of CKE Restaurants. Thomas H. Lee is the favorite, with a deal already on the table to buy it for about $928 million, including debt. Then came word yesterday that Nelson Peltz, the bwana who deftly bagged Wendy’s in 2008, was giving CKE’s slightly bald radials a kick.

They may be the most likely buyers. I keep thinking about who might be the most appropriate buyer, from the standpoint of all parties concerned.It makes me wonder if the big casual-dining companies have the Poppers to reconsider their longstanding pledge never to veer out of that market.

It’s almost a reflex with concerns like Darden, Brinker and OSI (the parents of Red Lobster, Chili’s and Outback Steakhouse, respectively). Ask what new businesses might be a worthwhile acquisition or start-up and they’ll invariably conclude with, “…and of course it’d have to be something in casual dining, since that's where we want to stay.”

Meanwhile, they’re having their turnips mashed by quick-service and fast-casual concepts.

They should consider the bold move of buying a quick-service brand and supercharging it with their casual know-how to create the ultimate fast-casual player—a contender genetically engineered to provide cloth-napkin-caliber service and food, with the value, speed and less-processed foods that have established concepts like Panera and Chipotle as the brands of choice among younger consumers. It’d be the veritable Mike Tyson of the sector.

Carl’s would be the perfect subject for the experiment. It’s been trash-talking for years that it offers a burger comparable to what patrons would find in a casual restaurant, for less than two-thirds of the price. To launch the Six Dollar Burger (it actually sells for under $4), the chain even set up a fake restaurant where patrons were charged $6 for the sandwich. Patrons paid without complaint.

Sure, the acquisition would put those casual-dining giants squarely in franchising, a realm where they’ve at most dabbled before, preferring to grow through corporate development and joint ventures. But their current business models aren’t exactly the envy of the business world. Becoming full-fledged franchisors would really open the valve on cash flow.

Meanwhile, the Carl’s and Hardee’s systems would greatly benefit from the training, research and awesome support services provided by the likes of Darden and Brinker.

It’s a deal casual-dining hunter and quick-service should pursue, especially when you consider that CKE might change hands for just over $1 billion. It’s a buyer’s market, to be sure.

Talk about your hot seats

They’re dead men walking—three longtime CEOs, all with unusual backgrounds for a restaurant official, all having served for considerable stretches in the corner office.

Each still has his job for the time being, with no indication they’re backing off the charge of captaining chains through the Great Recession. Yet for Dennis Mullen of Red Robin, Nelson Marchioli of Denny’s, and Andrew Puzder of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, it’s just a matter of time until they’re sitting with an HR representative, going over their exit packages and stock options.

Each is the victim of a peculiar time warp. Two pronounced trends of the pre-Recession industry have popped back up like spring crocuses to undermine their tenure. Private equity firms are back on the prowl for restaurant bargains, and, suddenly, activist investors are barking orders again to the management of publicly owned chains, as Mullen and Marchioli can readily attest.

In Mullen’s case, the dissatisfied shareholders already have goaded his company to form the committee that will select the next CEO. Meanwhile, the company is publicly saying that it expects Mullen to continue serving as chief of the casual-dining chain until his contract expires in December—of 2012.

It’s like the warden coming to size up a condemned man’s bunk while the gallows is still being built, then asking if the guy can put in a few hours on the license-plate line the morning of his hanging.

But that’s hardly the only weirdness to the situations. On Feb. 26, CKE Restaurants announced that it’d agreed to be acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners, the private-equity company that also owns a big stake in Dunkin’ Donuts. The announcement was immediately followed by speculation that the buyer would give Puzder the heave-ho because of the weak recent performance of CKE, particularly its Carl’s chain.

On the very same day, Puzder was named the 2010 winner of the Silver Plate Award for the quick-service sector. One of the industry’s most celebrated honor, the Silver Plate recognizes the executive who’s done the most outstanding job within his or her respective market segment. In short, Puzder was being named the best in his field on the same day the internet buzzed with certainty that he was about to feel a silvery axe.

Meanwhile, as one of nine Silver Plate winners, Puzder could still be named the industry’s operator of the year, the winner of the Gold Plate Award, in May. The voting for that honor was conducted earlier in February. So he could get a pink slip and a Gold Plate almost simultaneously.

Interestingly, all three of the marked executives hail from decidedly non-traditional backgrounds for restaurant chain leaders. Puzder, for instance, was a lawyer who came to the business after the holding company that owned Carl’s Jr. went out and added Hardee’s to its portfolio. Involvement on the legal side led to broader executive responsibilities and ultimately a top-level executive post.

Mullen started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the nation’s largest accounting firms. He also logged time with Boston Chicken, serving as its CFO, as well as the brands that now constitute Eateries Inc. He’s been CEO of Red Robin for four-and-a-half years.

Marchioli is the only restaurant CEO to my knowledge who climbed to that post through purchasing and quality assurance, the nitty-gritty operations that are critical to a company’s viability, but seldom get any appreciation from outsiders. He was a bug hunter.

He may find himself grappling with a different sort of nuisance, at least from his standpoint. Two investment groups have demanded that they be given three seats on Denny’s board. In making that demand, the stakeholders provided a list of complaints about the company’s management, including its breakfast giveaway.

That program has been one of Marchioli’s most publicized undertakings. Some might say it’s one of the things he’ll be remembered for.

Andy Puzder's business geography lesson

The Midwesterner who heads the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s isn’t a fan of the West Coast, particularly Oregon and the concern’s home state of California. But it’s not personal, insists Andy Puzder. It’s business. The fast-food business.

“It depends on what state you are in,” he explained Thursday to financial analysts. Some are just easier than others for a restaurant chain to navigate these days, he explained.

Texas, for instance, is “more business friendly,” said Puzder, without explaining why. Not coincidentally, “we are targeting a large percentage of our growth in Texas,” he noted.

That rev-up in the Lone Star State will lessen the importance of California to the Carl’s Jr. burger chain, which was founded in the southern part of the state and still has the bulk of its units there. Puzder has remarked in the past that the state’s high unemployment, wheezing economy and taxing regulatory environment are a significant burden on Carl’s.

But at least it’s better than Oregon, he remarked. The state “has a higher minimum wage and a similar regulatory structure as California and also has a similar socialist type government,” he said, “so the business there actually can be as bad or worse than California. And I think their unemployment rate is higher.”

Arizona, said Puzder, is also a challenging market, partly because of the drop in tourism and “issues with immigration.”

In general, he said, “illegal immigrants leaving one state for another state will hurt the restaurant business in the state they leave, not because we can't employ them but where do you think those guys eat?”

In contrast to Carl's units in Oregon, stores in Washington State are doing fine, Puzder indicated. And Texas, where Carl’s now has some 25 stores?

“Texas is doing real well,” said Puzder.

“Meaningful geographical diversification in Texas should also improve our brands’ short and long-term prospects,” he noted.

Puzder came to CKE Restaurants, the parent of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, via the latter brand, which is headquartered in St. Louis.
He was brought aboard as an attorney, but showed an aptitude and appreciation for the business.

But now, based outside Anaheim, he’s clearly not yet developed an affinity for its location.

The art of the slam

And now, a public service warning to the goliaths of restaurant advertising: Put on a helmet. A pack of would-be David’s is betting that a bucket of stones can be an effective marketing program.

Second-tier chains have been hurling more disparagements at bigger rivals than Don Rickles serves up in a month. Look at the more memorable campaigns of recent weeks. Carl’s Jr. took aim at McDonald’s revered Big Mac by introducing a “Big Carl” in commercials that all but taunted na-na-na-na-na-na. The commercials define the new premium sandwich by highlighting how the Mac can’t measure up in heft (the Big Carl boasts twice the meat and cheese) and price (it costs roughly 50 cents less).

Then there’s the absolute trash-talk. In a confrontation between talking sandwiches, all Mac can offer in its defense is having been born with a third bun.

Another installment makes fun of McDonald’s two-all-beef-patties Big Mac jingle, and a third features a Big Mac asking a Big Carl about the size of his beef, explaining that he's considering a patty enlargement to make his buns look smaller.

The kick-the-Arches effort coincides with a Carl’s publicity campaign aimed at McDonald’s new Third Pounder Angus burger. The effort encourages consumers not to be taken in by “the McHype,” and notes that Carl’s has been featuring big Angus burgers for years.

A similar don’t-you-wish-you-were-me? Campaign raged this summer as the El Pollo Loco chicken chain took aim at the king of the coop, KFC. After the bigger chain introduced its grilled chicken, EPL, a grilled-chicken specialist, ran a series of commercials that pecked at KFC’s honesty.

One noted that KFC stores still don’t have grills, so how authentic could the new product be?

Others asserted that the new chicken was flavored in part with beef, without any heads-up to consumers.

Still another replayed comments that were supposedly left on an EPL answering machine by consumers who had tasted both EPL's grilled chicken and KFC's new product. Patrons had been asked to sample the two products side by side and recount their preference.

Several of the comments slammed EPL's product, asserting that Kentucky Grilled Chicken was superior. The ads point out that the callers' numbers had been traced to KFC's headquarters in Louisville, Ky., where EPL had no stores.

Not all of the snapping comes from regional chains like Carl’s and EPL. Burger King, for instance, ran commercials in some markets earlier this year to promote its double cheeseburger as a better deal than McDonald’s comparable item. The ads featured a young man who balks at his friend’s suggestion that they hit Burger King for the two-patty sandwich. Under pressure, the kid admits that he has tiny hands, which he then displays. How can he hold a behemoth like the BK double burger?

The commercial closes with the friend holding the BK burger so his tiny-handed friend can take a bite.

The campaign was reportedly resurrected in Chicago, and New York stations are airing a variant where the tiny-handed youngster objects to getting a $1 Jr. Whopper.

(If you’re over 27, you may not be aware that there’s a series of tiny hand videos on free vid-sharing sites that have nothing to do with BK. The clips show a guy with tiny hands trying to do things like audition for an antacid commercial or work as a babysitter. Apparently this is high humor among the same people who find The King to be hilarious.)

Sometimes the sniping even creeps into familial situations. The Arby’s sandwich chain is promoting its new Roastburger sandwiches as “the burger done better.” The concept is a sister of Wendy’s a burger chain.

Then again, it’s hard to have sympathy for Wendy’s. The tagline for its burgers and other specialties: “It’s waaaay better than fast-food.”

The newest jolt on quick-service menus

McDonald's isn't convinced that energy drinks would make a good addition to its beverage mix. Indeed, it's betting the public will more readily embrace liquid snacks like frappes or smoothies, or thirst quenchers like flavored waters.

But that hasn't stopped three of its quick-service rivals from taking the plunge. Carl's Jr. and its brother in burgers, Hardee's, jointly announced today that they're adding Monster-brand energy drinks to the menus of all stores starting this month. The statement noted how popular the jolt in a can has become among young people. "You can’t walk down the street without seeing a young guy holding a can of Monster," remarked Andrew Puzder, CEO of the chains' parent, CKE Restaurants.

CKE's decision to start selling cans of Monster follows the introduction last month of a proprietary energy-drink brand for Krystal, the regional square-burger specialist. Krystal not only decided to market its own drink, called Blitz, but to offer it in fountain form. Patrons can either have it served over ice, or "frozen," like a slush.

They're clearly seeing opportunity where McDonald's reads at best a possibility. "The jury is still out relative to energy-based drinks," McDonald's USA president Don Thompson reportedly remarked after the company's annual shareholders meeting.

What seems to be missing from the deliberations is how the public will perceive the chains' addition of the highly caffeinated and often heavily sweetened drinks, which are clearly aimed in part at high-schoolers and older teens. Some watchdogs are going to equate the sales push with peddling espresso to children. There very well could be a backlash.

But first, watch for other chains to follow the leads of Carl's, Hardee's and Krystal.

Restaurant chains' new marketing guru: Larry Flynt

Fast-food chains have been trying all sorts of sideshows to keep the main attraction going, from brewing better coffee to licensing their logos for retail products. But they’ve been oblivious to the big opportunity, even though it’s familiar turf: Porn. All they’d have to do is start charging for a “Chains Gone Wild” DVD, instead of rolling the T&A for free in commercials and promos.

Consider, for instance, the campaign that Burger King will air in Singapore to support the local rollout of a new value meal, the Super Seven Incher. Right now you’re no doubt thinking, “How could anyone turn a name like that into something dicey?” Amazingly, the chain that brought us the notorious Square Butt video has managed to find a way.

“It’ll Blow/Your Mind Away,” reads an ad for the new sandwich, which is basically a hero-shaped burger. The ad, as shown this morning on Gawker, depicts a young woman in silhouette, her mouth agape Linda Lovelace-style, about to engulf the Seven Incher.

The price shown in the ad is $6.25, as in U.S. dollars. The woman pictured is Caucasian. The copy is all in English. But Gawker posted an e-mail from BK that explained the ad would only run in Singapore, and only for a limited time.

I guess the chain should be given some slack because of what it was offering. Hero-style sandwiches just seem to bring out the hidden 15-year-olds in marketers. Quiznos, for instance, should’ve put a giggly laugh track behind the commercials for its 13-inch-long Torpedo heros. In perhaps the most infamous installment, an oven tells a worker, “Put it in me, Scott.” Scott balks, asserting he’ll never do it again because he was burned last time. But the oven prevails in his pleading that Scott say something in a sexier voice.

But that seems more like a National Lampoon parody than the blatant pole dancing of Carl’s Jr.’s spots. The chain’s parent, CKE Restaurants, has definitely cut through the clutter with its female spokespersons, starting with Paris Hilton and her infamous car washing in a bikini.

More recently, commercials showed the lovely Padma Lakshmi as she all but had a conjugal visit with a Carl’s burger, described in a voice-over as “more than just a piece of meat.”

No doubt Lakshmi was hired because of her two cookbooks, her knowledge of food, and her connection to the literary world (she was married to novelist Salman Rushdie). Given how much cleavage is shown, there might’ve been two other reasons for her casting.

Today, Carl's revealed that it's showcasing a new spokes-hottie in its commercials, TV sensation Audrina Patridge of"The Hills." She's in a straining bikini on a beach, savoring Carl's latest promotional sandwich, the Teriyaki Burger.

Maybe the sauciness of recent fast-food advertising is part of the industry’s obvious back-to-basics yen. Simple desserts are in vogue again, molecular gastronomy seems to be losing its mainstream hold, classic cocktails continue to win new converts, and burgers are the product of the moment in the full-service sector.

Why not a little cheesecake with the burgers?

Bourbon burgers further blur the lines

Be careful where you stand in today's restaurant market, because the ground appears to be melting. Turf that once defined a segment is oozing into other realms, blurring consumers' perceptions of where they can get a certain product and what they'll likely pay. That's good news if you're a fast-food concept catching consumers on the way down, but more reason to whine and thump your chest if casual dining is the ground you've homesteaded. Witness, for instance, the advent this week of fast-food whiskey--available just as a flavoring at this point.

Ribs or burgers flavored with bourbon or Jack Daniels were once the signatures of casual dining. Indeed, T.G.I. Friday's Jack Daniels grill menu was undoubtedly one of the most successful undertakings of its time.

But as of today you can get a Kentucky Bourbon Burger at Carl's Jr. Yesterday, Burger King unveiled its Bourbon Whopper, one of the new sandwiches showcased at the chain's new Whopper Bar, itself a deliberate encroachment on casual dining's turf.

I don't have the prices of the new burgers, but presumably they're a significant step down from the charge on casual dining menus. It's Carl's Six Dollar Burger mentality, carried to the next logical product.

Then again, turnaround is fair play. One of casual dining's big successes in recent years has been the introduction of sliders, the little burgers that were once a mainstay of the quick-service sector. Now the big fast-food chains like Burger King, Jack in the Box and McDonald's are copying the casual dining specialists who copycatted fast-food brethren like White Castle and Krystal, the originators of sliders.

Similarly, casual dining made a grab for traditional quick-service turf when it moved chain by chain into the take-out market, cleverly differentiated from the fast-food variety by the name "curbside takeaway."

Ironically, if the industry was smart, it'd stop stealing ideas in-house and try to, um, catch some inspiration from today's true foodservice successes, the supermarket/takeout shop hybrids like Tesco's Fresh & Easy and Walmart's Marketside. They've hit on some Harry Potter formulas that could make life extremely difficult for restaurants, regardless of whether they're competing on price, convenience or even quality. They're the innovators whose ideas should be plundered--er, complimented, I meant to say, as in imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

A news round-up

The start of the business week brought the usual flood of news reports from the restaurant industry. Most are merely in-box cloggers, but here are a few worth noting:

A huge I.O.U. for the business: The restaurant industry has a serious debt problem, according to a story posted today by USA Today. The article notes that 20 restaurant and retail companies are on S&P’s list of concerns that are struggling to keep up with their debt-service payments. And it quotes Thomas Reuters as saying that public restaurant companies on average owe 83 cents for every $1 of shareholders’ equity.

Simpler permitting for Gotham: New York City willstreamline the processes that typically delay the opening of a local restaurant or other small business, City Council speaker Christine Quinn promised yesterday. She specifically cited such time-saving steps as having necessary pre-opening inspections conducted on the same day, rather than arranging separate appointments with each agency.

There's no better price: The Quiznos sandwich chain announced it will give away 1 million sub sandwiches “as part of its effort to offer better prices for a better world.” The offer is in addition to the franchised chain’s promotional contest to award free subs for a year to a “hometown hero” nominated by visitors to a new website, www.millionsubs.com.

Even Chipotle's giving it away: Subscribers to the Arizona Republic found a collapsed brown paper bag slipped into yesterday's edition. It entitles them to a free burrito at Chipotle, a chain you wouldn't expect to be in need of that sort of traffic help these days.

Alabama restaurants to go dry: Restaurants in Alabama’s Shelby and Houston Counties will likely have to cease selling alcohol on Sundays because of a change in policy by state regulators and the apparent unwillingness of lawmakers to address the situation. Liquor licenses for the two jurisdictions allow establishments to sell alcohol only Monday through Saturday. But most got around that stipulation by also obtaining a permit to operate as a supper club on Sunday. Now state authorities say they’ll not honor the club license, and county lawmakers aren’t rallying to the industry’s defense.

Hey, Elliott Ness is dead: Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Cumberland and Perry Counties are reconsidering Prohibition. Some 25 towns there reportedly forbid or severely limit alcohol sales. Apparently there’s still some bad blood about permitting the direct election of senators and giving women the vote.

Size does matter: Carl’s Jr. is offering a 42-oz. soda in a Rob Dyrdek-themed “collector’s cup” as part of its tie-in with the pro skateboarder and reality TV star. The bucket-sized, reusable cup is free with the purchase of a large (?) drink or a combo meal.

Size does matter II: Concept sibling Hardee’s is making a pitch for big eaters with the rollout of new breakfast sandwiches made with Texas toast. The oversized bread holds egg, cheese and breakfast meats, and sells for about $1.69 a la carte or $3.69 in a combo.

No showing of the green? Seriously??

Proponents of the green movement probably relished yesterday’s disclosure that Carl’s Jr. had opened its first eco-friendly restaurant, a prototype studded with such advances as a rain-capture system, a high-tech smoke eater, and even a perch for a local hawk. But they likely missed today’s more significant announcement, from 26-unit Granite City Food & Brewery.

The regional brewpub chain trumpeted the opening of its latest outlet with all the reserve of a parent whose second grader just made the honor roll. “Highly detailed” and “contemporary décor” that make the place veritably buzz! A “fun and family-friendly dining atmosphere,” apparently for those who’d rather not vibrate during dinner!! Set in Carmel, IN, “one of the top ten places to live in the Midwest,” with “excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, an award-winning public library and an expanded park system” !!!

The description went on and on—without a mention of a single green feature. No LED lights in the parking lot. No motion-sensor-based light switches in the bathroom. No high-efficiency equipment in the kitchen, or flooring recycled from waste materials. Heck, not even a low-flow pre-rinse valve at the dish station, which would’ve set the facility back about $80.

How can a chain open a restaurant today that doesn’t incorporate at least the most fundamental devices and processes for conserving energy and water and cutting waste?

I’m picking on Granite, but it’s no different than almost every other restaurant chain that recently announced the opening of a new branch, from Chick-fil-A to Max & Erma’s.

Perhaps those restaurants really have green touches. If so, and the operator or franchisor merely isn’t crowing about it in their announcements, a public relations boon is being squandered. If not, they’re ignoring the genetic engineering that’s underway in the industry. A green gene is fast becoming a part of restaurants’ DNA. To ignore that is to risk being a freak, and having to fix the problem down the road with a potentially costly rehab.

New menu-item roundup

A few leads have leaked out about the next round of chain menu additions. Here’s a sampling as of early this afternoon:

--Carl’s Jr. may be bringing back its chili dog, judging from a few non-committal posts on Twitter.

--Burger King plans to add a thicker burger, called the Steakhouse XT (the “XT” apparently stands for “extra thick.”

--KFC will roll out its value menu next week. What it touts as a game changer, the addition of chicken that’s supposedly grilled (it’s actually flash-baked on a plate that imparts grill marks) is slated for April.

--Dairy Queen will introduce its value menu next month.

--O’Charley’s will introduce several new brunch items when it changes menus later this month.

--Hardee’s is pushing an “authentic” Chicken Parmesan sandwich.

BK multiplies its slider choices

Burger King's announcement today of a sliders rollout comes as no surprise, since selected stores have been featuring the Burger Shots for months. But the chain might've caught some competitors unawares with the simultaneous introduction of a mini breakfast sandwich, the BK Breakfast Shots.

BK has also adjusted the price and serving options for the Burger Shots. A packet of two sells for $1.39, not the $1.49 that had been the going charge. A packet of six is also being offered, for a suggested retail price of $4.09. The barbell pricing strategy in action, with a single product serving both ends.

The Breakfast shots are sold in two-packs for $1.49, and four-packs for $2.89, landing both of those items toward the premium end of BK's morning roster.

The Breakfast Shots consist of egg and either ham, bacon or sausage, all topped with egg and served on mini-rolls.

The rollout comes as Jack in the Box is testing sliders, and McDonald's is offering two versions, including a sausage sandwich that could serve as a breakfast item, in the United Kingdom.

The times, they are a-shrinkin', though not every burger specialist is moving down that Yellow Brick Road to Munchkinland. Here's what Carl's Jr. had to say in response to my Twitter query about when it might try sliders: "Why do itty-bitty sliders when young hungry guys want a big juicy Six Dollar Burger? We don't so tiny, we do premium quality."

Carl's readies a new green flagship

Carl's Jr. will open a new eco-friendly flagship unit in two weeks on the site of a former Carrows family restaurant, according to posts on Twitter, the social networking site.

One "tweeter" (a.k.a. a "tweetle"--this could get cutesy, folks) asked Carl's via the micro-blogging site about the store, which is in Carpinteria. It was apparently arresting enough visually to merit a query from a local observer, who said it snagged his attention on a drive-by ("Nice place!" Hey, you only get 140 characters for each post, so that's downright effusive by Twitter standards.)

The company acknowledged that the converted restaurant is a new standard-setter, since the unit is only a mile from the headquarters of Carl's and its parent, CKE Restaurants. It also described the unit as "environmentally friendly to boot." But no further details were disclosed.

That's a shame, because you have to wonder if Carl's is eyeing other shuttered family restaurants as well. Today The NPD Group reported that enough of tose restaurants were shuttered last year to shrink the number of outlets in the segment by 3%. Southern California, Carl's stronghold, was a core market for many of the brands.