McDonald’s is bringing its largest burger yet to U.S. menus.
Starting March 3, American customers will finally be able to get their hands on the limited-time Big Arch Burger, which features two quarter-pound beef patties, three slices of cheese, onions, pickles, lettuce and a tangy sauce on a sesame and poppy seed bun.
The fast food giant’s “most McDonald’s, McDonald’s burger,” as its press release called it, was previously tested in Canada and countries across Europe, but is already a permanent menu fixture in the U.K. and Ireland.
“We began to pilot Big Arch about a year and a half ago, and it’s shown strong traction across several markets,” said Jill McDonald, the chain’s global chief restaurant experience officer, during a fourth quarter earnings call earlier this month. “Customers are responding to this more satisfying burger that meets demand for something heartier while still feeling distinctly McDonald’s.
“Its performance helped it earn a permanent spot on the U.K. menu, and we see potential to continue scaling this platform as we strengthen our position within this tier of the beef category,” McDonald said.
While the price of the new burger has not yet been revealed, a Big Arch meal with fries and a drink costs about 12.59 Canadian dollars, which translates to about $9 in the U.S., meaning it is pricier than most meals on the menu.
It is not known how long the 1020-calorie menu item will stick around in U.S. restaurants, and McDonald’s did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
The Big Arch Burger is just the latest in a string of changes that the McDonald’s menu has already seen this year.
McDonald’s recently launched a hot honey sauce for dipping. Plus, the restaurant’s iconic Shamrock Shake, a mint-flavored green milkshake, returned to stores earlier this month ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. In another holiday menu item, the fast food restaurant partnered with Paramount Caviar to launch a free McNugget caviar kit on Valentine’s Day.
The chain also revived one of its most requested Happy Meal toy lines in January by bringing back the Transformer-style Changeables figures after nearly four decades. The toys, which debuted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, were known for transforming from classic McDonald’s menu items into robots, dinosaurs and other characters.
Looking ahead, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said during the recent earnings call that the chain is testing new protein-packed menu items to appeal to customers who are taking GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
