Sonic Drive-In enters fast-food value meal wars with $1.99 menu to lure in inflation-rocked customers

Sonic Drive-In said Monday it will be launching a value menu — joining rivals McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell in an industrywide bid to lure back inflation-battered customers.

The 71-year-old burger chain — owned by Inspire Brands, which also operates Arby’s, Baskin Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings and Dunkin – will offer burgers, snacks, desserts and brand-new wraps on a permanent “Fun.99” menu whose items cost $1.99 each.

The value menu will include a quarter-pound double cheeseburger, Chili Cheese Coney hot dog, tater tots and all 12 of the Sonic Shake flavors in a 16 oz. cup.

The $1.99 menu will also introduce two new items: a bacon ranch queso wrap and a southwest crunch queso wrap. 

“Now more than ever, guests are focused on affordable food options,” CMO Ryan Dickerson said in a statement. “At SONIC, we wanted to do something different – something fun – so we focused on variety.”

The Oklahoma-based fast-food chain also offers discounts to app users, like half-price cheeseburgers on Tuesday nights.

Sonic said its value menu is “here to stay.”

McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell have all recently introduced temporary value deals – McDonald’s and Burger King each introduced a $5 meal deal last month, while Taco Bell launched a $7 “Luxe Cravings Box.”

McDonald’s — which came under fire after some locations were charging as much as $18 for a Big Mac meal and $7.29 for an Egg McMuffin — also offers Free Fries Friday, a free medium fry with a $1 minimum purchase on Fridays, through the end of the year.

In April, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski admitted on an earnings call that “it is clear that broad-based consumer pressures persist around the world.”

“Consumers continue[d] to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending,” he added.

The value meal war is a result of customer cutbacks as inflation persists and food prices rise. 

In February, around a quarter of low-income consumers, or those earning less than $50,000 per year, said they were eating less fast food and around half said they were making fewer trips to restaurants, according to polling by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions. 

Quick-service restaurant traffic was down 2.1% in May as compared to the same time last year, according to Revenue Management Solutions. Meanwhile, the average price at quick-service restaurants was up 3% in May compared to the same period last year, according to the firm.

Burger King and Taco Bell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.