Whataburger Launches $4 Menu Amid Fast-Food Price Wars

Whataburger on Tuesday announced a $4 value menu with four smaller sandwiches at its more than 1,700 southern U.S. locations.

• 4 sandwiches make up the menu: two burger options and two chicken strip options.
• $3 more adds a small fries and drink to any sandwich.
• 72% of consumers say restaurant prices are rising faster than grocery prices.
• Inflation hit 4.2% in May, a three-year high, after sitting at 2.4% in January.

Why it matters: Fast-food chains are rolling out low-price menus as consumers pull back on restaurant spending.

• Half of consumers ordered from restaurants less frequently in the first three months of the year.
• McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski described the environment as a "pressured consumer environment" that "may be getting a little bit worse."

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What’s next: Whataburger's value menu enters a field already occupied by McDonald's $5 meal deal, Burger King's $3.98 Whopper Wednesdays, and Wendy's $4 Biggie Bites.

• Whether $4 value menus are enough to reverse the decline in restaurant visit frequency among cost-conscious consumers.
• How long chains can sustain low-price offerings if inflation and input costs continue to rise.