Angus burgers now on McDonald’s menus

On trips to two McDonald’s this week (to purchase iced coffee), Fat City learned that the Angus burger the company started testing in different markets three months ago has come to Kansas City.

The one-third pound burgers are scheduled to be on most McDonald’s menus by today. They still for around $4 a piece. There are three varieties — a deluxe burger with a “thicker” tomato slice and pickles, a mushroom burger and a bacon-and-cheese burger.

It’s the first new burger McDonald’s has introduced since the failed Big N’ Tasty in 2001. As we wrote in April, the company hasn’t had a hit burger since the quarter-pounder more than 20 years ago. While sales of its dollar-menu items have remained strong, it’s been losing premium-burger market share to chains as varied as Hardee’s and Five Guys Burgers & Fries (14965 W 119th St, Olathe).

While McDonald’s believes the new Angus burger fills a “gap at the top end of the menu,” some business analysts believe it will cannibalize sales of its other high-end burgers such as Big Macs and Quarter-Pounders.

In test markets, Angus burger sales have always started strong but trailed off over time. In Southern California, sales are off more than 50 percent from when the burger was introduced.

As for the iced coffee, it’s nearly as good as Starbucks. But McCafe’s are still having service problems, specifically understanding that “no sugar” truly means no sugar or syrups. Coffee drinkers are a finicky bunch but with the millions of dollars McDonald’s is spending to unseat Starbucks, they’ll probably get the problems with their McBaristas fixed eventually.

(Image via Flickr: Zoe Disco)