Cheapism / Mr. Blue MauMau (CC) / Taco Bell
Life is hectic. Families are busy, so hitting the drive-thru in the morning before work or after school is a convenient time saver. Fast-food chains can bust your budget if you're not careful, but you can plan ahead to take advantage of deals and promotions. Before you pile in the car or call your favorite pizza place, check out these money saving menu items (including some ways to get free fast food).
Prices and availability are subject to change.
The Big Box deal is back at Popeyes. For $7, you get two pieces of fried chicken or three chicken tenders, plus two regular sides and a biscuit. Don't forget to check the Offers section of the website, too, where you can score lots of other great deals like a $7 three-piece tenders combo or the ever-popular $12 Two Can Dine meal with five pieces of chicken or six tenders plus two sides and biscuits.
Wendy's has all kinds of freebies and coupons in the Offers section of its mobile app this month, including free 6-piece chicken nuggets with a premium combo purchase. There are also offers for $1 any size soft drink and a two for $6 sandwich and nugget deals. For breakfast, there's a $3 Breakfast Biggie Bundle deal, where you can mix and match two biscuits, potatoes, and coffee.
Taco Bell's $5 Cravings Box is gone once again, but there's still the $6 option of building your own. Choose a specialty like a Crunchwrap, plus a taco or Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, a side, and a drink.
If it's just an item or two you're after, check out the new Cravings Value Menu with lots of under-$3 options like beef nachos, Double Stacked Tacos, and a 3-Cheese Flatbread Melt.
McDonald's has brought back its best deal for 2024: Free Fries Friday. Snag a free medium fries every Friday with a minimum $1 purchase through the app. Plus, check the Deals section of the mobile app for offers like a BOGO for 50 cents breakfast sandwiches, $1.29 any size fries, and a $6 Big Mac combo.
Burger King is continuing its free fries promotion in 2024. You can get one free any size fry each week with purchase when you use the mobile app. And don't forget to check the offers page on the restaurant's website, which has rotating deals like a $4 breakfast biscuit and hash browns meal, $9 double Whopper and small fries meal, and a $5 double cheeseburger and small fries meal.
If you have some family members who prefer bone-in and some who prefer boneless chicken, the digital-exclusive deal 8-and-8 Fill-Up at KFC is perfect. It comes with eight pieces of regular chicken, eight chicken tenders, large fries, large mashed potatoes and gravy, large coleslaw, and four biscuits. You can also just score a huge box of 50 chicken nuggets for $30, or get a $5 Taste of KFC 2-piece chicken box.
Little Caesars does cheap pizza well, but the prices have recently increased — the second time since the pandemic started. The cheapest option will now run you $6 instead of $5. We still recommend paying a dollar more to get Extra Most Bestest pies for more cheese and more pepperoni, making the chain noticeably better than cheaper pizza chains. The upgrade is worth the extra change.
Family meals at Panda Express are a crowd pleaser. For $35, order your choice of three large entrees and two large sides that will feed a small family. Who doesn't like orange chicken and fried rice?
The days of $5 footlongs are long over, but you can still get a good deal on them at Subway. If you order through the app or website, you can buy one and get one 50% off with the coupon code BOGO50 right now. (If that code doesn't work, give FLBOGO for buy-one-get-one-free-footlongs a try, because Subway tends to cycle between those two codes.)
For once, Pizza Hut's deals recently got better. The new $7 Deal Lover's Menu is the same mix-and-match-at-least-two-items deal that other pizza chains offer. Options include medium one-topping pizzas, Melts, boneless wings, cheese sticks, breadsticks, pastas, and desserts. There's also the Big Dinner Box for $30 featuring two medium one-topping pizzas, five breadsticks, and either pasta, bone-in wings, or boneless wings.
You can feed three or four people (or just two really hungry ones) at Wingstop right now for $17. The Boneless Meal Deal comes with 20 boneless wings tossed in up to four sauce or rub flavors, plus a large fries and two dips. Plus, you can get boneless wings for 70 cents each on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Trying to decide which flavors to order? We ranked the best Wingstop flavors to help you make the call.
Your best bet for cheap pizza at Domino's is the long-running $7 Mix 'n Match deal. Just order two or more items and they're all $7 each, including two-topping medium pizzas, bread, chicken, sandwiches, pastas, salads, and desserts. For $8, you can get large one-topping pizzas for carryout.
The best Arby's deal in years (decades?) has ended, but another has appeared. The 2 for $6 Everyday Value Menu is currently available, and you can mix and match from Classic Roast Beef, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, and mozzarella sticks right now. Plus, you can get $1 sliders right now.
Like Domino's and Pizza Hut, Papa Johns has a buy-two-or-more deal. Items are $7 each as long as you buy at least two, and there are a lot of options, such as a medium one-topping pizza, Papadias, 10-piece Chicken Poppers, cheese sticks, garlic knots, and three desserts. That's a lot of variety to satisfy everyone.
Most people know about Sonic's happy hour, but you can actually get the same deals all the time. All you have to do is order online or in the app. You can also get half-price cheeseburgers every Tuesday after 5 p.m. when you order online or through the app. Plus, all shakes are half price after 7 p.m. for a limited time.
The best deal at Del Taco is the long-running Taco Nights promotion. On Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., you can get three snack tacos for $1.99, and on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., you can get three grilled chicken tacos for $3.19. Sure, the prices have gone up recently thanks to inflation, but it's still a heck of a deal. There are also two deals for $3: two crispy chicken tacos or two breakfast rollers.
A classic cheeseburger combo is the best deal right now at DQ. For $7, you'll get a cheeseburger, regular-size fries, a 21-ounce drink, and a small sundae. You can also grab the three-piece chicken strip meal deal for $7, or try the mix and match two for $5 deal with options like a small sundae or chili dog.
Everyone knows that dark meat is the juiciest, so why not save a little money and skip the white meat altogether? For $24, you'll get 10 fried chicken legs and thighs, plus two large sides, five biscuits, and five of the chain's signature jalapenos. If you're looking for more, head to the Coupons section of Church's website to find the best deals. Right now, you can use coupon codes when you order online to get a $10 meal for two.
Panera has a current special on a classic soup and sandwich combo. You can get a cup of creamy tomato soup with croutons, half a tuna salad sandwich, and a side of French baguette, apple, or chips for just $7. You can also get six other value duets with various Panera soups, salads, and sandwiches for the same price.
Breakfast — or any meal, since they serve biscuit sandwiches all day! — just got cheaper at Bojangles. The chain rotates through two-for deals, and right now you can grab a very unusual variation: Sausage Bo-Berry Biscuit sandwiches. It's a sweet and savory combo of a breakfast sausage patty on an iced berry biscuit.
Hardee's recently released three new combo meal deals for only $6 each. All of them come with small fries and a small drink, plus your choice of a double cheeseburger, original hot ham and cheese sandwich, or three-piece hand-breaded chicken tenders. You can also get two for $5 select breakfast items right now as well.
There's a few great two-for deals at Jack in the Box this month. They include two Breakfast Jacks for $3, two sausage or bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits for $5, and two Jumbo Jack burgers for $5. Plus, you can always get two tacos for $1.
There's a great deal on some breakfast burritos and a taco at Taco John's right now. You can get two Meat and Potato Breakfast Burritos for $7. They're filled with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, Potato Olés, and nacho cheese sauce.
Free Donut Wednesdays might be over for now, but there's a good deal on coffee at Dunkin' instead. With the chain's app, you can get a medium hot or iced coffee every single day for $2. For a buck more, you can get a Refresher beverage instead.
There are seven dishes on the Noodles & Co. menu that are just $7 each for the small size, including spaghetti with marinara, Japanese Pan Noodles, pesto cavatappi, and the Med Salad.
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