The Best Fast Food Deals To Grab Right Now

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 restaurants 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 fast-food money savers.

Prices and availability are subject to change.

Related: How To Get Free Fast Food

Popeyes has a number of pickup-only deals right now, including a meal for two that includes five pieces of fried chicken, two sides, and two biscuits for $10. You can also swap out the chicken for an order of six-piece tenders if you want. Prefer seafood during Lent? Grab a $6 shrimp tackle box with eight pieces of shrimp, a side, and a biscuit.

Related: Spicy Fast-Food Items to Order If You're Feeling Brave

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 its cheaper counterparts. The upgrade is worth the extra change. 

Related: Best Cheap Pizza: Deals and Price Comparison

McDonald's has retooled its app deals for 2023, and the consensus is that they're not great. But there's one deal you can still get through the end of the year: free medium fries every Friday with a minimum $1 purchase through the app. If you're hitting up the drive-thru before lunch, grab any size of hot or iced coffee for $1 through the end of the year. Plus, you can get a triple cheeseburger for $2.79 right now.

Related: Why McDonald's Fries Used to Taste Better

Not one to be outdone by the competition, Burger King is offering its customers free fries all year long as well. All you have to do is become a member of the free Royal Perks rewards program, and you can score free fries once a week through June with any purchase. There's also a new $5 Your Way Meal with your choice of a Whopper Jr., Chicken Jr., or bacon cheeseburger with four-piece nuggets, small fries, and a small drink. And don't forget to check the offers page on the restaurant's website, which has rotating deals like $1 large onion rings or a $6 small Whopper meal.

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The best deal at Wendy's right now is a combo meal. The Four for $4 deal comes with a junior cheeseburger, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink. For a dollar more, you can upgrade your sandwich to a junior bacon cheeseburger, double stack, or crispy chicken BLT in a Biggie Bag instead. Plus, Wendy's app has coupons for a free small chili with any mobile purchase or a free small seasoned potatoes with any breakfast purchase for a limited time.

Family meals at Panda Express are on sale. For $35, you get 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?

Taco Bell finally released a make-your-own-combo box, and it's only $5 when you order it online. You can choose one specialty, like a Crunchwrap Supreme or cheesy Gordita Crunch; a classic item, like a taco or beefy five-layer burrito; a side, like cheesy fiesta potatoes or cinnamon twists; and a drink. You can also get a $5 Cravings Trio for a limited time with a Crunchwrap Supreme, cheesy Gordita Crunch, or Burrito Supreme with a Doritos Locos taco and a drink.

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 buy one and get one half off by using the code BOGO50.

It finally happened: The two for $6 Everyday Value menu at Arby's turned into the two for $7 menu. Still, it's the best deal you can get in an ever-tightening field. Right now you can mix and match with a spicy roast beef sandwich, French dip and Swiss, and crispy fish sandwich, but the options change often. You can also get a discounted fish sandwich combo just in time for Lent with crispy fish and small fries for $5.

Pizza Hut's $10 Tastemaker deal is over (this time), but you can still get a great takeout special. You can get any number of medium one-topping pizzas for $8 each as long as you buy two for carryout. If you want more variety, grab a Big Dinner Box for $28 featuring two medium one-topping pizzas, five breadsticks, and either pasta, bone-in wings, or boneless wings.  

If all you're looking for is a bucket of chicken to feed a crowd, then KFC's latest limited-time deal is for you. You can get an eight-piece bucket of bone-in fried chicken for just $10, which is a hefty discount from regular prices. If you prefer boneless chicken, you can also get eight tenders for the same price, along with four dipping sauces. 

Right now at Domino's, you can feed a lot of people for not much money. For $8 each, you can get large one-topping pizzas on any of the chain's crusts, eight-piece chicken wings, and Dips and Twists combos. It's available only for carryout, but it's still a great deal. If you want to save more money, get two or more medium two-topping pizzas for only $7 each for carryout or delivery. Plus, you can get bread, chicken, sandwiches, pasta, salads, and dessert for the same price.

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. 

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 $1.69, and on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., you can get three grilled chicken tacos for $2.69. Sure, the prices have gone up recently thanks to inflation, but it's still a heck of a deal.

Forget chicken, because Church's has a great deal for seafood season this year. The $6 eight-piece butterfly shrimp meal comes with eight fried shrimp, fries, a honey butter biscuit, and cocktail sauce. You can also get it in a surf-and-turf option with two chicken tenders and four fried shrimp.

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. 

Bojangles wants to help feed your family with a new meal combo. For $20, you get eight legs and thighs, two family-sized sides, and four biscuits. There's also a deal on sausage biscuits right now: two for $4. They're available all day, so consider breakfast for dinner.

Steak 'n Shake has four value meals priced at $4 on the regular menu. You can get a double Steakburger with cheese, a butter single Steakburger, a Steak Frank, or a garlic single Steakburger along with fries. And don't forget that the chain offers happy hour from 2 pm. to 4 p.m. every weekday with half-price shakes and drinks. 

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 $8. You can also get five other value duets with various salads, soups, and sandwiches for the same price.

Holidays mean family deals at Taco John's. This year's deal is the Family Pack and a Pound for $19. It comes with two beef and potato burritos, four beef softshell tacos, and a pound of crunchy fried Potato Olés.

There are three new shrimp baskets at Long John Silver's for Lent, and they're all just $6. They include a six-piece grilled shrimp with rice and a side, six-piece fried shrimp with a side and hushpuppies, and popcorn shrimp with a side and hushpuppies. You can also get $10 Sea-Shares that feed a couple people with 15 pieces of grilled shrimp or fried shrimp, or a large portion of popcorn shrimp.