The Restaurant Chain That Just Dropped A Quarter Pounder Copycat With More Beef
In an email to Daily Meal, Chili's writes, "The Big QP delivers all the craveable flavors of your favorite classics, with two slices of American cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles, dice onions, and 85% more beef than a Quarter Pounder® with Cheese." With nearly half a pound of beef in one patty, Chili's Big QP certainly earns its name.
On April 16 and 17, Chili's fans in New York City can enjoy this burger at Fast Food Financing, a pop-up mock payday lender that "loans" visitors a coupon card to cover the price of the expensive burgers at the joint next door, which happens to be a McDonald's. However, attentive guests may notice a speakeasy-style setup inside, slinging the Big QP.
Read more: The Ultimate Ranking Of Mexican Restaurant Chains
Chili's has seen its ups and downs over the years but is now resurgent, and this innovative marketing campaign suggests that the chain is betting big on the Big QP's success. While this almost half-pound Quarter Pounder copycat might be another one of the big changes coming to Chili's in 2025 along with upgraded kitchen equipment, this burger is not the restaurant chain's first stab at a McDonald's-inspired sandwich.
In 2024, Chili's released the Big Smasher, a version of its existing smash burger, dressed with diced red onions, lettuce, pickles, American cheese, and Thousand Island dressing. Although it lacks a sesame seed bun this structure is quite similar (and drew direct comparisons) to McDonald's Big Mac and its Thousand Island-like Big Mac sauce. The Big Smasher debuted on Chili's 3 for Me menu deal, and it seems to be a success, as it's still on the menu and now available alongside its copycat sibling, the Big QP.
Hungry for more? Sign up for the free Daily Meal newsletter for delicious recipes, cooking tips, kitchen hacks, and more, delivered straight to your inbox.
Read the original article on The Daily Meal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
27 minutes ago
- CNBC
1 in 5 laid-off workers submitted over 100 applications before finding a job, says new report
Amidst a challenging job market, a new report from Zety found that American workers are struggling to land new jobs after a layoff. Zety, a career and resume platform, surveyed almost 1,000 Americans who have experienced a layoff in the past two years. According to the report, 53% of laid-off workers submitted more than 50 applications before landing a new role, and 1 in 5 submitted over 100 applications. Additionally, over 30% of laid-off workers were unemployed for over 90 days before securing a new job, even though 76% of workers began their job search less than a month after being laid off. According to Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at Zety and the author of the report, the data aligns with what she's been hearing from job seekers and seeing on social media. "We know that it's a challenging and tough job market, and we've been hearing for a while that many job seekers are having a hard time landing positions," Escalera says. "We've been seeing professionals post about applying to sometimes hundreds of jobs before they actually land one." According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report, U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July – a sharp decrease from last July's total of 114,000 jobs. Moreover, U.S. employers announced over 62,000 job cuts in the month of July, a 140% increase from last year, according to outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. From a job seeker's perspective, the Zety report's findings should "validate your experience" of struggling to find a new position, Escalera says. "Now, does that make the experience okay? Of course not," she continues. "But job seekers can maybe breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief and say, 'OK, it really isn't just me.'" According to Zety's report, workers currently face a number of obstacles in the job search, including vague job listings, slow application and interview timelines, increased competition for the same roles and being "ghosted" during the process. A primary concern is that companies are offering lower salaries, Escalera says. "It's a company market right now," she says. "Companies have the upper hand, which is unfortunate, and I think they're using that to their advantage by lowering salaries."Meanwhile, the report found that 62% of laid-off workers are dipping into their savings and emergency funds to tide them over until their next job, while 54% rely on credit cards or loans. Almost 1 in 10 laid-off workers are using government aid like SNAP to stay afloat. These conditions create "a recipe for disaster" for workers, Escalera says, with long-term consequences for their financial stability. "We're dealing with a job seeker who's likely stressed because they've been laid off, maybe a little bit desperate, feeling the financial insecurity and instability — and then finally, they land a job, and that job isn't even paying them market value," she says. Even after finding another job, their anxiety lingers: 62% of workers reported feeling very concerned that a potential recession could affect their new role. "It's kind of a traumatic experience for a career professional to be laid off, especially if you didn't know it was coming," Escalera says. Most job seekers are using the right tactics to secure a new role, Escalera says, but it's difficult to stand out in the current market. "The basic things that we used to tell job seekers to do, all job seekers are doing," she says. Though you may feel reluctant to bring up your layoff in job applications, Escalera recommends being open about your current employment situation. According to the report, 94% of laid-off job seekers included a cover letter addressing their layoff. "There is no such thing as a linear career, and so there is no reason to shy away from talking about a layoff," she says. If you've been unemployed for several months, explaining your situation to hiring managers will help clarify the gap on your resume, Escalera says. It also gives you an opportunity to mention any programs, certificates or skills you've been working on in the interim. Right now, networking should be "top of mind," according to Escalera: "My advice for anyone in this job market right now is really focus on human to human interactions." You can also find support from other job seekers, "especially if you happen to be caught in a wave of layoffs," Escalera says. "Being with other job seekers who are also going through it will help you validate your experiences, get the support you need, hear about what other people are doing in their job search and give you some new and fresh ideas," she says.
Business Insider
27 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Mark Cuban says companies should be taxed more for buying back their own shares
Mark Cuban wants to target a favorite weapon of American corporations: stock buybacks. In an X post on Tuesday, the billionaire investor said raising the federal tax on the practice would push companies to reinvest in their businesses and hit wealthy shareholders — including himself — the hardest. The "Shark Tank" star called it "a way to charge the biggest public companies more" while shifting incentives toward long-term growth. Stock buybacks, also called share repurchases, happen when a company buys back its stock from investors, often reducing the number of shares in circulation. This can boost earnings per share and, in turn, the stock price, benefiting remaining shareholders. Critics say the practice can prioritize short-term gains over long-term investment. American companies bought back $166 billion in shares in July — the highest July total on record — bringing the year-to-date tally to $926 billion, surpassing the previous year-to-date record set in 2022 by $108 billion, per data from stock market research firm Birinyi Associates. The US has had a 1% tax on stock repurchases on publicly traded corporations since the Inflation Reduction Act, which took effect on January 1, 2023. Cuban said that a higher tax could encourage firms to use the cash to expand or pay dividends to shareholders, which he said would be tax-free for many Americans. "Married households making under 94k pay no taxes on it," Cuban wrote. "If I own it. I pay full taxes." In a follow-up X post, Cuban suggested exempting companies from the higher tax if they distributed repurchased shares to all employees, from interns to the CEO, based on each worker's share of total annual cash earnings. He said this would be a "baby step" toward reducing income inequality and boosting workers' net worth. A market correction could encourage more buybacks Citi predicted in a March note that there would be $1 trillion in buybacks for the year, up 11% from about $900 billion in 2024. The bank said market declines could spur more repurchases, as companies seize the chance to buy their shares at discounted levels. Citi said large firms like Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia, Wells Fargo, and Visa repurchased roughly $190 billion in stock last year alone. Citi's forecast came before a series of market warnings from Wall Street strategists. Analysts at BTIG, Evercore ISI, Stifel, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have all flagged the potential for a correction in the S&P 500 in the coming months. They cited stretched valuations, seasonal weakness in August and September, and uncertainty over tariffs' economic impact. Some analysts say a pullback could prompt companies to buy back even more of their shares, as firms often use buybacks to support share prices when markets are under pressure.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
US national debt soars past record $37 trillion — years sooner than expected
The US national debt has climbed past $37 trillion — a record sum that shows how quickly the federal government's borrowing has accelerated and how rising interest costs are rippling through the economy. The new figure appears in a Treasury Department report released Tuesday that tracks the government's daily finances and shows the nation reaching the staggering threshold years sooner than previously expected. In January 2020, the Congressional Budget Office projected that gross federal debt would not exceed $37 trillion until after fiscal 2030. Instead, the milestone arrived far earlier as deficits piled up faster than anticipated. 4 The US national debt has climbed to a record $37 trillion, years ahead of earlier projections. The soaring debt is forecast to be exacerbated in the coming years after President Donald Trump signed into law his 'Big Beautiful Bill' which extends and enhances many tax cuts that he initially codified back in 2017. After Trump signed Republicans' tax cut and spending package into law earlier this year, the CBO estimated the measure would increase the national debt by $4.1 trillion over the next decade. The rapid run-up reflects emergency spending during the multi-year COVID-19 crisis, when the government borrowed heavily under Trump and his successor, Joe Biden, to prop up a shuttered economy. The combination of prior pandemic borrowing and new legislation has intensified concerns about the pace of red ink and the government's growing interest payments. Fiscal watchdogs warn the trend is creating tangible costs. Michael Peterson, chair and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, told Fortune that government borrowing pushes interest rates higher, 'adding costs for everyone and reducing private sector investment.' 'Within the federal budget, the debt crowds out important priorities and creates a damaging cycle of more borrowing, more interest costs, and even more borrowing,' Peterson told Fortune. 4 Rising federal debt is seen by economists as a looming danger for the American economy. trekandphoto – He noted that trillion-dollar milestones are 'piling up at a rapid rate.' The recent cadence is stark. Federal ledgers show the US hit $34 trillion in January of last year, $35 trillion in July 2024 and $36 trillion in November 2024. 'We are now adding a trillion more to the national debt every 5 months,' Peterson said. 'That's more than twice as fast as the average rate over the last 25 years.' At the current average daily pace, the Joint Economic Committee estimates another $1 trillion could be added in roughly 173 days. Economists say the borrowing path is largely set by legislative decisions on taxes and spending. 4 The US national debt continues to weigh on taxpayers and future government budgets. AFP via Getty Images Wendy Edelberg, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, said Congress's latest actions mean deficits will remain elevated. The Republicans' tax law, she said, 'means that we're going to borrow a lot over the course of 2026, we're going to borrow a lot over the course of 2027, and it's just going to keep going.' The Government Accountability Office has outlined how sustained federal borrowing can filter through to households and businesses. As debt swells and interest rates reflect greater Treasury issuance, consumers can face higher costs to finance mortgages and car loans. Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! Businesses may invest less when capital is more expensive, a drag that can translate into slower wage growth. Prices for goods and services can also feel pressure from higher financing costs embedded in supply chains, the GAO notes. Underlying forces have made the budget picture more challenging over time. The federal government has run chronic annual deficits — when spending exceeds tax revenue — adding to the debt year after year. Demographic trends intensify that mismatch: as the baby-boom generation retires, spending on Social Security and Medicare rises steadily. 4 The growing debt burden reflects decades of borrowing to cover persistent budget deficits. freshidea – Health-care costs, which have historically grown faster than general inflation, further swell outlays for Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs. On the other side of the ledger, tax revenues have not kept pace with these commitments, particularly following recent tax cuts and through economic cycles that depress receipts during downturns. As debt compounds, interest payments consume a larger share of the budget, leaving less room for other priorities and creating a feedback loop in which more borrowing is required simply to service prior obligations. Major shocks — wars, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic — have added large chunks to the total through emergency measures. The Post has sought comment from the Treasury Department.
