DRIVE BY DINING

Value Meals

By Dog Davis
Special to The Times

February 9, 2006

Some fast-food menus call it a “Combo Meal,” others call it a “Value Meal” or simply say it's a “Meal,” but it usually adds up to the same thing -- a burger, fries and a soda. And you've probably ordered one, even if it wasn't exactly what you had in mind. Maybe you wanted a shake instead of a soda, or you prefer onion rings to fries, yet you settled on the menu's combo meal because you figured you were probably saving a lot of dough.

But have you ever taken the time to add things up? How much are you really saving, compared to ordering each item separately?

Drive-By Dining recently hit the streets of Hollywood, calculator in hand, to see where the deals are. Sure, prices may vary depending on location, but here are some values, or lack thereof, we found worth noting:

Burger King offers three sizes of combo meals – medium, large, and, of course, King size. Each size offers savings, but if you think the larger meal offers the bigger savings, you’d be wrong. Compared to ordering each item separately, the savings on a Whopper combo was exactly the same, 98 cents, no matter what size combo you buy.

?.Many folks love Fatburger for its big, fat burgers, so it's not surprising that their combo offering is called “The Big Fat Deal” -- a Fatburger, fries and a Coke for $6.59. What is surprising, however, is that this amounts to a “big, fat” savings of only 58 cents.

?.A Wendy's combo comes with a choice of five sides: chili, a baked potato, medium fries, a Caesar salad or a side salad. Though the individual prices of these sides range from 99 cents to $1.99, the price of the combo stays the same. Therefore if you order a Classic Single combo with chili, you save only 18 cents, but if you order one with a side salad, you save $1.18. Guess it pays to eat healthier.

?.McDonald's also offers healthier sides. But face it: If you're going to McDonald's, you're going for the fries. At one McDonald's, we found that a Big Mac Meal cost $4.29, with a savings of $1.58 compared with buying each item individually. Sounds great, right? But just one mile away, at a McDonald's in a slightly less glamorous locale, the same Big Mac Meal was only $3.69. (Of course, both are bargains compared with the McDonald's inside StaplesCenter, where a Big Mac Meal will cost about the same as your first car.)

?.When it comes to bravado, SoCal favorites In-N-Out and Tommy's lead the pack, because it takes guts to offer combo meals that are the exact same price as if you ordered each item separately. That's right, a combo from either chain won't save you a single penny. However, saying “I'd like a No. 1 with a Diet Coke” instead of “I'd like a Double-Double, fries and medium Diet Coke” will save you time in the drive-through. About one second.