The Move
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, the 600-plus-unit fast-casual franchise headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, has launched a limited-time Everyday Value Menu across participating locations in seven states — Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. Items are available via drive-thru, dine-in, and digital ordering through the Freddy's mobile app and website, with pricing starting at $2.99.
The Lineup
The four-item menu is anchored by three $3.49 entries: a Steakburger Taco — a thin-pressed beef patty with American cheese, lettuce, and jalapeño fry sauce in a grilled tortilla — along with two-piece Chicken Tenders served with a choice of dipping sauce, and an all-beef Hot Dog on a toasted bun. Guests can upgrade the hot dog to a Chili Cheese Dog for an additional $1.50. A Chocolate Chip Custard Cookie, featuring vanilla frozen custard between two chocolate chip cookies rolled in mini chocolate chips, rounds out the tier at $2.99. Pricing may vary by location.
Industry Context
The pilot positions Freddy's within a broad industry push toward accessible price tiers that accelerated through 2024 and 2025 as consumer sensitivity to quick-service and fast-casual check sizes intensified. Chains across the burger and chicken segment have introduced value platforms as a retention tool, competing less on discounting legacy items and more on creating dedicated lower-entry SKUs that protect core menu margins. For Freddy's, whose brand equity rests on premium ingredients and cooked-to-order preparation, the approach attempts to extend reach without undercutting its positioning — a balance that operators across fast-casual franchising have found difficult to strike.
"Beyond price, we believe great value is about delivering the quality and experience that makes Freddy's special," said Erin Walter, Chief Marketing Officer. The company framed the test as a way to generate incremental visit occasions — snack stops and light meals — rather than a wholesale repositioning of the menu architecture.
Freddy's ranks No. 6 on Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers + Shakers list and No. 85 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. The brand, founded in 2002, operates across the United States and Canada and has sustained consistent unit growth through franchise development. How the value menu performs in these seven test states will likely inform whether the company moves toward a systemwide rollout or refines the offer further before broader deployment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
