Secret menus: Fast food 'hacks' for in-the-know customers

[snopes]

Competition is driving many fast-food restaurants to fill special orders. As a result, hundreds of "secret menu" items circulate on social media to be snapped up by savvy eaters.

Fast-food chain Arby's recently made headlines for something called the Meat Mountain. The "sandwich" consists of six different types of meat, two types of cheese and chicken tenders, all topped off with three strips of bacon.

This mega meal was not a limited time offer or special promotion, but instead a secret menu item that only in-the-know customers could request.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28990400

[Beachlife!]

They left off the Mc Gangbang.

[chillas]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

They left off the Mc Gangbang.

It's one of the pictures, with an oblique reference to the name, though not mentioned in the article.

[Richard W]

Somebody in one of the comments had named it, but that was when there were far fewer comments (I saw the article a couple of weeks ago) and I have no idea whether it's still in there somewhere or whether they would have removed it as being against editorial policy. (eta) It is mentioned in the article as well.

I never see the point in ordering off-menu, especially in a cheap fast-food place. It just seems to make things difficult for the staff. Asking people to leave off a particular ingredient or add extra cheese is one thing, but ordering something completely different would annoy me. You could always go somewhere else which actually does the things you like. Mind you, for half those "hacks" you might as well just order three of their normal items and mix them all up or eat them together.

[popkulture]

Torchy's Tacos used to do a "Taco of the Month" but now the most popular ones are available anytime from their "secret menu" (which they will hand out if you ask for it). Since they are a small, regional chain that initially based their menu on serving things that college kids scarf down, it is no surprise that they offer some wacky options with funny names.
My favorite is the Ace of Spades - Jalapeno sausage link and grilled brisket topped with a fried egg, green chile queso, cotija cheese, sour cream, more cheese and Diablo sauce, served on a flour tortilla. And, yes, you only need one of them to constitute a meal.

http://kut.org/post/revealed-torchys-secret-taco-menu

[UrbanLegends101]

So I guess there is no truth to the rumor that there is horse meat in the new Trigger MacNuggets®?

[Ali Infree]

I used to play a game with friends while on road trips. All of us had experience in restaurants/fast food place. We would try to order the thing that took the longest to fix.
My theory was to go against type--at a place pushing their burgers, get the fried chicken; at a chicken place, ask for a burger. I never won--the winner was usually the fast food manager among us. He would order a burger and ask for everything on it, including say, tartar sauce if they had fish. He would be chatting with the manager about why he couldn't do this, while we were eating.
I don't know these special order items get to be hacks. Is it because some have been ordered by enough people for them to be familiar and have their own McNames?
I discovered this summer that Dairy Queen will add extra stuff to their Blizzards (for more money). I need to lose weight and I doubt that Warren Buffett whose Berkshire Hathaway now owns DQ will have any hints.

Ali

Eat less, move more

[danielpeng]

I think it's actually some marketing trick of restaurants.