1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. The company introduced the first iteration of its breakfast menu, along with the morningstar spicy black bean burger’s “Specialty Sandwich” product line, in a 1978 menu expansion.
The products were some of the first designed by a fast food restaurant chain that were intended to capture the adult market, members of which would be willing to spend more on a higher-quality product. The expanded Burger King menu was part of a plan by then-company president Donald N. Like its menu, the equipment the company cooks its hamburgers with has also evolved as the company grew. Insta-Broiler, was one of two pieces of equipment the founders of Insta-Burger King purchased before opening their new restaurant.
The Insta-Broiler worked by cooking 12 burger patties in a wire basket, allowing the patties to be cooked from both sides simultaneously. When the predecessor to the modern Burger King, Insta-Burger King, opened in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida, the company’s menu consisted predominantly of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, and desserts. A BK Original Chicken Sandwich, one of the products introduced under Operation Phoenix in 1978. The company introduced its first broiled chicken sandwich, the BK Broiler, in 1990. The sandwich included a dill-ranch mayonnaise and was served on an oat-bran roll. Although Wendy’s was the first to have a value menu in 1989, Burger King decided to offer its own value menu in 1998. This menu featured seven products: the Whopper Jr.