rail No More D B . ry \"1291's. McDonald's Overhauls Its Biggest Item by Heather Haddon \"NEW/ 2 400 (1221398 \"WW-W8 .com/busmess/hos italit /mcd0nalds-bur ernew-menu- .modhos italit news article 052 Egpotnlald s decided it's had enough with dry patties and squishy buns. For the past seven years, the in at made Its name on burgers has been on a quest to improve its signature offering. ac. The two allbeef patties are cial sauce. The lettuce, cheese and e, with the The changes are now rolling out in the US, including on its Big M cooked 1n smaller batches for a more uniform sear. There's more spe plckles have been rethought to be fresher and meltier, and the bun is now a buttery brioch sesame seeds more randomly scattered for a homemade look. McDonald's is running billboards trumpeting \"our best burgers ever.\" The Hamburglar is making a comeback to star in a new ad campaign. McDonald's has held on to the sales boom that the Covid-19 pandemic delivered to quick-service restaurants, and is growing faster than its chief rivals. The company's U.S. same-store sales increased 10.3% in 2022, compared with 2.2% for Burger King and 3.9% for Wendy's. Last year, the Golden Arches earned $6.2 billion in prot. ' hing to maintain itsmomentum as the economy threatens to slow and competition grows. The US. burger market brings in an estimated $136 billion in annual food-service sales, according to research rm Euromonitor. Earlier this year, McDonald's came in 13th among US. chains based on the number of recent customers calling their burgers desirable, with only 28% of respondents saying they crave them, according to a survey of about 49,000 consumers by market research rm Technomic. White Castle led the list with 72%, and Burger King followed at 52%. casual burger chains are growing faster than traditional players, Technomic Five Guys and Shake Shack have popularized the smash-burger a spatula to produce thin, Sales for higher-end, fast- said. Newer chains like Smashburger, techniqueplacing a round wad of beef on a hot grill and mashing it at with avorful patties