Secret menu items become a phenomena
In the before times - back when we could travel - my husband and I had an eighthour layover in Los Angeles en route back from a prepandemic family vacation in New Zealand.
After a 13-hour flight from Auckland, we did a quick change in the LAX washrooms and headed for the beach. We dipped our toes in the other side of the Pacific and strolled along Venice Beach with rollerbladers whizzing past us and families with strollers moseying by. Then we went to In-n-out for a quintessential Californian experience: secret burgers.
As someone who spends a lot of time reading about restaurants, In-n-out has been on my radar for a decade, and so was their not-so-secret hidden menu, which has been talked about in hundreds of articles.
The iconic Californian fast-food chain has garnered international appeal for their secret menu items like the Animal Style cheeseburger, consisting of a patty fried with mustard on it to give it a flavourful, crispy exterior and topped with pickles, grilled onions and extra spread.
Their Animal fries, topped with gooey cheese product, were just a bit too much for me - which is saying something because I love gooey cheese products - but after this huge meal, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Like we had checked off a box on the fast-foodie bucket list.
In Canada, many fastfood chains have their own hidden gems. At Wendy’s, meat-lovers can order the secret Grand Slam cheeseburger with four patties; Boston Cream Timibits at
Tim Hortons are a once-ina-lifetime food item; and the elusive coffee Blizzard at Dairy Queen is a caffeine dream. Burger King’s Frings has been a long-time menu hack consisting of a half order of onion rings and a half order of fries.
But secret menu items aren’t just for fast food joints; the more insular the item, the more delicious it becomes. Here in St. John’s, Mallard Cottage often features the Brakey Special, a huge pile of breakfast food named for a regular patron and friend of the owner.
At The Coastal Cafe in Halifax, the Durty Burd in a Blanket — an iteration of their Durty Burd sandwich in a wrap — was ordered by the staff so much they put it on the menu.
In Toronto, Salad King Thai restaurant has been serving up their secret menu item, Islamic Noodles coated in a rich Panang curry, for the better part of two decades.
What makes a hidden menu so appealing?
For those who are fanatical about eating at the newest hot spot, being the first to eat (and post on social media) a secret dish is exhilarating. There is a sense of prestige like you’re part of some culinary Illuminati. It’s exciting, and it’s delicious.
For restaurant owners, secret menu items can create
buzz on social media and drive business through the door — and with pandemic curbside pickup in its second year, any local restaurant could use a little buzz these days. Welcoming in a few patrons with off-menu items and letting them do the leg work by spreading the word about your latest creation certainly has its benefits.
Take the Pink Drink from Starbucks. This fizzy berryfilled concoction exploded on Tiktok with thousands of people recording themselves going through the drive-thru at the coffee magnate to order this “secret menu item.”
Talk about gorilla marketing.
Recently, a few friends and I were talking about Mcdonald’s breakfast sandwiches and one mentioned they always order their sausage Egg Mcmuffin with mayo and lettuce.
As a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches with all the fixings, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even considered this as a possibility.
The next Saturday morning, I went a step above and ordered mine with shredded lettuce and Big Mac sauce.
Biting into that little breakfast burger (with my hashbrown placed inside the burger, as those social media influencers do), I felt like the queen of the drive-thru.