Taco Bell Is Trolling McDonald's With Its Own $1 Items

(Bloomberg) Hey, remember us?

That’s Taco Bell’s message to fast-food consumers as the price war in the industry gains momentum.

With visits to U.S. fast-food restaurants seen remaining flat next year, the major burger chains are jockeying for position and announcing discounts to keep diners’ attention. This includes McDonald’s Corp., which earlier Monday unveiled a new value-priced menu.

Taco Bell, the Mexican-themed chain owned by Yum Brands Inc., is responding with what it calls its “biggest value push in company history.” The chain is reminding customers that it has a $1 menu with 20 items, and this dollar lineup will be boosted by 20 more limited-time offerings in 2018. The menu will include nacho French fries and a new “stacker” quesadilla -- beef and cheese in a folded flour tortilla.

“I think a lot of places begrudgingly try to figure out what food to serve at these price points,” Brian Niccol, the chain’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “We choose to lean into it.”

McDonald’s Successor to Dollar Menu Escalates Industry Price War

The $1 “cravings” menu at Taco Bell, which has posted same-store sales growth the last six years, dates back to 2014. A $5 box offer came two years later. The two discount offerings generated roughly $1.5 billion in sales last year.