6 Fast Food Chains With The Cheapest Value Menus In 2026

The cost of restaurant food is going up. According to a 2025 YouGov report, 37% of Americans choose to eat at home instead of dining out, and many of them feel the latter is too expensive. The report additionally found that when people do dine out, over 60% choose cheaper restaurants. While that seems like a sound strategy, the concern there is that even fast food chains are becoming overpriced, with some places charging upward of $10 for a single burger.  

Granted, it all makes sense when you factor in the effects of COVID-19, inflation, tariffs, and a higher minimum wage, but it isn't the everyday consumer's job to manage the global marketplace; we just want to pull up to the drive-thru, grab a cheap handheld and fries, and be on our way. Fortunately, a growing number of fast food chains now offer value menus.

Some, like Wendy's Everyday Value Menu, have been around for decades, while others, like Taco Bell's Luxe Value Menu, are recent additions. All value menus are not created equal, though, so I put together a list of fast food chains that offer real value in 2026. Using Los Angeles as a metric, where menu prices are higher on average, I compared the price of value items against regular ones to determine potential savings. Hopefully, this guide comes in handy the next time you crave a cheap burger and fries.

Wendy's is one of the first-ever chains to have a value menu, having launched the Super Value Menu in 1989. Nowadays, the restaurant's Super Value and Everyday Value menus cover a lot of ground. For example, if you're a classic cheeseburger "Dave's Single" type of person, both menus have two options: The Jr. Cheeseburger at around $3 to $3.50, and the Deluxe version that costs about $0.20 to $0.30 more. The Deluxe has almost half the amount of calories as a Dave's Single, which costs about twice as much, so not only do you save, but you still get a good amount of food. 

Bacon lovers have two options in the Everyday Value menu that orbit around $4: the classic Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and the Bacon Double Stack. Both are affordable alternatives to the Big Bacon Classic, which is priced at around $8, and the fan-favorite Baconator, which costs around $10. Wendy's also lets you add bacon to all handhelds on the value menu for about a dollar more.

The Double Stack is another double-patty option on the Everyday Value menu, and if you're into chicken, you can try the Crispy Chicken Sandwich or the Crispy Chicken BLT (Everyday Value only), which both cost substantially less than the chain's flagship Classic Chicken Sandwich. The Super Value menu also features small-size versions of regular items, including small fries, a plain baked potato, and a cup of chili, which is one of several $5 Wendy's 2026 menu items to buy, along with cookies and Frostys for dessert.

Few fast food deals compare to Subway's legendary $5 Footlong deal. It was discontinued in the early 2010s and brought back temporarily some years later as a $4.99 deal, only to disappear again shortly after. It briefly resurfaced as a two-for-$10 promotion during COVID, but that didn't last very long either. It seems the final hurrah for the $5 Footlong deal might have come in April 2026, when Subway launched its first-ever value menu.

The new value menu is actually composed of various deals for under $5: Deli Faves, Protein Pockets, which are essentially wrap versions of main menu sandwiches, a Sub of the Day, and a Meal of the Day. The Deli Faves menu includes four 6-inch subs from the main menu for $4.99. A 6-inch Cold Cut Combo sub, for example, is around $6 less than the footlong version, while if you get the more expensive Ham & Salami sub, you save even more. It's worth noting that the prices above refer exclusively to California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Subway charges a bit less ($3.99 at the time of writing) for 6-inch subs and Protein Pockets in all the other states. 

For additional value, the chain offers a rotating Sub of the Day each day of the week, which includes a 6-inch version of a main menu sub that's not featured on the Deli Faves menu, along with a $6.99 or $7.99 Meal of the Day with your choice of a 6-inch or Footlong sub, one side or two cookies, and a drink.

Taco Bell's Luxe Value Menu features some of the best bang-for-your-buck deals of any fast food chain. There's something for everyone, whether you prefer burritos over tacos or chicken over beef, are vegetarian, or are simply looking for an affordable, healthy option. For example, a Spicy Potato Soft Taco and a Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito both cost less than $2. You could order two Cheesy Bean & Rice Burritos, get more food, and spend less than if you order a single Black Bean Grilled Cheese Burrito (around $6) from the main menu. Interestingly, if you add the ingredients from a Black Bean Grilled Cheese Burrito to a Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito, you're still spending about $2 less.

Instead of ordering a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, you can save around $2 with a Cheesy Double Beef Burrito. If cheese-drenched tortilla chips are more your speed, swapping a Nachos BellGrande with a Chips and Nacho Supreme Dip will save you more than $4. The Luxe Value Menu also features exclusive items, including a Cheesy Roll Up, which is best described as a value version of a quesadilla, for under $2, along with a 3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt for around $3. The savings don't end there either. Taco Bell also offers online exclusives — the restaurant's Build-Your-Own Luxe Cravings Box includes one specialty item, a taco or burrito, a side, and a medium drink, and can potentially allow you to keep over $10 in your pocket.

The Star Deals menu at Carl's Jr. only features charbroiled burgers, with the option of fries and a beverage if you make it a combo. Each value burger is less than $4 by itself, and most of them are smaller than the main menu ones, though there are a couple that are nearly the same size. You can keep it simple with a standard cheeseburger for under $3, step it up to a double cheeseburger for around $4, or try a specialty option like the spicy Jalapeño Double Cheeseburger, and still stay under $5.

If you're looking for a great value alternative to the Double Big Carl and Double Famous Star, which are two of the chain's most popular two-patty options, the California Classic Double Cheeseburger costs almost $5 less. You can even make it a combo to compensate for the amount of food you'd normally receive.

Along with value burgers, the Star Deals menu features a $5.99 Build-Your-Own Bag deal that can save you almost $8 if you stick to standard items. It includes any value burger, along with the option of a Spicy Chicken Sandwich from the main menu, one side, and a 4-piece Chicken Stars. And that's just one of several money-saving deals. For example, the Famous for Four deal is another that offers four Famous Stars and two large fries for about $24, when you'd normally pay around $36.

Customers say that Jack in the Box is overpriced, but two things can be true at once, because it also has one of the cheapest and largest value menus around. From junior versions of popular burgers and chicken sandwiches to wraps, value fries, tacos, and more, one could feast on the Jack's Munchies Under $4 menu. It's also worth noting that, unlike many other fast food chains, Jack in the Box offers an actual value size of its signature Seasoned Curly Fries and regular french fries. Small Curly Fries, for example, are almost $4, while value Curly Fries are over a dollar less.

Jumbo Jack fans can save half off on a Jr. Jumbo Jack, and if you order a Jr. Cheeseburger instead of a Classic Smashed Jack, you can save $6. To keep almost $5 in your wallet, order a Jr. Chicken Sandwich instead of a Cluck Cluck Sandwich. The menu also has exclusive items, like four different chicken wraps, mini tacos, and the chain's iconic $2 tacos.

To top it off, Jack in the Box offers even more savings with deals and digital exclusives. Starting at just $12, its Build-Your-Own Munchie Meal lets you select from four different entrees, and includes two sides and a drink, saving you around $12 at minimum. Other worthwhile deals include a Jumbo Jack meal deal for two, a Jack's Party Bundle, and a taco bundle for large parties.

The Star Deals menu at Arby's leaves much to be desired when it comes to variety. It only includes the small-sized drinks, curly and crinkle fries, apple and cherry turnovers for dessert, with the only exclusive items being two sub-$4 chicken wraps, which are great if you want a lighter option. Thankfully, the chain attempts to make up for it with limited-time value menu deals. In June 2026, Arby's announced a $1.99-slider deal that features palm-sized versions of its signature roast beef and ham sandwiches, along with fried chicken and buffalo chicken options.

As part of this deal, you can save over $3 by purchasing a Ham Slider instead of a Ham & Swiss Melt from the main menu. If you buy two sliders, it'll still cost you less than buying one Ham & Swiss Melt, and you get almost the same amount of food. For around $5 in savings, simply swap the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with a Chicken Slider. Basically, you can save around $3 to $5 if you go with the sliders over their main menu equivalents. 

To determine which fast food chains have the cheapest value menu, I made a list of how much each value item at each chain costs in Los Angeles. I took note of the available selection, whether diverse or limited, and also took into consideration online-exclusive deals. To calculate potential savings, I compared value menu items against their main menu equivalents, and then took note of the average.

Some of the value menu items that I chose as alternatives to main menu items, which I refer to as main menu equivalents, aren't literally the same items. I chose them because it is what I assume the average person would consider in place of their usual main menu go-to, based upon their similarities. All prices are current at the time of writing.