McDonald's brings brats back to Midwestern menus

brat fork

McDonald’s is reaching back seven years to deliver on its promise to meet local tastes, resurrecting a brat on a roll in about 125 units in Wisconsin.

The brat reportedly hasn’t appeared regionally or nationally on a McDonald’s menu since 2009. The product’s revival comes as Burger King is touting a new value-price hot dog. A number of other quick-service chains, from Sonic to Checkers/Rally’s, are also spotlighting franks this spring.

Brat are as much of a Wisconsin fixture as cheese curds, dinner clubs and blocks of cheddar.

They’re among the local products that McDonald’s is permitting franchisees to try as part of a strategic effort to meet local tastes more directly. Stores in Canada and New England, for instance, have featured lobster rolls.

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