McDonald's to debut bigger Big Mac, Mac Jr

Big Mac lovers be advised: There are two new variations of the iconic McDonald's burger slated to hit menus early next year.

The fast food chain announced Thursday that the burgers, dubbed the Grand Mac and Mac Jr., will be available nationwide for a limited time. The Grand Mac is a larger version of the Big Mac, with a larger bun and a pair of patties weighing in at one-third of a pound. The Mac Jr. is a smaller version of the classic, minus the middle bun and one patty.

The burgers were tested in restaurants in central Ohio and the Dallas/Fort Worth area ahead of their national release. The burgers will also show up early in McDonald's restaurants in Florida and the Pittsburgh area starting in mid-November.

"We listened to our customers who told us they wanted different ways to enjoy the one-of-a-kind Big Mac taste," McDonald's chef Mike Haracz said in a statement.

The classic Big Mac was first introduced in 1967 by a franchisee in Pennsylvania. It includes a pair of beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, onions and pickles on a sesame seed bun, with an extra bun sandwiched between the two patties.

The menu expansion, unusual for the chain, may be in response to recent reports that found only one in five millennials has tried the iconic burger. There is some worry that the chain "has gotten less relevant," a franchisee wrote in a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal last month.

McDonald's has recently seen a rise in U.S. sales after years of stumbling profits, Fortune reported, bolstered by the chain's switch to serving breakfast menu items all day and promotions like it's McPick 2 offer.

"Still, that growth was below McDonald's pace in preceding quarters," according to Fortune. "McDonald's shares closed at $111.72 on Thursday, down from a recent all-time high of $131.96."

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