Review: Chili's Big QP Burger Gives Fast Food Burgers A Run For Their Money

Chili's isn't trying to do fast food, it just wants you to know how much better than fast food it is. To prove it, the fast-casual chain has launched an all-new Big QP burger as the latest addition to its 3 for Me menu. The main idea behind the Big QP is to offer a Chili's burger that's as good or better than the fast food equivalent — for a lower price. From Chili's point of view, fast food value meals these days offer anything but. On April 15, 2025, Chili's hosted a pop-up event in Manhattan to show off the Big QP. Selecting a pop-up location right beside a McDonald's was no coincidence, just part of Chili's feisty plan. We weren't about to miss out, so we headed over to get our hands on a Big QP.

Fast food culture is the obvious inspiration for the Big QP — which is a smash burger — and it's different from the branding approaches we're used to seeing from Chili's, or any other fast-casuals for that matter. Yet this source of inspo is by no means a tribute. Inflated fast food prices have really ticked Chili's off. Its pop-up event, titled, "Chili's Fast Food Financing" was a weirdly wonderful mashup of a financial lending institution and a new-age speakeasy meant to alleviate the public's woes over mounting fast food costs. Did the Big QP revive us from our fast food fatigue? Read on to find out.

Nobody's going to be asking "where's the beef" when they chomp down on the Big QP. Chili's brand new smash burger is a hefty single patty. Its name, "Big QP" is short for "Bigger than a Quarter Pound" — another playful jab at McDonald's and its world-famous Quarter Pounder burger. It's not all talk — the Big QP lives up to the title. At 7.5 ounces, it's 85% larger than the Quarter Pounder's 4-ounces of hamburger meat.

The Big QP takes a cue from McDonald's Quarter Pounder on the condiments angle as well. America's oldest fast food chains kept the fixings pared-down, offering little more than the condiments you'd see at a picnic in your grandma's backyard. Chili's adorns the Big QP with American cheese, diced red onions, slices of pickle, ketchup, and mustard. The bun is in the style of a brioche, but isn't the pillowy, shiny-crusted real deal. Chili's chose a flatter bun for the Big QP because they are more durable during shipment. It also looks more fast food-like.

Chili's is selling the Big QP on its 3 for Me menu for $10.99, and you'll get way more than just a burger. The $10.99 Big QP meal comes with a side of fries, bottomless chips and salsa, and a bottomless fountain drink. To get the most bang for your buck, this 3 for Me meal should be enjoyed (by hungry people) inside a Chili's restaurant, as opposed to purchasing the Big QP as a takeout order. It's possible to order a Big QP off Chili's standard menu, but the 3 For Me option is a better value.

Chili's Fast Food Financing event made it impossible to ignore that the Big QP 3 for Me is a deal that far exceeds what major fast food eateries are charging nowadays. The façade of Chili's pop-up was set up like a financial lending center where visitors could seek assistance paying for the high costs for fast food. There were fake brochures, business cards, and even cosplayers offering loans. Those who got approved (like me) were granted access to the Chili's speakeasy, where apps, chips, margs, and eventually Big QP's, flowed freely. If you think $10.99 isn't enough to buy a filling restaurant meal, Chili's is hell-bent on changing your mind.

When I asked Culinary Director Brian Paquette if the Big QP was going to be a permanent menu addition, he said yes. He also told me that Chili's doesn't really do limited-edition food (its Margarita of the Month promotion is a different story). This is one area where the Big QP's arrival hugely differs from a typical fast food launch. The fast food market thrives on seasonal specials and "while supplies last" limited-edition items. If you're interested in trying the Big QP, you don't necessarily have to put a Chili's outing on your short list because it should be around for a while.

That's not to say the Big QP will be part of the Chili's lineup until the end of time. As is true of any chain restaurant, select Chili's items get phased out, people get disappointed, new items roll in, and the (gradual) cycle continues. The Big QP is currently featured as a 3 for Me menu option alongside several other burgers, an assortment of crispy chicken meals, a sirloin, a pasta, and a quesadilla entrée.

The Big QP is totally new, but its origin story is not. This is Chili's second smash burger and the second time the restaurant has utilized a smash burger to make a statement about the pricy nature of fast food. Chili's introduced its Big Smasher burger in April 2024. Accompanying the Big Smasher's release was a branding concept that might ring a bell. The Big Smasher also debuted on Chili's 3 for Me menu for $10.99. It features a half-pound of hamburger, lettuce, pickles, and Thousand Island dressing ... pretty similar to this other burger I know.

McDonald's trademarks like Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, and Big Mac Sauce (the name and the trade secret recipe) are not up for grabs. Instead, Chili's uses these emblems as muses of its discontent over the economic state of fast food today. People love the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder — and they always will — but people will love the Big Smasher and now, The Big QP too, which come at a fairer price.

The Big QP's release is an extension of what Chili's VP of Marketing, Jesse Johnson, calls its value story, and it's a compelling narrative. For such a well-established, sit-down chain to start selling entrées with bottomless chips, salsa, and soft drinks for less than the price of a large fast food meal, Chili's and its smash burgers are getting the right kind of attention.

It's not exactly a state secret that Chili's and healthy eating don't always walk hand in hand. Some of the burgers on the menu rank among the unhealthiest items Chili's sells, however, the Big QP isn't the most artery-clogging of the bunch. The Big QP without any sides contains 880 calories, 56 grams of fat, and 3 grams of trans fat. There are also 145 milligrams of cholesterol, 47 grams of carbs, 12 grams of sugar, and 1,670 milligrams of sodium.

Since the Big QP is modeled after a classic fast food burger, it features two slices of American cheese — one of the least healthy cheeses out there. Perhaps more problematic is Chili's reliance on trans fat in the Big QP — and all the rest of its Big Mouth Burgers. Every burger in this menu section contains trans fat, even the Veggie Santa Fe Burger, which carries .5 grams. Most of the others contain 3 grams of trans fat, making the Big QP's stats in this area nothing out of the ordinary. Most trans fat is artificially made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil, and habitual consumption can wreak havoc on your cholesterol numbers.

And that's the point. Before you accuse Chili's of lacking originality, consider that modeling a sit-down restaurant burger after the one you got in the drive-thru when you were eight actually is innovative. For the Big QP, success is in the details.

A well-done smash burger is very fast food-esque. You don't ask for medium-rare at Mickey-D's and the Big QP mirrors that one-and-done cook style. The thin, salty-sour pickle slices are exactly like the ones I craved on the McDonald's Double Cheeseburger (my go-to back in the day). I'd be willing to take the Pepsi challenge between the Big QP's pickles and the McDonald's ones any day, they were that close. A sprinkling of diced red onion harkened back to old fashioned griddle burgers in the best way, as did a squiggle of ketchup and mustard. The American cheese was just okay, it could've been meltier.

With the Big QP, Chili's abandons the overdressed, high-piled, pseudo-bistro burger — the route family chains always seem to take. In 2025, it's bold for a restaurant to put down the aioli and say, "you know what, let's do ketchup, mustard, pickles and onion, and call it a day." The fact that I find this refreshing (and a tad rebellious) might reflect the exhausting times we're living in, or maybe I'm just a purist at heart. Either way, the Big QP's simple effectiveness is a good move. Extra style points for the sass.

The opinions expressed here are based on my experiences and observations after attending the Chili's Fast Food Financing pop-up event in New York City to celebrate the Big QP burger. I have attended pop-ups, menu launches, and tasting events for some of the world's largest chain restaurants including Wendy's, Starbucks, KFC, Taco Bell, and of course, McDonald's.

At many product launch events, I have had the opportunity to speak with the culinary directors of these brands to learn about how their team developed the new menu items. In addition to snapping photos and writing reviews on product launches in the fast-casual space, I write articles that involve tasting and ranking various retail-based food and beverages, ranging from canned coffee to egg salad.