Carl's Jr.(R) Offers a Taste of the Tropics With New Teriyaki Burgers(TM)

CARPINTERIA, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beginning today, Carl's Jr.(R) offers young, hungry guys a getaway from burger boredom and a ticket to a lunch hour paradise: the Teriyaki Burger(TM). The new menu item combines the irresistible taste of a charbroiled Carl's Jr. hamburger with a savory-sweet teriyaki sauce and a slice of grilled DOLE(R) pineapple. Top it off with melting Swiss cheese, red onion, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise, and it's a summertime temptation too good to pass up.

The Teriyaki Burger is the latest quality statement from the chain famous for putting such high-end ingredients as portobello mushrooms on a fast-food burger, and is the kind of thing that earned Carl's Jr. and sister chain Hardee's(R) rating among the top five in the nation in the best burger category by Zagat(R)/Today Show Fast-Food Survey participants earlier this month. With the introduction of the Teriyaki Burger -- available as a single, double, or 1/2-pound, 100 percent Angus beef Six Dollar Burger(TM) -- Carl's Jr. re-confirms its commitment to bringing sit-down restaurant quality to the world of fast-food.

"Just a few years ago, no one would have believed that a burger with teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapple would sell very well at a fast-food place," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. restaurants. "But teriyaki burgers are a common menu item at sit-down burger restaurants and we have had great success in recent years making those kind of burgers available to fast-food customers, from the introduction of the original 100 percent Angus beef Six Dollar Burger more than six years ago -- which has now been copied by most other major fast-food burger chains -- to the Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger(TM) introduced two years ago. In fact, the Teriyaki Burger received the highest consumer taste test ratings we've ever seen for any burger in our history."

The Teriyaki Burger is offered for a limited time only. It features an all-beef, charbroiled patty that is dressed with red onion, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise; the burger is then topped with teriyaki sauce, melting Swiss cheese, and a juicy slice of DOLE pineapple that has been grilled on the chain's signature charbroilers. The Teriyaki Burger will be sold in single ($2.89), double ($3.89), and Six Dollar Burger ($4.59) varieties, and pricing varies regionally.

Carl's Jr. is celebrating more than 65 years in the quick-service industry. What began as a lone hot dog cart in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1941 is today an international organization that employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide. Carl's Jr. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the fourth fiscal quarter ended Jan. 29, 2007, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,105 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 43 states and in 13 countries, including 1,087 Carl's Jr. restaurants, 1,906 Hardee's restaurants and 96 La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill(R) restaurants. For more information, or to find a Carl's Jr. near you, go to http://www.ckr.com/ or http://www.carlsjr.com/.