With caviar McNuggets and heart-shaped pizza, fast food chains hope to win Valentine's diners

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It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as TikTok: chicken nuggets lovingly topped with a dab of caviar.

McDonald’s is embracing the trend this Valentine’s Day with a limited-time McNugget Caviar kit. The free kit, which will be available on McNuggetCaviar.com on Feb. 10, pairs a one-ounce tin of Paramount’s Siberian sturgeon caviar with a $25 McDonald’s gift card to buy McNuggets. McDonald’s is even throwing in some crème fraiche and a caviar spoon.

Valentine’s Day is big business for U.S. restaurants. It's the second-most popular holiday for dining out after Mother's Day, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Casual, sit-down restaurants see the biggest lift in traffic, especially when Valentine's Day is on a weekday, according to Circana, a market research firm. Fast-food restaurants see less of a bump in sales. But McDonald’s is one of several fast-food chains hoping to change that with special promotions or products.

For the 35th year in a row, White Castle is transforming its restaurants into Love Castles, with hostess seating, tableside service and Valentine’s Day décor. White Castle said some of the 300 participating restaurants are already booked for the night.

Nugget lovers can get their orders in a heart-shaped tray from Chick-fil-A. Papa Johns and Pizza Hut offer heart-shaped pizzas, while Auntie Anne’s has a heart-shaped soft pretzel. Jack in the Box is giving away heart-shaped straws and Hardee's is making heart-shaped biscuits. Even 7-Eleven is getting in on the action, offering heart-shaped donuts and $14 off delivery orders.

McDonald’s said it got the idea for caviar McNuggets from fans, who have been rhapsodizing about the high-low pairing for years on social media. Celebrity chef David Chang has posted many times about his love for caviar on fried chicken and Popeyes biscuits. In 2024, the pop star Rihanna downed caviar and chicken nuggets in a TikTok video.

McDonald’s wouldn’t say how many kits it will distribute, but said supplies are limited. That's no surprise: a one-ounce tin of Siberian sturgeon caviar costs $85 on Paramount’s website, or about the cost of 166 Chicken McNuggets.