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McDonald’s shook up the fast-food world and sparked fierce competition when it introduced its Dollar Menu in 2003.

The Dollar Menu now makes up about 14 percent of the chain’s sales in this country.

The menus vary somewhat across the nation but all feature eight standards, including the McDouble.

But the hungry have lots more choices now that so many fast-food joints have jumped onboard.

We recently ate our way through 11 fast-food restaurants looking for the best value in town. Sort of an El Tour de Dollar, if you will.

While we tried to be systematic, others make it more of a habit.

“I eat from dollar menus a few times a week, now especially because of the economy,” said Tucson resident Sidney Sterle, 58. “It’s as good as anything else on their menus, except it’s usually a smaller portion.”

When it comes to fast food, smaller is often better. But healthy choices do exist.

McDonald’s sells a $1 side salad and a yogurt parfait. The 5.3-ounce parfait is made with low-fat vanilla yogurt and fresh blueberries and strawberries. An optional side of granola adds 30 calories, making the parfait a total of 160 calories and 2 grams of fat.

Burger King offers a $1 side salad that comes with field greens instead of iceberg lettuce. Of course, the side of croutons and the creamy dressings quickly can make it not so healthy.

McDonald’s, Sonic and Burger King had the biggest selections of items for a buck or less.

Arby’s was the only fast-food chain we visited that had nothing resembling a dollar menu. The least expensive item was a $1.09 cookie.

Interestingly, only a few restaurants included dollar sodas or other drinks.

Find out what else we discovered during our tour in this week's Caliente in Thursday's Arizona Daily Star.