Posts Tagged ‘burger’

Review: Wendy’s Bacon Deluxe

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

For the past few years, Wendy’s has found themselves struggling to excite the consumers with new sandwich ideas.  Their format used to be introducing a specialty burger that would then be available for a limited time.  Some of these specialty burgers were more successful than others (please bring back the cheddar burger!). 

Wendy’s Big Bacon Classic had been a mainstay of their menu for a long period of time and, in my mind, worked well.  The concept was simple:  the regular burger selection with a couple of strips of bacon added.  Very simple…not sexy…but fine.  Unfortunately, the modern era of Wendy’s then came in and stomped all over that simple concept.  No longer did we have the simple, yet tasty Big Bacon Classic, we now had the Baconator.  The Baconator added lots more bacon and cheese and, of course, the edgy (and ridiculous) name.  The Baconator was too much.  No longer did we have the subtleties of the Bacon Classic….now we we were being slammed over the head by it’s 100 lb. gorilla relation.

All of this brings us to Wendy’s new bacon-topped offering: the Bacon Deluxe.

The advertising for the Bacon Deluxe promises “Thick applewood-smoked bacon,” which, after ordering a Bacon Deluxe double burger, I saw to be true.  I ordered my burger with just bacon, cheese, and lettuce.  When I took the burger out of the bag, I thought they had made a mistake.  The foil-wrapped burger looked very tall, as if the condiments were really packed on.  After unwrapping it, I saw that the height was due to a few dense and thick pieces of bacon were piled up on top of the burger, but under the lettuce (!).

The bacon overwhelmed everything else on the burger.  It was too thick to actually enhance anything.  Quite frankly, it simply dominated everything.  Its hulking presence even made the burger slightly difficult to consume.  Any juiciness or flavor from the actual burger was completely negated by this topping.

In my mind, I began to reminisce about the old Big Bacon Classic and its tasty, friendly toppings.  But, I guess we live in a different world these days, as those are concepts marketers seem to have forgotten.

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Posted in Fast Food and Restaurants | 6 Comments »

Five Guys Burgers And Fries (and hot dogs, too)

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

five_guys

Five Guys got a great write-up in USA Today.  Obviously, the President and First Lady’s patronage has been a PR boost for the company.  Five Guys has expanded aggressively up to 436 locations seems to attempt to run a pretty tight ship when it comes to quality control.

While I can’t say I’ve ever had a bad burger at Five Guys, I’ve had a few average ones.  The burgers that were better than average were easily better than your average “fast food” burger.  Five Guys do not cook the burgers up medium, so you have to cross your fingers and hope for an attentive cook to provide you with a juicy burger.  All in all, Five Guys is worth the trip.  Maybe it’s a little more expensive than your standard fast food, but it’s also better than your standard fast food.  I should mention that the hot dogs are worth your attention, also.

The USA Today article can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2009-06-07-fast-food-hamburger-franchise_N.htm

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They’re Probably Building A Sonic Drive-in Near You. Was It Worth The Wait?

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

sonic

In the last year or so, the Sonic Drive-in has ramped up its expansion into various areas of the US.  Areas outside the midwest are finally getting to try out the fast food chain they’ve seen advertised for years.  But was it worth the wait?

Until a year or so ago, we at Consumer Obsession had not had the opportunity to try a Sonic Drive-in.  But, in that time, three Sonics have opened up in our vicinity.  The arrival of the legendary fast food drive-in had us rather excited.  How would it compare?  Were we impressed or disappointed?  Well, a little of both.

Truth be told, the food, even by fast food standards, was nothing to write home about.  The Sonic hot dog was a bland disappointment.  While Consumer Obsession loves its hot dogs, there was nothing to make us get the Sonic dog again.  The burgers were merely ok.  They were a little different than the standard McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendy’s patties, but not necessarily better – just different.  The french fries weren’t bad.  There was none of the fake coating that has plagued fast food fries in recent years, which is a good thing.  They, again, were very average.  But, with the quality of fast food fries going downhill this past decade, Sonic’s “average” french fries were better than many.

Sonic does have a wide selection drink and slushy variations, which have proved to be popular with consumers.  The restaurants in our area typically run afternoon happy hours with half-priced selections, which is actually a pretty good deal.

The new Sonic Drive-ins have opened with quite a bit of fanfare and then cooled off considerably.  It will be interesting to see how the chain performs after the dust settles.

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Throwing Down Some Burger Shots At Burger King

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

burger-king-logo

Tonight, for those who frequent the Consumer Obsession site, I thought it was my duty to try the new Burger King Burger Shots.  It is true – I get a twitch of excitement when a new burger-like item shows up on the menu, but, unfortunately, tonight’s experience was not entirely positive.

Upon first seeing the Burger Shots pictured by the drive-thru, I thought that they must be pre-configured.  I’m not even sure why, but they looked like it.  The Burger Shots come in packs of 6 or 2.  Only wanting to sample, I ordered up a 2-pack.  Testing the pre-configured notion, I asked for tiny burger to only have cheese on them, but when I received them, sure enough, the pickle, ketchup, etc, were intact.  The other slightly disturbing matter was that the small patties were connected and had to be separated or pulled apart.  I know it’s no big deal, but it really didn’t enhance the overall experience.

Taste-wise, they weren’t that bad.  Pre-configured or not, they pretty much tasted like a Burger King hamburger, which can be a good or bad thing, but this leaned toward the positive.  The burgers wore the ol’ Burger King grill marks, which very well may be artificially induced, but I’m not sure.

One last note:  As I pulled up to the drive-thru, I saw handwritten sign posted by the speaker, which read, “We are out of pop and Icees.”  I’m just not exactly sure how that would happen.

Well, the 2-pack or 6-pack Burger Shots should be available at a Burger King near you.  Hopefully, they’ll have something to wash it down with.

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Is Wendy’s Really Better than Fast Food?

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

                               wendys_pic

Is Wendy’s really better than fast food?  Their current slogan of “It’s waaaay better than fast food”  is surely, at times, debatable.  Depending on the time of your order, you may get a juicy, tasty hamburger or you may end up with the most dried out, flavorless piece of beef you can imagine.

When Wendy’s became prominent in the mid-70′s, it was a true alternative to the McDonald’s and Burger Kings that dotted our landscape.  Later, as those chains became microwave heavy, Wendy’s seems to have kept to their non-nuking ways, but there’s an enemy worse than the microwave at work here.  The incredible inconsistency of Wendy’s burgers is largely due to the warmers they use.  Chances are, if you’re there and they aren’t busy, you’re going to get a beef patty that’s been sitting in a warmer drying out, which completely ruins the burger.  Wendy’s has always promised fresh and not frozen beef, which is a good thing, but why throw all quality to the wind with the villainous warmer?  A horrible tasting burger is a horrible tasting burger, fresh or frozen.  This has gone on for years and it’s surprising that there haven’t been enough complaints made to remedy it.

Consumer Obsession would like to hear your thoughts.

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Posted in Fast Food and Restaurants | 2 Comments »

McDonald’s Angus Burgers

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

mcdonalds-angus

I was never a big fan of the fast food Angus burger.  Burger King, Sonic, and others had added the Angus variety to their menus, but in my opinion, the selections simply weren’t very good.  Many times, they tasted very pre-fab with a spongy and dry texture and they rarely bested the already existing hamburger choices on the menu. 

In 2008, McDonald’s rolled out their Angus Third-Pounders.  They seemed to go from the restaurant testing phase to the main menu very quickly, which one would figure, was a signal of their success.  The buzz on the Angus choices was much greater and much more positive than many of McDonald’s burger experiments in recent years.  While the Big N’ Tasty has been a menu staple for a few years, it still seemed rather obscure.  My guess is that many people still don’t know what the purpose of the Big N’ Tasty actually is, aside from having an irritating moniker (by the way, it was meant to compete with Burger King’s Whopper).

I would say the McDonald’s Angus burgers have been a huge success, but there are a few reservations.  These days, and especially since the microwave oven now plays such a huge role in how your food is served, quality is uneven.  Most McDonald’s burger are no longer juicy.  “Juicy” is nearly extinct since nuking became the rage.  On the couple of occasions that I accidently received a juicier Angus burger, it was actually pretty good.  There is a definite chemical seasoning that shapes this burger’s taste and it seems more prevalent on some than others.  But, it’s not nearly as horrible or offensive as some of the injected smokiness or grilled tastes I’ve had elsewhere.  I’ve had some less-discriminating burger lovers tell me how absolutely great they think the McDonald’s Angus burger is.  While I could never go that far, I think it’s very serviceable and a much-needed update for their menu. 

Are there better fast food burgers out there?  You bet.  If you put the Five Guys chain in with these fast food stand-bys, then you’ve got to consider them.  Many times, even if you happen to hit a Wendy’s during rush hour, when the burger have not been drying out in the warmer, you’ll get a better burger.  I can’t speak for In-N-Out Burger, Whattaburger, or other chains not operating in the northeast, because I simply don’t get to experience them.

What do you think about the McDonald’s Angus burger?  Consumer Obsession would love to know.

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