Posts Tagged ‘burger king’

What Happened to McDonald’s French Fries?

Monday, March 15th, 2010

One thing McDonald’s always had going for them were their french fries.  Even if you didn’t love the rest of the menu, you’d put up with it just to have some of their famous fries. 

But, in the past year, those fries have changed.

The pressure to steer away from trans fats have forced the fast food giants to re-think how they handle their french fries.  McDonald’s, more so than Wendy’s or Burger King, had a lot to lose if they couldn’t keep those fries’ taste and texture intact.  It’s commonly known that McDonald’s used a beef extract for the cooking of their french fries.  But, now, with McDonald’s forced to make changes to their fries, how would it measure up?

I’d say, not good.  In my experiences over the past few months, I’ve found the quality of McDonald’s fries to be wildly inconsistent.  They definitely don’t taste like they used to, and the new french fry barely competes with the competition.  While I haven’t been a fan of Burger King’s artificial crispiness of their fries, I would actually rate them above the current McDonald’s product.  And with the current Burger King value menu containing the $1.00 double cheeseburger, why even go to McDonald’s.

There’s been a food quality crisis at McDonald’s for some time now.  Since they went to a clamshell system for cooking the burgers, the quality of those have dramatically fallen off.  It will be interesting to see if the competition starts rising up a bit.

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Burger King Winning The Value Menu Race

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

In these tough economic times, the value menu has become an important component in the fast food business.  McDonald’s has had their $1.00 double cheeseburger in place on their value menu for quite some time and it had always been a strong seller.  Wendy’s answered that by adding the stackers to their menu and, recently, Burger King upped the ante by knocking their double cheeseburger down to $1.00 and adding it to their value menu.

Burger king’s move has caused quite a stir within their franchise system.  Franchise owners have claimed they are losing about a dime every time they sell one of their double cheeseburgers.  McDonald’s franchise owners had similar issues, which were partly addressed by the fast food giant taking a slice of cheese off of the double cheeseburger and re-branding it the McDouble.

Truth be told, Burger King’s $1.00 double cheeseburger is a pretty good deal.  Their burger is larger than the McDonald’s equivalent and, personally, I think it’s a better tasting burger.  Many Burger Kings are also offering the double bacon cheeseburger at 2/$3.00 deals, which, again, is a pretty good deal.

The way Burger King probably has to look at this is that these specials will, hopefully, end up being loss leaders, with people adding to those items, therefore increasing overall sales.  As a chain, Burger King has been experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis for years.  These value meal additions are strong enough to draw people in.  From there, it will be up to the execs at Burger King to take advantage of it.

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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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Posted in Fast Food and Restaurants, Hot Dogs | No Comments »

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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The Fall of the French Fry

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

In the past decade, there have been some disturbing trends with french fries.  The push for a crispier french fry has brought the mass market, restaurant and fast food fried potato down a few large notches.  Whether it be of the frozen grocery kind or the fast food/restaurant breed, many times fries now get served up with the artificial “crispy” coating. 

Many fast food joints, such as Burger King, have fallen victim to marketing disease/artificial goop and have basically ruined what used to be a fairly tasty french fry. 

McDonald’s, which most seem to still feel rules the french fry roost, have made subtle changes mostly having to due with the new trans fats regulations, but are still serving a pretty decent order of fries. 

Wendy’s has not weathered the trans fat storm nearly as gracefully.  In the past, Wendy’s fries could be quite good if purchased fresh during the busy hours, but now even those conditions can’t save them.  The changes that have taken place in the frying situation have nearly ruined the fries.

Currently, the best way to get fries that still resemble the classic processed french fry, is the old faithful supermarket brand.  In my local area, the Giant Eagle and Shop n’ Save store brands are very good, with nary a hint of artificial crispiness.

Consumer Obsession would love to hear your thoughts on this pressing matter.

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