Thorntons Gas Station Food Review, Part 3

Thorntons Gas Station Food ReviewThis is my third look at the hot food side of Thornton’s gas stations, a medium size chain in the South and Midwest. I previously looked at their pizza and breakfast biscuit.

My “beef” with all this food is primarily its value proposition, as well as the manner in which its preparation is marketed (previously discussed). Last night I tried their cheeseburger, hot and ready to go after 11AM at $3.49 a pop.  I wish there were Federal regulations about posting contents and nutritional agreements on fast food containers, but unfortunately there are not. So I have no idea what this burger patty is made out of, or its calorie, carb, and fat content.

I’ve looked at an awful lot of heat and eat burgers over the years, including Steak n Shake (awful), White Castle (pretty faithful to the restaurant product),  AM/PM Gas Stations, Big A Cheeseburgers, RaceTrac gas stations, Walgreens, Dollar Tree,  Ball Park brand in the grocery, others.

I’m not going to bother to rank them, if you like this kind of food, they all have some redeeming qualities. For taste, texture, I like the Ball Park, for value, anything that’s a buck.

Thornton’s cheeseburger comes on a “bakery roll,” (one of those bakery marketing phrases that has lost all meaning, like “hard rolls,” or “kaiser rolls).” No standardization. Anyway, to me, the bun has a darker color and a little bit of a sweeter taste, like a brioche.  The beef patty’s texture is ok,  it’s made to look like it’s a hand formed patty (there are factory machines that make patties with this type of appearance), and it has been given a squirt or dash of liquid smoke or its equivalent to give the impression of a grill taste.

Verdict?  It’s Ok.  As I have opined on their other offerings, their food products are not a very good value compared to other available choices.  And for some unknown reason, these guys put the cheese on the bottom. Some “celebrity” chefs have been crowing about this method lately, to maximize the separate  tastes on your buds, in a particular order. Yawn.  Don’t even get me started on Umami joke.

Thorntons Gas Station Food Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thorntons Gas Station Food Review

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