My better 2/3rds is out of town on bidness, so I am on a burger binge. I’m going to make a 400 mile circuit of burgers tomorrow, figured I’d leave in the middle of the night, so I went out to get gas a little while ago (the kind for the car). The attendant at the gas station (we have no self-serve in Oregon, which is a blessing and curse, both) was mumbling about being hungry, and I thought “me too!” His mumbling turned to grumbling about having to go into the station to get me change, because the tank didn’t take as much as I thought it would. I said “keep it,” and he had such a look of appreciation, muttered “you’re a really kind man” (geez, it wasn’t that much $), and off I went.
Driving home, the outdoor sign at Wendy’s asked me “Have you tried our Bacon and Blue Cheese Burger?” I replied to the sign that I hadn’t, and the car made a quick louie into the parking lot without any prompting from me.
Here’s another quirk of mine. I don’t go thru drive-thrus. I prefer to go inside and order, even if it’s “to go.” Two reasons: in my universe, about 90% of the time drive-thru orders are goofed up, and secondly, I am under the perception, right or wrong, that the counter will be less busy than the drive-thru. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
The last time I was in a Wendy’s, they featured a complete self-service salad and pasta bar, which included taco crap for some reason. I have no recollection as to when that was, but I’d venture it was a couple of decades ago.
I asked my friendly counter person if the BBC Burger came in a combo, and of course she replied, “Si.”
I ordered it “plain”, I like to get the intent of the sandwich when I try a new one, bare to the world, “uncondimented” as it were. Plain to my counter person and plain to me meant two different things apparently, which I did not discover until I got home. No biggie. No pun intended.
My fresh hot burger was ready in a jiffy, and the girl slid the bag and my Diet Coke across the counter, and off to the car I went.
As is anyone’s nature, I suspect, once underway, I reached in the bag to munch a few fries, and I instantly recalled one of the reasons I don’t go to Wendy’s: these are the second-worst fries in the industry. No real taste, no real texture. What are the worst fries? I don’t remember who has them, but they are an extruded product (the vegetable equivalent of “pressed, chopped and formed”, some mashed potato slurry plopped out in the shape of fries and plunged into oil. Not for me.
Arriving at home, I opened and examined the burger; it was on a soft, bakery-like roll, based on the standard 1/4 lb Wendy’s square patty, with more than expected thick-sliced (“Applewood smoked, they say) bacon, a glob of blue cheese dressing, with chunks of blue cheese, and some unexpected additions: grilled caramelized onions, and some secret sauce on the top bun. I have no idea what this was, some kind of salad dressing with black flecks in it. A cursory examination of Wendy’s website didn’t help me out, as this burger is “in test” so it is not described on their menu page.
Anyway, it wasn’t so bad, except I don’t like carmelized onions, and even post-consumption, am still not sure what the dressing was. The bacon was grand, for fast food, good flavor, ample quantity, nice thickness. The blue cheese was more than passable. (Having gone to a high school perched above blue cheese caves, I have developed a somewhat discriminatory palate for Roquefort).
A pic of the sandwich is below. Yes, I too, am amazed I could puke out this many words about a fast food burger, when on other postings for much grander entrees, I have merely grunted “ugh, tasty.” Oh, well.