Another member of the Thickburger family has arrived. This time it’s the French Dip Thickburger…100% Black Angus Beef Thickburger patty topped with thinly sliced roast beef and Swiss cheese served with a cup of au jus. The French Dip Thickburger is available at participating Hardee’s restaurants for $3.99.
Nutrition Info: 650 calories, 33 grams of fat, 2280 mg of sodium, 47 grams of carbs and 45 grams of protein
Back in April we reported that it had been 8 years since McDonald’s last released a new burger. Yup, 2001 marked the “Year of the Big N’ Tasty”…and people then and now still refer to it as the “Big N’ Nasty”. Well fast forward to 2009 and McDonald’s hopes to please the palates of the Nation with a brand new creation. This time, Mickey D’s is going with Angus beef, a big size and some higher quality ingredients. Introducing the newest members of the McDonald’s menu, the Angus Third Pounders.
In a time where mini burgers and value items seem to be taking over every menu board, McDonald’s is going in the opposite direction with the new Angus line. These burgers are pretty hefty. (more…)
The latest burger from Checkers is called the Bacon Cheddar Crunch. It seems like the crunch just comes from chopped bacon that tops the melted cheddar cheese. Currently available for just $1.00. Seriously, just a buck.
Also currently just $1.00, Franks RedHot Buffalo Chicken Sandwich:
Our spicy chicken breast filet is dunked in Frank’s RedHot Original Buffalo Wing Sauce and then topped with ranch dressing and lettuce, all served on a toasted sesame seed bun.
And a regular Checker Burger is also currently just $1.00:
This hot-off-the-grill burger is a juicy, all-beef patty served on a toasted bun with all the toppings you want: mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and mustard.
If you’re after some fast food cheap eats this looks to be an epic deal at Checkers (or Rally’s for all you out West). I’ve mentioned before that I’d probably try anything for a buck. I might even do it thrice.
Fresh off President Obama’s trip to Five Guys, let’s show off a couple of their staples. When it comes to burgers, there are plenty of options. McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s are the most well known, but for my money none of them can touch the burgers at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
Five Guys currently offers 4 different burgers, the hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon burger and bacon cheeseburger. Each of these choices are also offered in a “little” version which has one hamburger patty instead of the two patties found on the standard versions. Five Guys offers a good number of free toppings for their burgers. In addition to burgers, Five Guys also serves french fries, hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches.
On my latest visit to Five Guys, I ordered the bacon cheeseburger topped with mushrooms, jalapeños and A1 sauce. The burgers here aren’t those paper thin patties you find at many other fast food burger spots. You receive 2 rather thick and juicy patties. The patties are smothered in American cheese and enveloped in a soft bun. You would expect such a large burger to fall apart and become sloppy. Surprisingly the bun stays in tact and keeps the burger manageable. By the time you unwrap your burger the cheese has melted to perfection, mixing with the other toppings to create a medley of flavor. The bacon is crisp and tasty, but nothing extra special. The A1 sauce adds the perfect kick that could not be achieved by plain old ketchup. The fresh jalapeños add a crunch and a nice amount of spice to the burger. Five Guys Cheeseburger - GrubGrade: 9.25/10 (Exceptional)
Since the place is called Five Guys Burgers and Fries, I assume you cannot have one without the other. I decided to go with a regular order of fries. The size of the order is anything but “regular’. Any room in the brown paper bag that is not taken up by the burger is filled with fries. The fries are fresh cut daily. On the whiteboard next to the register was a sign stating that today’s potatoes were from Teton, Idaho. The fresh cut potatoes with the skin on are lightly salted, wonderfully crispy and delicious. Topped with malt vinegar and a little ketchup these are some of the best fries around. If you like your spuds with a little kick, you can order cajun fries, which come with seasoning salt. Five Guys Fries – GrubGrade: 9.50/10 (GrubGrade Hall of Fame)
Five Guys is one of those places that isn’t shy about what it offers. Big, thick, greasy burgers. Every brown paper take-out bag from Five Guys I’ve ever had did little to hide the evidence of grease spots. This is an award winning burger spot born out of the Washington Metro Area and it’s a growing chain that proves the customers know what they like.
Taste: 9.25/10
Value: 7.50/10
Grubbing on the Go: 7.50/10
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Five Guys Cheeseburger – GrubGrade: 9.25/10 (Exceptional)
Five Guys Fries – GrubGrade: 9.50/10 (GrubGrade Hall of Fame)
(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)
Price: $5.39 (Bacon Cheeseburger) - $2.59 (Regular Size Fries)
Nutrition Information:
Bacon Cheeseburger has 920 calories, 62 grams of fat 180 mg of cholesterol, 1310 mg of sodium, 40 grams of carbs 2 grams of dietary fiber and 51 grams of protein.
A regular order of fries has 620 calories, 30 grams of fat, 90 mg of sodium, 78 grams of carbs, 6 grams of dietary fiber and 10 grams of protein.
From Carls Jr. on Twitter. The Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger. Back at Carl’s Jr. starting tomorrow. Fungi fans rejoice!!!
I feel compelled to give the chickens of the world a break. It seems as though chicken has dominated the posts lately. Time for a good, old- fashioned value menu burger review. Add this to the line of the ever-shrinking burgers at Wendy’s, I present to you, the Double Stack.
No need to splurge on fancy new packaging to hold this beast intact. A simple regular hamburger wrapper will suffice. Yes, it's that small.
As a kid, I remember getting a Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and thinking it was the greatest fast food burger ever. I was smaller then and the 99cent burger was the perfect size for me. As I grew up, it continued to be a favorite of mine and still got the job done, but usually in double doses. Then a few years back the burger shrank! It would now take 3 Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers to fill the spot that 2 would in the past. It was truly a “Where’s the Beef?” moment for me. I gave it up altogether. I felt as though corners were being cut at epic levels at Wendy’s and I found the value menu to lose it’s…well, value. Actually, isn’t it called the Super Value Menu now? No more Biggie/Super Biggie right? I get confused by the different value menu names there are for each place. Anyways, this “Super Value Menu” really became anything but super. With the introduction of the Double Stack value menu burger, I was enticed by what I saw. A rival to the $1.00 (at the time) McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger, but with the Wendy’s taste that I prefer. Boy was I in for a shock when I actually encountered the Double Stack for the first time.
The Double Stack is 2 burger patties, American cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions on a regular soft bun. Sounds good and I’ll admit, it tastes pretty good too, but the burger patties are laughably small. It almost seems to be some kind of joke. Apparently, each square patty is 1.78oz so doubled up you’ve come up just shy of a quarter pound of beef. I must be out of it because it just doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe the 1.78oz per patty is the pre-cooked weight, and when it’s cooked it shrinks to even more pathetic levels. Whatever the weight, just don’t be fooled by the pictures. It’s just a step above a mini burger in my opinion. I know what you might be thinking…’but it’s a value menu item, how big do you expect it to be?’ Well you’re right, I never had HUGE expectations for this thing but it is rather shocking upon a first encounter. Although I must say, my previous love affair with the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger crashed much harder after it went on a trip to fat camp and came back a lot smaller. I guess the smaller value burger patties wouldn’t bug me so much if not for the fact that I always hear it advertised as a 99cent item, yet I can never seem to find it for less than $1.49. I guess I’m just being nitpicky but I’m obviously still disgruntled by the new, slimmer version of my old fave the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. I need to let it go. Times are changing and value menus are changing. Time to accept it.
All my gripes about the ‘incredible shrinking burger’ are surely at the forefront of my current hostility. A big positive is that the classic Wendy’s taste, I am happy to report, is still there. I’m a fan of the burgers at Wendy’s and I applaud that I am rarely disappointed by the freshness of the condiments I get with the burgers. Maybe this is all just a backwards way of Wendy’s telling me to stop being such a glutton and learn to enjoy smaller portions…there I go again. I can’t get over it.
Taste: 8.25/10
Value: 6.75/10
Grubbing on the Go: 7.50/10
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GrubGrade: 7.25/10 (Decent)
(Overall GrubGrade is not an average)
Price: $0.99 (I seem to always pay $1.49 and that alters my score lower)
Nutrition Facts – Double Stack
Calories – 360
Total Fat – 18 grams
Saturated Fat – 8 grams
Carbs – 26 grams
Cholesterol – 70 milligrams
Sodium – 810 milligrams
Sugars – 6 grams
Dietary Fiber – 1 gram
Protein – 23 grams
Over the past couple months there have been a couple of commercials that may or may not have gone to far. First we had the Quiznos Toasty Torpedo commercial and its sexual innuendo. Then we had the Carl’s Jr commercial which blatently used sex to push its newest burger. Now we have Burger King’s commercial for the Texican Whopper. The commercial which is currently running in Europe, features a tiny wrestler with a cape that resembles the Mexican flag. The small grappler teams up with a much taller cowboy to clean windows and open a jar. This one has caused such an uproar that it’s on MSN’s radar. Does this commercial insult the Mexican community? Let us know your opinion.
Here’s a minor league baseball promotion that has been getting some buzz. The West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) aims to gain some extra notoriety by issuing a food challenge.
The tale of the tape:
Photo: Larsen/Associated Press
This monster burger clocks in at around 4 pounds, 4,800 calories and costs $20. If you can finish it in one sitting you get a “free” t-shirt and probably a trip to the morgue.
I have a weakness for “Western” style burgers. Anyone who really knows me would agree. Hardee’s looks to entice me enough to drive an hour to get one. Introducing the Western Bacon Thickburger from Hardee’s.
A 1/3 lb. 100% black angus beef Thickburger topped with beer-battered onion rings, spicy sweet BBQ sauce, melted cheese, diced onion and strips of bacon.
Thanks to GrubGrade reader Max for making me aware of this burger. We might be seeing his impressions of this delicious looking burger in the near future.
In what seems like an obvious answer to the new Roastburgers from Arby’s, now we get the Prime Rib Burger from Checker’s. The Prime Rib Burger is “authentic, tender prime rib sliced right off the roast” placed on top of a burger patty. All that meat is dressed with grilled onions, swiss cheese and peppercorn mayonnaise and placed on toasted sourdough bread.
It seems as though Arby’s is trying to redefine the burger. Checkers is now taking that a step further by adding of all things, meat to a burger. To me meat on top of more meat sounds like overkill. Bacon is acceptable but prime rib? However, grilled onions and swiss cheese is a welcome addition to any burger. I have the feeling that people will either love or hate this sandwich. Let us know which category you fall in.
