Your new burgers suck.
It's a shame you went through all the time and expense of hiring a team of burger "experts" to travel the country and taste great burgers only to come back to home base and screw your own burgers up. And some people wonder why consumers have lost faith in corporate leadership. Thanks for being a case study.
Wendy's was long my favorite burger chain, but it I'm not coming back. I have too many other options: Five Guys and Steak & Shake top the list for good burgers. I'll even eat a Big Mac before I eat another Wendy's burger.
"In the end, Wendy’s changed everything but the ketchup. It switched to whole-fat mayonnaise, nixed the mustard, and cut down on the pickles and onions..."
Here's a quote from the Dave Thomas biography on the Wendy's corporate website (http://www.wendys.com/dave/davethomas_biography.pdf):
"His success enabled him to travel around the world. But his favorite gourmet meal never changed: a Wendy’s Single with cheese, mustard, pickle and onion, fries, bowl of chili, a Frosty and a diet Coke."
Read that list of Dave's favorite toppings again please. Notice the ONLY condiment he wanted? Mustard. And his other favorite toppings, pickles and onions, also got hit. And Wendy's has the gall to put his name on the re-vamped burger. I can see the meeting:
Person 1: "Let's stop putting mustard on the burgers and cut back on the pickles and onions."
Person 2: "But Dave loved mustard, pickles and onions. That's part of the signature taste that made our burgers remotely popular to begin with. We can't call this Dave's Hot 'N Juicy."
Person 1: "F&^% him. He's dead. Meeting adjourned."
Who told you this was a winning idea, Charlie Sheen?
I know the perfect drink to go with Wendy's new burgers:
New Coke.
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9 comments:
Mustard, pickles, and onions is the Holy Trinity of hamburger toppings. I normally order mine plain but if I put anything on them, that's what it is.
And mayonnaise on a burger is anathema. (Well, to be fair, I feel that way about mayo on anything. I hate it with a scorching passion.)
Also, ditto on Steak and Shake. I haven't gotten to try Five Guys yet but I plan to as soon as I get the chance. I still like Wendy's since my order is almost always a junior with cheese, plain.
I don't care for hamburgers as much as the toppings themself! Mustard, Ketchup, Pickles & Onions- never,ever mayo-gag!
Maybe Ken can lead some insight into the reasoning? What a shame -they did good when they changed their fry's!!??
Yeah, their fries are good, but that doesn't make up for the crappy new burgers.
I like mayo, but I can live without it if I have ketchup and mustard. Actually, mayo alone without ketchup and mustard doesn't work.
What really gets me is the irony in calling it "Dave's" when they took away the things he liked most.
I have never been a Wendy's fan, and now it seems I shall never be... Great, if bittersweet, post.
Bane- Does my disappointment show?
A burger is all about the meat and square meat is wrong. Old new I don't give a damn.
Round bun=round meat.
You want square then put it on Texas toast cause we all know with the exception of politicians, the best things in life come from Texas.
I wonder if they'll change it back and call it a Wendy's Classic? Remember New Coke? All a ploy to add "Classic" to the Coke label.
Rick, ouch.... first amendment rights and all, but ouch...
In 2013 I will celebrate 30 years in the Wendy's business, this year I celebrate 20 years as a franchise owner. So I might be a little biased....
Remember that Wendy's remains the only quick serve chain where the burger is made to your order, so all of the ingredients that you seek are still in the restaurant, and they should be able to make the burger to your taste. I have seen the single evolve over the years, and I really like the new burgers. The bun beats the crap out of the kaiser roll that it replaced. The meat hold up to the grill press better, leaving a fuller amount of beef on the bun. The fact that we are now "packaging" a cheeseburger with a set of ingredients is marketing and speed of service oriented. Wendy's always has has an issue being fast and custom at the same time. Hard to do both. So the creation of a set of burgers with pre set condiments helps greatly. Most of America is not quite as picky, and I will tell you that if the ultimate vote is the customer and his or her dollars, our sales have been screaming since we launched the new burgers.
Hopefully you will find a way to get your burger the way you like it - but if not - what a great country we live in where you can rant like that!
Ken,
My rant is born of disappointment. I used to really like Wendy's burgers. I had two of the new ones without knowing of the changes and after each I thought something tasted wrong. What was going to be a satisfying meal was not, repeatedly.
After the first taste I thought it might have been the store in Maine I ate at...then after a Detroit airport meal I blamed it on airport food.
Then I found out they axed the mustard, put on sweet pickles, and cut back on the onions. The tang, zip, and savory flavors were gone. It is a very different taste, and I didn't know it was coming.
When I order a "single with everything" I do not think I should have to say "and mustard." Especially if, after years as a customer, I expect mustard to be on the burger. And double especially if the founder of the company preferred that as his condiment. I find the way they're branding it with his name when they changed the things he liked most quite ironic. It is not Dave's burger.
I worked the grill and sandwich stations at a Wendy's in high school, I can appreciate the work that goes into a custom burger served quickly. What I don't appreciate is a radical change to an expected taste...and the new burgers do taste radically different.
For those that like it, it's good they have the option, and I guess the sales are good for those under Wendy's employ. For me, I'm glad I have other options. And the right and ability to say how bone-headed I think the change was.
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