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Wendy's

Toliver

By Toliver
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Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

I performed a search and couldn't find another discussion about Wendy's.

In the most recent Zagat survey, Wendy's fared quite well.

In the "Top Rated Among Mega Chains (more than 5,000 U.S. locations)", they were voted:

#1 "Top Food" category

#2 "Top Facilities" category

#2 "Top Service" category

#2 "Best Salads" category

#2 "Best Value Menu" category

#3 "Top Burger" catagory

#4 "Best French Fries" category

They recently revamped their salads and so far, having tried the BLT Cobb and the Spicy Chicken Caesar, I am impressed. Of course, I don't like paying more for them (as compared to their previous salads and their respective prices), but what can you do?

If you choose their fat free dressing you can just about cut half the fat calories from the salad.

I think their fries deserve the 4th place ranking. I have yet to get a crisp french fry from them. They're thicker ("meatier", if you will) than most other fast food fries so they have more of a potato presence than other fast food fries.

So does Wendy's deserve it's Zagat rankings?

What do you like about them? What don't you like?

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted

Their burgers are good but I can't walk in there without getting the Spicy Chicken sandwich, the fries are fine. Certainly a better experience overall than McD or BK

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

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jgm

jgm

Posted
Posted

Their apple pecan chicken salad is really good.

For lunch, when there's little time and I need to go to somewhere near the office, this is a great choice, and much better than the usual fast food fare. The salad also contains gorgonzola (I think) cheese and dried cranberries. The chicken is cooked through, but not to the point of dryness - it's actually better than chicken I've had in fairly expensive restaurants. The dressing is a pomegranate vinaigrette. I can't deal with diet dressings - too chemical-y for me, so I control calories by being careful about how much I use.

Yes, it's more expensive than most fast food. I've had to change my mindset, though, in my attempts to eat healthier. Snack food is priced so that people will view it as an alternative to healthier food. When you consider that you're getting lunch AND nutrition, it is easier to pay that much when you look at what the usual burger and fries is doing for you.

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Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

I absolutely refuse to eat their burgers. I vastly prefer flame-broiled burgers but do eat some that are cooked on a grill. But the lack of flavor in a Wendy's burger is too much for me. When the family wants to go there I eat a chicken sandwich or a salad or (hangs head in shame) have their chili.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

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Darienne

Darienne

Posted
Posted

What Wendy's is good for: if we are stuck in town and didn't bring anything with us to eat...we head to Wendy's. I get a baked potato with a pat of butter and DH gets said potato and a bowl of chili. Period.

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

What Wendy's is good for: if we are stuck in town and didn't bring anything with us to eat...we head to Wendy's. I get a baked potato with a pat of butter and DH gets said potato and a bowl of chili. Period.

Before her gastric bypass surgery my DW used to get the baked potato. Now she has to go for proteins.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

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Blether

Blether

Posted
Posted

I've been blue since Wendy's quit Japan at the end of last year. Best of the mega-burger-chains by far. nd I always found their patties great - much better than McD's. They taste of beef rather than beef fat. And while we're on the McD subject, I cannot abide their so-called fries. Yuch !!! To the pint that even if I'm quite hungry, I'll bin them before I eat them.

Even Wendy's chilli is pretty good, for a fast-food product, I think. In summary, you guys are lucky still to have it.

QUIET!  People are trying to pontificate.

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Peter the eater

Peter the eater

Posted
Posted

I like Wendy's baked potato, not much else stands out.

I do fast food about once a month. If the options are Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King and Harvey's, I'll go to Harvey's. I see it's not on the survey, oh well. The veggie and beef burgers are top drawer.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

Moe Sizlack

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted (edited)

Zagat's is one giant sampling error. But that has been well-hashed out over the years.

Hard to imagine that a Wendy's burger fared well against BK, In and Out et al.

They are pretty clean joints at least.

Salads are OK per my wife the herbivore.

Edited by gfweb (log)
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  • 3 months later...
Toliver

Toliver

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

#4 "Best French Fries" category

Wendy's has now revamped their fries. They're unpeeled "natural" fries. Has anyone tried them?

Also, Wendy's is test marketing two new burgers.

Is anyone in the test market areas and have you tried the new burgers?

One of them sounds like a Big Mac (including their own "special sauce"). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess. :smile:

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted

I can handle the oriental chicken salad. And a baked potato. The chili is horrible, and the burgers leave much to be desired. Of course, the only fast-food burgers I can tolerate are In n Out, on the rare occasions I'm out West; Back Yard Burgers (not nearly as good as they once were), and about once a year when I HAVE to have them, Krystal (the Mid-South equivalent of White Castle).

Best burger I ever had in my life was one at the Dairy Freeze in Hiawasse, AR. I will brag and note that I enjoyed it at a table with not-yet-then-President Bill Clinton in 1989, and he thought his (all the way; mine was hold the onions) was excellent, too. It's on my list to go back there someday and see if (a) it's still there and (b) the burgers are as good as they once were.

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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Lilija

Lilija

Posted
Posted

I like their new "pick 2" thing, it's a half sized salad and a side, so I generally go with the chicken apple pecan salad, which I REALLY like, as in, it would even be good at a non fast food place, and a chili, or some nuggets. Their spicy chicken sandwich is my favorite fast food chicken representation (since I don't eat at Chick-fil-a for moral reasons). Of the choices here, I like them and Taco Bell the best, since I'm not a fan of greasy burgers and fries. I mean, I love burgers, but I prefer those huge ones at the bar across the street. We get from Wendy's about once a month, and I've seen the quality (and the price) on the incline. As a fast food place, it doesn't suck.

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  • 4 weeks later...
toolprincess

toolprincess

Posted
Posted

Last time I ate wendy's I felt very sick afterwards. Not sure if it was directly attributable to the Wendy's food but you know how those things tend to linger with you. I used to love something they had called a Carolina Burger -which had chili and slaw. I also liked their Mandarin chicken salad (loved the sesame ginger dressing) but they seem to have changed up their salads and don't have that anymore. The spicy chicken sandwich is good. I tried the Chik-fil-a spicy chicken but it tasted mostly like black pepper as the "main" spice so I didn't care for it.

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  • 3 months later...
karlos

karlos

Posted
Posted

#4 "Best French Fries" category

Wendy's has now revamped their fries. They're unpeeled "natural" fries. Has anyone tried them?

Also, Wendy's is test marketing two new burgers.

Is anyone in the test market areas and have you tried the new burgers?

One of them sounds like a Big Mac (including their own "special sauce"). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess. :smile:

Was reading the McDonald's thread and then came here. I should be embarrassed to admit this but I love their new sea salt fries. Very salty but oh so good. McD's fries are okay, my memories of them are better back in the beef tallow days. Never cared for Wendy's burgers but I do like the spicy chicken sandwich as long as I can not think about the caloric intake.

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Toliver

Toliver

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I was put on "hold" in a Wendy's drive-thru. :angry:

I stopped at their drive-thru last week to get a salad and was frustrated at how long it took. When I drove up to the speaker to place my order, the first thing I heard was someone saying "I'll be right with you." What? :blink: I looked down at my dashboard clock and when someone finally came back on the speaker to take my order, 4 minutes had passed.

Is it just this Wendy's or all Wendy's that are so slow?

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 3 years later...
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

no one I can see has taken a few hits for the team at Wendy's

 

So I did today.  w a coupon, of course !

 

I had the crispy chicken sandwich  ( 2 )  it comes w a bun, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

 

I asked for added mayo.

 

the chicken piece was generous in size, hot, crispy and not greasy.

 

the bun was bland and very dough-ey.;

 

I added some ketchup, and a packet or two of black pepper.  better.

 

FD:  I was hungry, which affects the review.

 

as served, C-.  w ketchup and pepper, C.

 

I went to the web site to add a snap, but could not get it to work.

 

I pickle slice or two would have helped w the blandness, which The Bun seems to be a

 

Black Hole for what ever flavor there is.  you can add cheese, pickle etc.

 

but the chicken was OK, might have been nice sliced on top of a salad w decent dressing.

 

But that bun was a killer.  they seem to have brioche buns, not tried, which would have been

 

an improvement, even if the BBuns were terrible.

 

Had I not been hungry I would have quit after the first bit.  then again, ask for a plate, dump the bun

 

 and eat the chicken/lettuce/mayo/pickle alone, and  you would come out ahead.

 

PS  the sandwich(s) have staying power, but not that bad staying power, not at all like

 

the various 'beef' concoctions at these places

Edited by rotuts (log)
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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted

Wendy's is my fast food restaurant of choice when I'm forced to eat fast food, because I can get a baked potato. They don't screw that up too badly.

 

Frosties aren't half bad, either.

  • Like 1

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

Rats.  no coupons for the B.P. nor the chili and the frosty.

 

rats again

 

guess they have no Worries about those

 

but a bunch about that CkSand, crispy

 

at least they have the Eye on the Ball of their Problems !

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  • 7 months later...
Toliver

Toliver

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I tried their new Pulled Pork sandwich last night.

Super MEH. :hmmm:

You can order the sandwiches sweet, smokey, or spicy. I bought the smokey version and couldn't taste one whit of smokiness in the sandwich.

And the entire time I was eating the sandwich (served on a brioche-like bun with coleslaw) I kept wishing I had the pulled pork sandwich that Costco sells which consists of the same ingredients though in a larger sandwich and much, much better tasting than the Wendy's pulled pork sandwich.

Live and learn.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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gulfporter

gulfporter

Posted
Posted

I agree with others that the only thing worth eating at Wendy's is their baked potato.  

 

When I worked long hours, I'd buy one on my way home and use it as the base for a quickie dinner frittata when I didn't feel like spending much time in the kitchen.  

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