Hardee's & Carl's Jr. part ways

[Toliver]

"Hardee's, Carl's Jr. chains part ways in fast-food image shakeup"

Quote

It’s a new dawn for fast-food chain Hardee’s and Carl's Jr. after two decades of trying to operate -- and co-brand -- in tandem.

Hardee's, 58-year-old burger chain headquartered just outside of Nashville unveiled its first store redesign in a suburb here as part of an ongoing rebranding effort meant to separate it from Carl’s Jr. and clean up the chain's reputation. 

Now, instead of advertisements featuring bikini-clad women -- from Paris Hilton to supermodel Kate Upton -- devouring burgers, Hardee's is after a more wholesome image with its food taking center stage for the first time in years.

I think the difference between the two regarding their breakfast foot-traffic is interesting and striking. There's a local Carl's Jr that is a ghost town at breakfast. I wonder what breakfast items Hardee's has that Carl's Jr doesn't have that is bringing in customers.

[Lisa Shock]

3 hours ago, Toliver said:

"Hardee's, Carl's Jr. chains part ways in fast-food image shakeup"

I think the difference between the two regarding their breakfast foot-traffic is interesting and striking. There's a local Carl's Jr that is a ghost town at breakfast. I wonder what breakfast items Hardee's has that Carl's Jr doesn't have that is bringing in customers.

 

Carl's doesn't have the biscuits, no plain no cinnamon raisin.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Yeah, the last time I went to Hardee's (many years ago) their breakfast biscuits were great! I would hit them up for breakfast many times, sometimes for myself and sometimes for my colleagues at the office often as they were on the way to the Y in Raleigh. Good biscuits rule. 😋

[blbst36]

3 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Yeah, the last time I went to Hardee's (many years ago) their breakfast biscuits were great! I would hit them up for breakfast many times, sometimes for myself and sometimes for my colleagues at the office often as they were on the way to the Y in Raleigh. Good biscuits rule. 😋

 

I've only been to Hardee's a handful of times, but I don't remember the biscuits.  I'll have to go back for that!  Bojangles biscuits have been crumbly and half stale the last few times I've gone

 

[Porthos]

Founder Carl Kartcher was forced completely out of management about the time that Carl's Jr ads were transitioning from wholesome-family to sex-sells and my DW (born and raised about 4 miles from the Carl's Jr flagship store and headquarters) and I just shook our heads. Carl's had been our go-to burger place since before our marriage but slowly lost out to Jack in the Box. At this point we no longer have a go-to. Here in suburban Southern California there are simply way too many options for fast food to pick one go-to any more.

 

And for me personally,  decades later I still mourn Carl's Jr taking the California Roast Beef Sandwich off the menu ... 😧

 

Just for fun I'm going to see how many options easily come to mind:

 

Carl's Jr 

Jack in the Box

InAndOut

Burger King

McDonald's 

Wendy's 

Farmer Boys

Subway

Miguel's Jr

Del Taco

Taco Bell

El Pollo Loco

 

Everything on this list is within 5 miles of my home, most with more than one store within that radius.

 

[Porthos]

11 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

 

Carl's doesn't have the biscuits, no plain no cinnamon raisin.

They must have stopped doing the Hardee's " made from scratch" biscuits because they were available for several years. To me, made from scratch implies measuring out all of the ingredients by hand for each batch and I seriously doubt they went that far. The biscuits weren't bad.

[Lisa Shock]

I have only lived near a Carl's for a few years, about a decade ago. And, being a vegetarian, I don't often go to that sort of fast food place. But, when the merger happened, I recall checking about the biscuits and did not find any. And, I know that right now Carl's does not have them. My family used to like picking up the box of cinnamon raisin biscuits on road trips to snack on them throughout the day.

[joiei]

Where I live we only have Carl's. When I lived in the Bay Area there was Carl's and the reputation was not that good.  My first experience with Hardee's was their store in the mid-60s on Eglin Parkway in Fort Walton Beach, FL.  Great Burgers for the uninitiated.  Jumping over the time machine, my step-dad went to the local Hardee's every morning for his free cup of coffee and to hang out with all the other old farts in Milton, FL.  Now when the family gets together one event that is not missed by anyone is the Bill Walters Memorial Breakfast at the Hardee's.  When he was in the later stages of Alzheimer we would take him through the drive in, it made his day.  We all miss our dad.  He would of probably just laughed at the sex burgers.  

[Toliver]

19 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

I have only lived near a Carl's for a few years, about a decade ago. And, being a vegetarian, I don't often go to that sort of fast food place. But, when the merger happened, I recall checking about the biscuits and did not find any. And, I know that right now Carl's does not have them. My family used to like picking up the box of cinnamon raisin biscuits on road trips to snack on them throughout the day.

Carl's does have biscuits (which they claim are made fresh daily) and offers a few breakfast sandwiches that are biscuit-framed. They must be nothing like what Hardee's makes because I find the Carl's biscuits to be a little "doughy" and consider them to be nothing to write home about, so to speak.

[Lisa Shock]

18 hours ago, Toliver said:

Carl's does have biscuits (which they claim are made fresh daily) and offers a few breakfast sandwiches that are biscuit-framed. They must be nothing like what Hardee's makes because I find the Carl's biscuits to be a little "doughy" and consider them to be nothing to write home about, so to speak.

 

Yeah. the Hardees biscuits I remember from 25+ years ago were square and cooked in a grid. You could buy a slab of 9 (I think?) of them in a box. The raisin ones had icing poured all over them. Both the plain and regular biscuits were very moist inside.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Lisa Shock
spelling (log)

[Mysstwalker]

On 6/20/2018 at 9:45 AM, Porthos said:

And for me personally,  decades later I still mourn Carl's Jr taking the California Roast Beef Sandwich off the menu ... 😧

 

 

Oh that sandwich, with the melty cheese and green chile on it, that was my all-time favorite at Carl's, and the pastrami burger they used to have too. Now I want roast beef darn it!

[Kim Shook]

On 6/20/2018 at 7:02 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Yeah, the last time I went to Hardee's (many years ago) their breakfast biscuits were great! I would hit them up for breakfast many times, sometimes for myself and sometimes for my colleagues at the office often as they were on the way to the Y in Raleigh. Good biscuits rule. 😋

The Hardee's that I've been to recently (Richmond VA and Reidsville NC) still have great biscuits.  The biscuits themselves are really good and all the fillings so good that it makes it hard to choose - the eggs taste really fresh and are moist and tender.  They have actual country ham, pork chops, country fried steak and really good sausage.  Damn.  Now I want a biscuit and I'm not even dressed yet.

[joiei]

The Carl's here has biscuits,  most likely the best breakfast fast foods in this area.  McDonalds biscuits are all made in advance by Bama Pies and just reheated.  The Whataburger biscuits are also just reheated.  The ones with hatch chilies  must be really good when fresh. The Carl's seem to be made from scratch.