Review: Whataburger Spicy Ketchup

In the super competitive fast food world, restaurants are doing anything to get a step up on competition. Be it in a 99 cent menu, monthly specials, or new condiments, restaurants are trying to give you a REASON to go eat there. Whataburger, the Texas-based burger chain has decided to try and venture into the new condiment area, unveiling new "spicy" ketchup. Thinking this is a pretty unique condiment, they got me on the line and I went in for a taste.

The packaging for the spicy ketchup is different for sure. I love Whataburger for there tub-sized ketchup and I was happy to see that while the color has changed, the size of the tub did not. It says on the tub that this is a limited batch, so I am assuming this is a trial run of this ketchup.

spicy

When I first heard the idea of spicy ketchup I thought it sounded gross. Upon trying it, I was pleasantly surprised. It does not really look any different than regular ketchup at first glance. However, it is noticeably thicker and definitely smells stronger than normal ketchup. When you first taste it, it comes off more like normal ketchup with a dash of tabasco. As you let the flavors sit on your tongue, the heat kicks in a bit more. It is never painfully hot, just flavorful. As I said, reminds me of tabasco.

Rating 4/5 "It's Pretty Good"

I was surprised how much I liked this. Whataburgers fries typically suck anyway, so this added some nice variety to help get them down. If you like spicy, give it a try.

normal

Review: Whataburger Chophouse Burger and All-Time Favorites

Right now Whataburger is doing a promotion about their “Hall of Fame” limited-time items. This selection of fan favorites includes four of Whataburgers most legendry items, not just seasonal, but of all time. Now I have already done review for the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich, the Patty Melt, and For the A1 Thick & Hearty. Just click on the links to see those.

Actually to be fair the A1 Thick & Hearty is really the Steak Sauce Double. The only difference between the two is the sauce though, which went from A1 steak sauce to Whataburger steak sauce. So they are pretty much the same thing in my book.

The only one I have not done is the Chop House Cheddar Burger, which I am going to do here. I am also going to rank them best to worst and give you my “All-time favorite”. But first……

Review: The Chop House Cheddar Burger

I was surprised to see this one as one of the four “fan favorites” on the list. I can say I honestly have never even had this burger before now. I do not really remember it ever being around either.

Huh.

Well it turns out this one is the President of Whataburger’s favorite on the list. No wonder it made the list. This burger is two beef patties, cheddar cheese, grilled onions, bacon, and creamy steak sauce.

Sounds Familiar……

Personally I would have rather seen the Green Chili Burger on the list. This one is just too dang similar to the Patty Melt or the Thick & Hearty. That being said, it is still a darn good burger. When I opened the wrapper I was a little underwhelmed and confused. I thought they just gave me a plain burger first. Thankfully I opened the bun to find the goodies hiding inside. I would have liked to see a bit more grilled onion but there was still enough there to give the flavor it needed. The bacon was pretty weak, very thin and flavorless. As for the sauce….. Weak-sauce. The creaminess was nice, when I could taste it. There was not enough of it and it could be a bit stronger. All the being said, I still enjoyed it. It sounds like I am bashing this thing but I really did like it, I just feel like it could be better.

That is Whataburger for you though. I swear, if someone could take them over and push them to perfection they would be unstoppable. I guess they are happy with SUPER SLOWWW service, undercooked fries, and near perfect burgers.

Rating: 3/5 “It’s just Meh”

I enjoyed it, but I did not love it. I do not really see how this is a huge fan favorite but hey, I am only one guy. What do I know?

Here is how I rank them best to worst (and the ratings I gave them).

1.     Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich -5/5

2.     A1 Thick & Hearty -3/5

3.     Whataburger Patty Melt -3/5

4.     Chop House Cheddar Burger- 3/5

Review: Whataburger Green Chile Double & Banana Pie and Shake

Please do try it

Ah, the green chile. Something that when done right can add so much flavor. A lot of small or nice restaurants feature green chiles on lots of things. The further southwest you go the more you see of the green chile. One of my favorite sandwiches from a local burger place is a green chile chicken sandwich. The green chili provides tons a flavor, little heat, and a great texture to go along with a sandwich. So why was I so scared to try the Whataburger Green Chile Double? Was it because I do not trust fast food with fresh ingredients? Is it because I do not want to deal with a bad Whataburger or a bad green Chile experience? Who knows, either way, everything turned out okay in the end.

The Green Chile Double

There really is not a whole lot to this sandwich. It is two patties of beef, a slice of american and a slice of Monterey jack cheese, and roasted green chilies. Thats it. No lettuce, no mayo, no onions, just that. The simplicity is what actually made this work though. The patties are what you expect from Whataburger, juicy and flavorful. The two cheeses really give a nice thick consistency to the burger that gives it an almost creaminess that plays well of the chiles. Oh the chiles. So good even fast food cannot ruin you. Whataburger actually did a damn fine job with this. The chiles are moist yet not soggy and wet. The have tons of flavor (as they should) and give the burger a great bite and texture. I was blown away by how much I liked this. If they made the chiles a regular add-on I can see myself adding them in the future. While I do not really have any complaints it is still just a fast food burger so I cannot give it a perfect score. That being said, please do not be afraid to give this a try, it is well worth it.

Rating: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"




Banana Pie and Shake

Whataburger pies are some of my favorite fast food desert. They are really greasy but have such a good crunch and normally great filling so I love when I can get one. They do a good job of trying new flavors as well. When I saw they had Banana pies I had to use this excuse to get one. If you like banana you will like this. It is almost a banana pudding custard filling. Smooth and Rich inside with a strong banana flavor.

The shake (sorry no picture) was less stelar. I added chocolate to it being afraid it would be too banana strong but I barely could taste banana. I do not know if it is because the chocolate that was added or what but I was sad they couldn't get this one right, I love their shakes too. chick-fil-a still reigns supreme on outlandish shake flavors.

Pie Rating: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"


Shake Rating: 2/5 "It's Not Worth It"

Movie review up next! Get excited.

Review: Whataburger Patty Melt

I have never been a huge fan of Patty Melts. They are a bit too greasy for me. Ironic that I am complaining about grease when eating a cheeseburger but I guess I like my grease between two buns, not all over them. That being said, I have had the Whataburger Patty Melt my fair share of times. It is one of their standard items they revolve through so I thought it would be good to review it!

There are a few things that MUST be required for a good Patty Melt.

1. Thick Texas Toast
2. Golden brown grilled onions
3. Melty smothering cheese
4. Greasy thick burgers

If a Patty Melt has all of these things then it has passed my test on what a good Patty Melt requires. Does The Whataburger Patty Melt pass the test?

Close, but not completely. I will start of with the Texas Toast. Whataburger has good Texas Toast by itself, but as a bun of a huge burger like this it kind of fails. The edges are nice and thick but the center gets so mashed up it gets messy. The meat starts to fall through and the onions make it kind of soggy. Sonic does a better job having thicker toast. The onions on mine were perfect. They were cooked enough to where they have that golden brown flavor but they were not overcooked. I could see this being something that varies between orders though. The cheese was melty for sure but I think they could of used another slice or some more pungent cheese like cheddar or pepper-jack! The burger was thick and flavorful like any normal Whataburger! It had sauce on it to but you can barley even notice it!

Rating 3/5 "It's just Meh" 

For a fast food Patty Melt it was decent but it did not meet all my requirements! It probably does not help I do not like Patty Melts. If you do, give it a try. If you are like me then you are better of just passing on this one.

Review: Whataburger Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich

Looks like Whataburger read my their last review on The Smidview because they brought back the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich. This is one of my absolute favorite chicken sandwiches in fast food and was pretty excited to see it back. This probably does not leave much question of what I am giving this sandwich but hey, maybe I will surprise you!

What I got: The Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich (on Texas Toast) Combo

This is the perfect example of a seasonal item that needs to be on the menu all of the time! The sandwich itself is made with things that are always on the menu. It is just three chicken strips, BBQ sauce, and two pieces of Monterey jack cheese on either Texas Toast or a toasted bun. Simple, but oh so good. I cant really go into a whole lot of detail though because of its simplicity. The chicken strips are typical strips, maybe even a little too breaded. The BBQ sauce is sweet and tangy, which makes sense being it is Honey BBQ sauce. As you can see in the picture, they give you plenty as well. The Monterey jack cheese is not really very flavorful but comes through on texture. It ads some good smoothness to it and blends well with the BBQ sauce. I chose to get it on Texas Toast because if I am going to eat greasy Whataburger I am going all out. The toast was buttery and golden brown but really really greasy. Not a very big surprise though. This meal is definitely not for the health conscious.

Rating: 5/5 -"It's the Bee's Knees"

Sorry, no surprises This is one of my absolute favorites. I plan on getting this a few more times before they take it away from us again. Damn seasonal fast food gods.

P.S. I will start getting some other reviews that are not food related up soon.

Whataburger Steak Sauce Double

Being born and raised in Texas, I grew up with Whataburger. I have been to the first one a few times and have always been a pretty good fun. As a kid it was the fast food even my parents didn't mind. As a college student, it is one of three fast food places open 24 hours so as you can imagine, it is pretty popular (nothing is better then a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit at 3 AM). Whataburger comes out with specials pretty frequently, not Taco Bell frequent but pretty close. They tend to stick to the same ones too, maybe trying a new one once a year. Today I tried the current one.

What a got: A Whataburger Steak Sauce Double Combo

How was it you ask? It was...... pretty good. There are a few things to point out about Whataburger first off. It is greasy and big. This place takes the "everything is bigger in Texas" quite serious. There burgers are not tiny, and neither are the drinks and fries. Whataburger has to have some of the tastiest plain burgers out there. They are always juicy, and unlike a McDonalds patty were it just taste like bland beef, it actually has some seasoning to it. The slice of cheese was plenty, if there was two peices it probably would have been too thick. The bacon was dissapointingly soggy. This place has always been hit or miss on bacon, it either is crunchy and perfect or soft and nasty. On the plus though, they are good size bacon strips which is nice to find at a fast food place, as opposed to the bacon paper at other places. 

The thing that really seperates this from a normal burger is the sauce and grilled onions though. I love me some grilled onions and Whataburger knows how to do em. They are browned just right, not grilled to slop, but not too crunchy either. I know in the past they used to just use A1, but they don't show the A1 bottle in the ads anymore so they might have changed. Doesn't really matter cause it tastes the same and it gives the burger a nice twang to it that normal BBQ sauce doesnt do. 

There are a few things that upset me though. The first is price, This thing cost almost two dollars more than a normal and i don't get half the stuff on it. Granted grilled onions are probably not cheap to make for fast food and Whataburger has always been about quality, not price. They might be one of the only fast food places left without a real value menu. another peeve is the fries at Whataburger always upset me. They are good when you find a crispy one but most of the time they are soggy. I don't know if they need to change the oil used or leave them in longer but this has always bugged me. 

Rating: 3/5 "It's Meh"

All in all I think it is worth trying. I just dont see why they cannot make this a permanint item and just have grilled onions and A1 on the menu all the time. The burger specials at this place never seem to have anything extra exciting. I still wish they would just have the honey BBQ chicken strip sandwich all year, that thing is the best..... yummmmm..

Tell next time