Review: Wendy's Honey Chipotle Chicken Sandwich

Now that Wendy's has remodeled it's classic burger and it's fries, it is time for the Chicken. Wendy's is calling this movement "project golden chicken". With that they are targeting better quality and variety of chicken sandwiches. The one you will see on Wendy's website is the Asiago Ranch Chicken Sandwich. I have not been able to find anything on the Honey Chipotle Chicken Sandwich via the interwebs so I guess this is just in testing markets. Is it something that is good enough for nation-wide release?

Meh, not really. The sandwich is just nothing special. It is just a crispy chicken sandwich with a slice of cheddar cheese and a honey chipotle sauce. The cheese adds some nice smoothness to the texture of the sandwich, and the sharp cheddar flavor works well. The disappointment comes in the sauce. The honey-chipotle sauce just is not strong enough. It needs either more of it or a stronger sauce. That being said, it was not much more than the regular chicken sandwich so I did not feel robbed by any stretch. I was encouraged that Wendy's is trying to mix up the Chicken Sandwich part of the menu, it needs it.

Rating 3/5 "It's Just Meh"

Review: Carmel Apple Frosty Parfait

Wendy's, I am still undecided on what you guys are doing. Your new burgers are not much better than your old ones. Your value menu is shrinking. Now you are messing with your classic Frosty!? Tisk Tisk Tisk. 

Actually, this is the best thing Wendy's has ever done with a frosty. This is what it says it is, a vanilla frosty, carmel, apple chunks, and granola. I am not actually a big fan of the vanilla frosty. I would much rather just have vanilla soft serve. That being said it works really well with this. The vanilla mixed with the carmel sauce (which there is plenty of) works great. Then you add in the granola, which adds great texture and crunch to the frosty. I do not know why I never thought of that before but oh my gosh it is so good. The apples were my least favorite part. They were fresh and tasty on there own, but mixed with this the big chunks just throw everything off. The size might also disappoint people at first, it is small. Then you realize the price point and it makes it better. The size is actually perfect for something like this. A reasonable sized dessert that will satisfy a sweet tooth without making you feel fat. 

Alien Handsss

Rating 4/5 "It's Just Swell"

Good job Wendy's. Make this a permanent item and you might get back my business a bit.

Review: Wendy's Monterey Ranch Chicken Sandwhich

There really is not a whole lot to say about this one in all honesty. Once again, I give props for mixing up their value menu. They are smart and have really the closest fast food place to Taco Bell as far as a decent value menu is concerned, even with the shrinking of the menu. This is once again another solid attempt at mixing the value menu up.

The sandwich itself is pretty basic. It is just a chicken patty (the cheap processed kind), Monterey Jack cheese, Ranch, and lettuce. Nothing to crazy here. I will say that for a "value" chicken sandwich it is nice to have something besides mayo and lettuce with it. The ranch provides a nice flavor to it that makes it like eating a giant chicken nugget. The cheese gives it just enough of a little kick to make it new and different. Now the lettuce in really weak and needs to be discarded or fixed because it only gives me false hope for some freshness to it. I think they could really improve this by either fixing the lettuce or adding a tomato and onions. It IS a value item though so once again, it gets a pass on a lot of things for only being 99 cents.

Rating: 3/5 "It's Just Meh"

I find myself being suckered by a lot of value items as far as ratings go. On one hand it is not very good but on the other, it is what you pay for. Would I get this every time I go to Wendy's? Probably not. If I was super hungry for a chicken sandwich and on a budget would this be my first choice? Probably. Trade-offs I suppose. But once again. Props to Wendy's for mixing things up a bit.

Review: Wendy's 1/4 lbs. Single, Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe, Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap

Wendy's, to me, always seemed like the poor adopted little brother of McDonald's and Burger King. I mean they did not have a niche like Sonic or Whataburger does, they do not offer breakfast everywhere, and they have had a simple menu up to a few years ago. That all has really started to change, for better or for worse. They are trying to change their imagine into the "healthy alternative" of fast food places. They have been pushing Salads, their wide options of sides to their combos, and they "all natural" products. Well  personally I have always liked Wendy's. I think they have some of the best burgers in the fast food world. The changes they have been going through the past few years with adding more salads and making "all natural" fries have both been positive to me. They also still have a decent value menu (it was great until they just took off half of it), which gets new things on it every now and again. Well to go with their "all natural" image they recently just changed their burgers to be "more fresh". They also added two new things to their 99 cent menu, which it needed after loosing about four things.

I will go ahead and start with the 1/4 lbs. Classic Single (with Cheese)

I am going to make these easy. The burger as a whole did not seem that different. They toppings seemed pretty much the same. That is a positive when it comes to Wendy's because they have always done a great job having fresh and quality toppings. The bun also seems like the same as before. The only big changes I noticed was the beef and the cheese. The beef itself was definitely thicker. Now was it Juicier? meh not really. I mean it IS fast food so it is not like they can make it Medium Rare. I guess for a fast food burger it definitely had more moisture compared to a BK or McDonald's burger. It also had the same great flavor they have always had. They cheese was much better as well. A thicker slice which had much for flavor and density to it. It tasted like a good slice of real cheese, not processed crap cheese.

Overall I would say it is an improvement to before but the improvements are so minuscule I cannot say it is something you need to rush out and try. The average person probably would not even notice, which is probably along the lines of what they want. Still one of the best standard burgers in the fast food world.

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


Now for the 99 cent Cheeseburger Deluxe

I actually really enjoyed this one. The beef patty was super tiny but for 99 cents I cannot say I am surprised. Where this value burger separates itself is the toppings. The vegetables are the same quality they put on their 1/4 lbs. Single and roughly the same amount! For a value burger, it is definitely top of the line.

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

What about the Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap?

Can you say disappointment? I do not have much good to say about this one except it was 99 cents. They chicken is just a crappy chicken patty from their 99 cent sandwich cut in two. It was not really crispy and it was so processed it was kind of hard to put down. Their was not even close to enough lettuce on this. Unfortunately they couldn't put too much more on it because the tortilla was so small and flimsy. The Caesar dressing was not horrible but I can see them putting WAY too much on and completely making it inedible.

The only reason this gets any points is price. That's all it has going for it.

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

Anyways that is all for today! Whataburger and Taco Bell coming up next week!

Review: Wendy's Spicy Chipotle Sandwiches

I have to give Wendy's credit. They are one of the few fast food places that mixes up their value menu. I recently was passing my local Wendy's and it turns out they have two new 99 cent sandwiches. After doing some peaking around I could not find any info about them on the website so I am assuming they might be testing them here. Or they are on their value menu so they do not want to advertise them. Either way they hooked me in. They are the Spicy chipotle sandwiches. There is a chicken and burger version of them. They both have a slice of pepper jack, jalapenos, and chipotle sauce. Does Wendy's have a winner?

Burger

Chicken

Yes and no. I appreciate the effort here. Offering some flavor to my value menu options is always appreciated. Pepper-jack cheese is always a welcome substitution to any sandwich. The chipotle sauce is spicy but does not have  much flavor. Unfortunately there is not a whole lot of a chipotle taste to it either which made me sad. The jalapenos were nothing special but provided a good kick. Now I have to emphasize there is a HUGE difference between the two. The burger version was so much less satisfying then the chicken version. You can see in the pictures above that the burger patty is just too small. I felt like I was eating bun with cheese and spicy stuff. I could not taste the burger and I felt like there was no heft that I like to have in my Wendy's burgers. If they made it a double then it might work. Now the chicken was much better. It was a big breaded piece that made the sandwich more filling. At 99 cents a piece I can not complain too much but I really can only see myself getting the chicken version again.

Ratings: 
Spicy Chipotle Burger 2/5 "It's Not Worth It"
Spicy Chipotle Chicken Sandwich: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"

I am almost done with finals so I will be updating more often! Sorry for the slowness lately.

Review: Wendy's Asiago Ranch Chicken Club

Wendy's has really been pushing quality food lately, which is a good move with how much everything cost there now. Between the new salads (which look pretty good actually), the new Sea Salt fries (which I am going to get to later), and new bacon, it looks like they are doing an overhaul one step at a time. The best part that makes me okay with the upgrades is Wendy's is one of the few fast food places that is pushing quality while keeping a 99 cent menu. This is a big step for a college student like me. I can be a big spender or just get a cheap three buck meal depending on what I want. Anyways I gave the new Asiago sandwich a try. 

According to the Wendy's website, it is "tender, all-white meat chicken fillets topped with thick-cut Applewood Smoked Bacon, natural-aged Asiago cheese, creamy ranch sauce, hand-leafed lettuce, and hand-chopped tomatoes. " 


So how was it? Pretty good actually. I ended up just going with the regular crunchy. I wanted to get the spicy but decided against it. I will start with what I didn't like about it first. The bun was a disappointment. Wendy's needs to pick up their bun game and get some whole wheat or sweet buns or something because the white is not quite cutting it. Another thing is the it only has one tomato which made me sad. I do not know why but I mean Wendy's actually uses good veggies so I don't see why they don't put a few more on their sandwich!! 

Now the positives. First, the chicken was not half bad. I prefer their spicy chicken but it was moist and tender, while not being too breaded. The bacon was also fantastic. I love Wendy's new bacon, it is among the best fast food bacon out there. Just look at how thick and full those three strips are! The Asiago cheese was flavorful and mixed wonderfully with the chicken. It was stronger then I expected but matched the flavor of the bacon. The raunch sauce was nothing exciting and honestly doesnt add anything. That being said it works better than mayo or mustard would but still, I feel like they could have made a different sauce. 


Rating 4/5 Stars- "It's Just Swell!"


I definitely recommend giving it a shot next time your at Wendy's if you like chicken sandwiches. Has some problems but they are minimal.


Oh and I LOVE THE NEW FRIES! Wendy's now has my favorite new fries in fast food. They are crispy, flavorful, and taste real. Wendy's did a great thing because now I always want a combo so I can get some of these damn good fries. They also give you a good amount of them, even with the small size. Just a warning though, they need to be hot, otherwise they sog up real bad!