I had the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger combo for lunch yesterday and was initially excited.  The ad makes the burger look appealing and meaty (both Carl’s Jr. signature traits).  It comes in 3 main sizes Single, Double or Six Dollar Burger (half pound) and the price for the combo is a respectable $4.99, $5.99 or $6.99.  Even the Carl’s Jr. employee said it’s been a top seller as of late.

The Grilled Cheese Bacon burger was served quickly and looked delicious.  The bread on this burger is amazingly wonderful with the right combination of chewiness, softness and buttery goodness.  The burger looked delicious and the cheese and baking were oozing out (a very good thing).  It’s a good looking sandwich but is it really a Grilled Cheese Bacon BURGER? That is the question.

Halfway through this burger I realized that if I was eating it at 7am it would have been amazing.  I was eating it for lunch and bought it because of the word burger.  The Review:  The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger is a delicious breakfast sandwich but NOT an amazing burger.

As a burger it’s a 6 out of 10.
As a breakfast sandwich it’s a 9 out of 10.

I’ve already reviewed the Big Carl before and I’m standing by the fact that this is a great burger.  Their sauce for this burger is also really growing on me.  With the XL Combo I also got plenty of fries on this trip which really hit the spot.  Another new thing at Carl’s Jr. is the drink selection.  Monster Energy Drinks are available now (not cheap) but they’ve also got Powerade coming out of that soda machine so you can drink healthy while over indulging in the bounteous goodness of the Big Carl and fries.

I’m not typically a Combo Meal fan but today’s combo was a good price and the meal was delicious.  Perhaps it’s my excitement for the Thanksgiving Turkey in just a few days.

Hardee’s also introduced the new BIG HARDEE (pictured to the right) to go along with the BIG CARL and attack the Big Mac at McDonalds.  This is really getting fun for burger lovers everywhere. When it comes to enjoying what they do, you have to give credit to Carl’s Jr parent company CKE for really having fun with this.  They’ve launched new commercials poking fun at Angus Burgers from McDonalds pointing out that they don’t need to do anything to make their point.

Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE (sign me up for his job any day) said in today’s official press release: “While McDonald’s is trying to convince people that they can make as good a premium-quality burger as Hardee’s or Carl’s Jr. can, we knew we could make a bigger, better Big Mac for less money at both brands,” added Puzder. “The Big Hardee costs a lot less than the Big Mac, is charbroiled, and has more meat and cheese. And instead of having a third bun, the Big Hardee has a third beef patty. We think burger fans will love that.”

Andrew, burger fans do love it!

Now the real fun starts.  Carl’s Jr has decided that if McDonalds wants to compete with them, than Carl’s Jr. wants to compete with McDonalds.  And thus was born, the Big Carl (pictured to the right).  I’ll be eating this for lunch today and will share my opinions but this article in the LA Times pretty much nailed everything I’m expecting.  The most quotable aspect in this battle is by Dan Coudreaut, McDonalds Executive Chef.   “The Big Mac is the Big Mac,” Coudreaut said, calling the burger “an iconic product.” As for the bigness gap between Big Mac and Big Carl, “I don’t know if bigger is always better,” he said. “You have to find a balance.”

Let the battle rage on! Read the Official Big Carl vs Big Mac Review here

The Mighty Teriyaki Burger from Carl's Jr.

We’ve all seen the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger commercials with a bikini clad woman eating the new Teriyaki Burger but tonight was my time to see how the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki burger tastes when you aren’t wearing a bikini.  After ordering the new Teriyaki Burger I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and waited patiently for my first one.

Within 5 minutes I was handed my order (order #77 if anyone cares) and was excited to see another oversized Six Dollar Burger waiting to be unwrapped.  As you can see from the picture, this was a good looking burger.  Still not exactly the same as in the ads but pretty close and I will say this, I’ve yet to be disappointed by how any of the Six Dollar Burgers look.  The Teriyaki burger was fresh, the grilled pineapple was juicy and the teriyaki sauce was a nice combination of sweet and tangy, all of which complimented the lettuce, onions, beef and overall burger very nicely.  I’m usually a fan of Hawaiian burgers and have eaten my fair share, and the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki burger is as good as any Hawaiian style burger I’ve had.  Compliments to the folks at Carl’s Jr. for making another quality burger.

I can confidently recommend the Teriyaki burger to anyone that likes the pineapple surprise and the sweet and tangy goodness of teriyaki sauce on a burger.  It really was as good as any other I’ve had.  For the record, I also had a Big Hamburger on this trip and it wasn’t so good.  Old, stale bun, cold etc. but at least I know that they don’t serve crap if you order of the Six Dollar menu:)

Value Menu Burger Comparison

Since the popular thing for any fast food restaurant is their Value Menu and because we all love a $1 price tag, I figured it was time to compare the Value Menu burgers at a few of fast food burger joints.  First I hit Wendy’s for a Wendy’s Double Stack which is a simple two pattie burger with cheese between a cheap Wendy’s bun.  Then I went to McDonalds and got their new McDouble which is simply the previously famous Double Cheeseburger minus one slice of cheese.  Finally I went to Carl’s Jr. for the Big Hamburger which is the Carl’s Jr. cheapskate burger without any cheese.

Already you can see that both McDonalds and Wendy’s does include cheese on their Value Menu burger so they get a point, maybe.  I took all three, in their respective bags back to my office for analysis, evaluation and digestion.  Here are my comments:

Wendy’s Double Stack – was two little square patties with cheese, pickle, ketchup and onions.  I’m typically a fan of the Wendy’s experience and rarely complain but the Double Stack wasn’t very good.  The bun tasted like a cheap generic grocery store roll that had been squished under the rest of the groceries.  It soaked up the greasy burger juice really quickly and the whole thing was less than average.  I had to also do some surgery on the burger because they were obviously in a hurry to get me in and out while making this since have the burger was outside of the bun “circle of influence”.  Overall this was the worst burger.

McDonalds McDouble – was a surprise because I was still expecting their Double cheeseburger but after asking the McDonalds worker what the difference was she said it was simply one slice of cheese and I can handle that.  The McDouble was juicy and the bun held the burger well.  It’s bigger than the Double Stack and the McDonalds assembly line was definitely better than Wendy’s on this trip.  Everything held together well and the toppings were spread out throughout the entire burger.  Made of two patties, one slice of cheese, ketchup, pickle, McDonalds onions and the standard McDonalds bun the McDonalds McDouble value burger was better than Wendy’s and definitely bigger.

Carl’s Jr. Big Hamburger – was a the only Value burger without cheese but by far the largest burger for a buck.  The Carl’s Jr Big Hamburger was also the only burger with a sesame seed bun which means it was by far the best quality bun.  Made of a charbroiled beef pattie, onions, pickle, ketchup and mustard it had a good chew, was the biggest burger and was the Overall Best Burger on any Value menu I visited.  If you have a dollar and need a burger, the Big Hamburger is my choice.