Despite being a major player on the fast food scene for almost as long as speedy patties and industrial deep fat fryers have been a thing, Wendy’s has been historically resistant to breakfast. Whether it’s because the business has spent so long trolling competitors who have already made a success of the morning and they can’t take the inevitable criticism, or they just can’t be bothered to get up early, Wendy’s disciples have had to wait a lot longer for their fix than their Maccies or KFC counterparts. That, however, is all about to change.
After spending years as the only fast food pariah without a national breakfast menu, Wendy’s have finally announced plans to roll out their disparate morning offerings across the entire country. At some point in 2020, the company pledge that every Wendy’s will offer customers a rejuvenated menu, complete with entirely new additions to the lineup.
Among the new items on offer will be The Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, The Breakfast Baconator and The Frosty-ccino. The chicken biscuit comes complete with a whipped honey butter blend, plus a strip of signature fried chicken, while the new Baconator features an egg, six strips of bacon, a breakfast sausage patty, two slices of American cheese, and swiss cheese hollandaise sauce on a bun. This can all be washed down with the Frosty-ccino’s cold-brew coffee, combined with either chocolate or vanilla Frosty cream.
Speaking in a statement at the time of the announcement, Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor said:
"Launching breakfast in our US restaurants nationwide provides incredible growth opportunities. We are well-positioned to pursue it. We believe we have the right team and structure in place, and we put Wendy's fan favorites on our breakfast menu to set us apart from the competition."
Love breakfast? Here's our Hashbrown Bun Bacon Breakfast Burger Recipe:
However, despite the enthusiasm around the announcement, there are some who have their doubts - not least because Wendy’s previous attempts at breaking into the breakfast business have had such mixed results. As the company’s ex-CEO, Emil Brolick said in 2014:
"We have tested breakfast many times over the years and we feel, as virtually the only large national chain that hasn't gotten into breakfast, it's very difficult to enter that space today and commit the kind of marketing resources that we feel would be necessary to really entrench ourselves successfully."
Here’s hoping that the new roll out can help Wendy’s finally succeed at the breakfast table.
This article originally appeared on twistedfood.co.uk
It's hard enough already to talk yourself out of a cheeky Mcdonald's meal, but the fast food company seem determined to make it impossible for all of us.
That's why I'm sorry to announce that if your dedication to the healthy life was somehow still stopping you from marching towards those golden arches, it's all over now.
Rumour has it, the American company is rolling out cheesy bacon fries to a store near you in 2019. Yep, your diet really is screwed.
The new dish went on trial in select locations including Hawaii and Nothern California in November this year, but according to Business Insider, a McDonald's employee recently revealed that the loaded fries would become a staple on the menu soon enough.
According to photos viewed by the American financial and business news website, some stores have already started adding the 'loaded bacon fry station to their point-of-sale systems.
The news is perhaps no big surprise; in a mid-November note, Mark Kalinowski of Kalinowski Equity Research reportedly claimed that the test markets' locations suggested that McDonald's was taking the test seriously and chances were the chain would roll out the menu item nationally in 2019.
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However, that doesn't mean that the American company are giving anything away. In an email to Business Insider sent on Friday, a McDonald's representative jokingly teased the big reveal, saying: "I'm afraid I'll have to provide a cheesy no comment. At this moment, our kitchens are bacon-ing something together. But we're not yet ready to share the gouda news."
Unleashing cheesy bacon fries nationwide is bound to make a lot of people happy; many of those who have tried the fries in test markets have already taken to social media to heap praise on the delicious dish, with one user giving it seven out of 10 stars and another claiming they are "highly recommended".
So, are you loving it? Because we are most definitely loving it!
Cheesy bacon fries are certainly not the only new item the mammoth fast food chain have to offer though.
If you can't wait till 2019, you can always check out the sweet treats available for the 2018 holiday season.
McDonald's recently announced they are bringing back their Holiday Pie for Christmas. That's right, any day now you can buy the pastry that features a "creamy smooth, vanilla custard nestled in a flaky, buttery crust glazed with sugar and topped with rainbow sprinkles". Yum.
"While we haven’t released an official date for the Holiday Pies, their availability will be decided by the location’s owner/operator," a tweet from their official Twitter page read. "We recommend letting your local restaurant know that you’d love to see them back on the menu!"
Honestly, the new menu items can't come soon enough.
The McGriddle is the perfect combination of sweet pancake carbs and savoury breakfast meat proteins. With its release, McDonald's changed on-the-go breakfast. You don't have to decide if you want something yummy or that will keep you full. And now, they're upping their game half a step.
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At select McDonald's in Washington, D.C., the fast-food chain is releasing three different blueberry McGriddle sandwiches for all-day breakfast. The culinary innovation teams created new options after they surveyed customers who said they wanted a breakfast option that they could crave every morning.
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Choose the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Blueberry McGriddles Breakfast Sandwich if you're a fan of the classic McGriddle. If you prefer other breakfast meats, the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Blueberry McGriddles Breakfast Sandwich is for you. And if you're anti-egg and cheese, opt for the Sausage McGriddles Breakfast Sandwich. Simple, yet delicious.
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Carol Martino, Culinary Innovation Spokesperson for McDonald’s USA, shared the logic behind the creation:
“The flavors from the real blueberries balanced with the sweet taste of maple, reminds me of the blueberry pancakes my mother used to make for us growing up. Imagine that combined with your choice of sizzling breakfast sausage or thick cut bacon nestled under a creamy slice of American cheese and fluffy egg. It’s everything you love about breakfast in one sandwich.”
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I'll have to try the new sandwiches before I'm completely convinced. It's one thing to have a full out, buffet breakfast with some pancakes and a side of eggs with sausage or bacon. It's entirely different when you chow them all down together in one bite.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how the Capital's trials go before we have the option to try this all-in-one creation. Until then, have fun eating your breakfast foods separately.
Thanks to the potent combination of globalisation and our obsession with things that will slowly poison us, American fast food is a fact of life in Britain. Almost every major brand has spread their greasy tendrils to our green and pleasant land, with delicious results. It might be bad for us, but there isn’t a day that goes by when we aren’t grateful for Whoppers and McNuggets.
However, despite the prevalence of Burger King, McDonald’s et al, one brand has been strangely absent from the British highstreet. Despite being one of the most recognisable names in the industry, Wendy’s has inexplicably struggled to break into the market. That, however, could be about to change.
According to a report by financial publication This Is Money, the chain are set to open 20 restaurants across the country “as early as next year” in order to help give the company a foothold in Europe.
In a recent meeting with investors, the company’s president of the international division and chief development officer, Abigail Pringle, said:
“Where the UK has been pulling back is in casual dining – just like we have in the US. But we believe their overall growth in the quick service restaurant segment – and hamburger specifically – is growing and we believe we can be a challenger brand in that market and have great success.”
“The United Kingdom will be our beachhead to European expansion. We believe it is a growing market and it has lots of great growth ahead of it. We also know that great American brands have been successful. Burger brands have been unbelievably successful there. But we believe that we can challenge those brands.”
This is not the first time that Wendy’s has attempted a foray into the British market. The company first failed to gain a foothold in the 1980s, before being rebuffed again in 1999, complaining of “high real estate and operating costs”.
However, Pringle clearly believes that it will be third time lucky for the chain. According to This Is Money, she told investors:
“We are going there with our eyes wide open and with a lot of insights and preparation. We have done landmark research with thousands of consumers in the UK. We have talked to them and engaged with them and what they think about the Wendy's brand.”
Hungry Brits hoping to get a taste of the Baconator will certainly be keeping their fingers crossed that this is the case.
As we clink glasses and cheer as December definitively turns into January and a lot of calendars suddenly become obsolete, a lot of people think about how they want the next 12 months of their life to go, and the vast majority want to improve things in some way.
Write that screenplay, start that business, convince some gullible sap that you're worthy of not only respect, but even love - these are all noble, lofty goals that you'll inevitably give up on after a couple of crushing setbacks. The most common goal by far, however, is the idea of losing weight and getting in shape.
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Having a healthy body is important, and society as a whole is so afraid of the obese that we'll invest hundreds of dollars to delay our descent into doughiness. Going to the gym or giving up dairy are both great goals, in theory, but for me, I like pizza and sitting on the sofa too much to keep them out of my life.
So instead, I've dedicated 2019 to eating as many delicious burgers as I can. While Arby's is doing its level best to help me on my way, my one and only love in this respect (and many others) is McDonald's. Even better, this year, they've made one of my favourite meals somehow even more enticing.
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Let's be honest, guys. There's one burger underneath the Golden Arches that stands above the rest. The McChicken, the Big Tasty, the wildcard Egg McMuffin are all awesome. The Filet O'Fish is a left-field favourite of mine. But really, is there any burger as good, and as well known, as the Big Mac?
Two patties, three buns, lettuce and that delicious Big Mac sauce; the Big Mac is perfection, and I won't have you say anything to the contrary. But I have to ask the question I usually ask myself when I look in the mirror: can you really improve on perfection?
And much like when I look in the mirror, the answer is a resounding yes. Say hello, folks, to the Bacon Big Mac.
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Just drink it in, for a second. Everything you'd ever loved and wanted in a burger, but with bacon too. When this kind of thing exists, why even bother eating anything else? Well, there's also the Quarter Pounder, which is getting its own bacon option too, not to mention Cheesy Bacon Fries.
Be still, my beating heart.
People love bacon, and they love our iconic Big Mac, fresh beef Quarter Pounder burgers and world famous Fries, so we had to see what would happen if we combined all that tastiness,” said Chef Michael Haracz (McDonald’s Manager of Culinary Innovation), demonstrating that inserting three strips of applewood-smoked bacon was a complete no-brainer. You'll be able to enjoy that no-brainer soon.
"As a bacon enthusiast myself, I’m proud to say that we’ve done right by bacon fans and I can’t wait for our customers to try these Classics with delicious, thick cut Applewood smoked bacon for themselves."
But here's the catch, folks. Good things come to those who wait, and if you're able to wait until January 30, you'll be able to sample the undoubtedly good thing that is the Bacon Big Mac. In the meantime, you could always try a regular Big Mac or something, but for me, now I know there's the option of bacon, things just won't be the same.
I'll never forget the first time I saw a Wendy's. I'd just moved to California, and my dad pointed out the famous sign as we drove to our new apartment. We went to Wendy's for breakfast the next morning, and my mind was blown. I'd never seen a stack of pancakes that big before in my life! Shortly after I started college, I decided to work at the restaurant to fund my studies. Within days, that glorious childhood memory was in tatters. As soon as I realized how the food was really cooked, I couldn't bring myself to eat a bite - despite having an employee discount.
Now I've been free from Wendy's for a few years, I've decided it's time to spill the beans on one of America's best-loved fast-food giants. It's not all bad though. If you're willing to look past what I tell you about how the food's made, then you can discover how to get the most out of your Wendy's trip... But the worst thing about working at Wendy's was the customers. Amazingly, some people expect a five-star culinary service when visiting a fast food restaurant! That, coupled with the horrors I've mentioned, wasn't worth the low wage. I've got no idea how I managed to stick it out for three years...
[post_page_title]What You Should Never Order[/post_page_title]
I used to love Wendy's chili until I discovered what it was made from. Whenever we eat meat, we live in the hope that it's freshly cooked. However, what you're eating at Wendy's isn't what it appears to be. This is the one item on the menu I wouldn't eat even if you paid me...
The chili served at Wendy's isn't made from freshly cooked mincemeat. It's actually old hamburgers from the day before that were burnt on the grill. The burgers are binned, chopped up, and turned into chili. I'm not sure what the implications of this area from a health and safety standpoint, but it certainly isn't appetizing...
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[post_page_title]There's Something Else Wrong With The Chili[/post_page_title]
If the fact that you're eating old, burnt meat isn't enough to put you off of Wendy's chili, then this probably will. I majored in science at college and did a little bit of digging when I saw the exact ingredients list for their chili. What I discovered was truly sickening...
The moment I discovered what the chili was made from, I realized how sandy it tasted and decided to do some investigating of my own. When I actually checked the ingredients list, I saw that the chili sauce contained silicon dioxide. A food additive that acts as a preservative which is also found in substances like sand. Yuck!
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[post_page_title]This Is When You Shouldn't Visit Wendy's[/post_page_title]
Don't get me wrong, the chili is definitely the worst item on the menu, and the fast-food giant does serve some food that I'd say is edible, even if I'd never want to eat it again. However, if you're wanting to increase your chances of having an enjoyable visit to Wendy's, this is when you shouldn't visit...
Please don't visit Wendy's just before it's due to close. We're trying to clean up the kitchen and looking forward to going home. If you turn up late, it's more than likely you'll get served reheated food. It's honestly the worst time to come in terms of quality. We will serve you whatever is leftover, and it's more than likely that it's been lying around for hours...
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[post_page_title]Where You'll Get Served Faster[/post_page_title]
Wendy's might be a fast-food restaurant, but when we're busy it can be difficult to get all of our orders out in a timely fashion. So instead of getting annoyed at your underpaid servers, this is what you should do if you can't stand to wait for your food for longer than a few minutes...
Drive-thru is a lot faster than coming into the store for food. My friend worked in McDonald's, and he said it's also the case there as well. Our managers tell us to priorities drive-thru orders so you're always guaranteed to get your food a lot quicker if you take your car to Wendy's!
Whilst the time that I spent working at Wendy's put me off the restaurant's food for life, if you're a massive fan of the fast-food giant, and aren't going to be swayed in your love of their food, then maybe you should consider becoming an employee because the discount is particularly generous...
Employees at Wendy's get 50% off the food. So if you aren't put off the food by working there, it's a real bonus. My friend told me that they only get a 25% discount. That's not the only thing that Wendy's has over McDonald's either...
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[post_page_title]How Clean The Kitchens Really Are[/post_page_title]
We've all heard the stories about fast food restaurants having disgusting kitchens, and Wendy's has its share of rumors spread about it over the years. However, this picture is an accurate representation of what a Wendy's kitchen really looks like...
Wendy's kitchens are spotlessly clean. Whilst there's some questionable reheating being done and chopping up of burnt food, you can at least take comfort in the knowledge that it's being prepared in an extremely clean kitchen!
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[post_page_title]A Common Customer Mistake[/post_page_title]
It's no secret that Wendy's isn't as popular as McDonald's. However, a lot of customers make a very silly mistake that not only drives their servers insane but will prompt them to mercilessly make fun of you once you've got your food...
Please don't try to order McDonald's food at Wendy's. We don't serve you McNuggets. Did you get lost when you were deciding what fast food restaurant you wanted to eat at?! A colleague of mine once sneezed in fries and didn't replace them before he served them because the customer had asked if we sold Big Macs...
You might be thinking that the employees at Wendy's should stop complaining and just accept people's confusion between the restaurant and McDonalds, however, when you find out what they're paid, you'll understand why they're so easily annoyed by customers...
Staff at Wendy's earn a mere $7.25 an hour. Whereas in other fast-food chains people are paid a lot more. McDonald's pays its cashiers $10 an hour. I stayed in the job so long because I made friends at my store (on reflection, even that wasn't worth it), but there's no doubt I was underpaid...
Not everyone who works in Wendy's is a college student. For most of the employees, the fast-food chain is their career, and, when you're busting your gut for hardly any cash, there's one thing that you won't feel any guilt about doing...
Wendy's employees happily steal food from the restaurant. You might think they're wrong, but when you're horribly underpaid and have an overbearing manager breathing down your neck your entire shift, you can see why employees would engage in this little act of rebellion...
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[post_page_title]There's A Drug Problem[/post_page_title]
This isn't something that I did whilst I worked in Wendy's, but I knew a lot of employees who were happy to do it. I didn't judge them because I knew how stressed out they were working for the fast-food giant, but this illegal substance has been known to end up in the food...
A lot of employees at Wendy's can't get through their shift without smoking weed. It's so bad that a customer once complained to the restaurant after their young kid found marijuana in their fries. The managers know that their employees are high too, but turn a blind eye to it!
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[post_page_title]How Fresh The Fries Really Are[/post_page_title]
We all know what it's like to buy some fries and think that they taste funny. Until I worked in Wendy's, I brushed it off and told myself that it was a figment of my overactive imagination. Then I found out how fresh the fries the restaurant sells really are...
"It's not old until it's sold." That's the catchphrase my manager used when talking about the fries we were selling. We'd never throw away fries, no matter how long they'd been simmering in the pan for. People often ate fries that had been in there for hours if they came into the store later in the day...
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[post_page_title]The Maggots[/post_page_title]
This is easily one of the worst things that I ever saw when I worked at the restaurant. Remember I said that the chili was made from old burgers? Well, sometimes the burgers were really old - anything up to a week. Because of this, there have been some disturbing discoveries in the chili...
Yeah, don't worry. I wasn't going to subject you to that. Occasionally, people end up unknowingly eating chili with maggots in it. It's one of the reasons why you couldn't pay me to eat the chili from Wendy's. Burgers that have been cooked and kept to chop up at a later date are a prime target for flies...
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[post_page_title]Employee Games[/post_page_title]
When you work in a highly pressurized environment like Wendy's - with managers constantly telling you to work harder and customers complaining every five minutes - you have to do something to keep yourself going. So the employees have invented a number of hilarious games...
When I worked at Wendy's, my colleagues and I would regularly have water fights when our manager's back was turned. Some employees like to have deep-frying competitions where they'd bring in all sorts of foods just to see what they'd taste like after they'd been deep-fried. I once ate a deep-fried Hershey's bar!
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[post_page_title]The Meat Is Frozen[/post_page_title]
You might think that when you order a burger from a fast-food chain that you're eating meat that's fresh, however, you couldn't be further from the truth. The reality of how fast-food restaurants keep their meat is disgusting...
All of the meat that's sold in Wendy's stores is frozen, not fresh. It's frozen so that it can be stored for longer, which make sense for the restaurant chain, but no sense when it comes to providing its customers with a supposedly delicious meal...
Just like a lot of other fast-food restaurants, there's a secret menu at Wendy's too. It contains some really impressive things if you're looking to have a heart attack at an early age. This was a particularly popular item on the secret menu...
The burger pictured above is known as the meat cube, and it's easy to see why. There were a lot of items on the secret menu that we used to cook for regular customers we liked. This included the barnyard burger (which is massive) and the quadruple baconator...
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[post_page_title]One Of The Largest Orders[/post_page_title]
When you're rushed off your feet in a fast-food restaurant, there's nothing worse than a customer coming in and making a particularly large and elaborate order. But it happens all of the time. However, this was the worst that I ever received...
Someone came into my busy store and ordered 25 packs of eight-piece chicken nuggets, eight berry almond salads (full-sized), four apple-pecan salads (half-sized), and over 30 boxes of large fries. I almost died on the spot. What's worse is that she complained about how long it took for me to make this monster order. Please don't be like this woman in Wendy's - especially if it's busy!
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[post_page_title]The Cheese Is Left Lying Around[/post_page_title]
Unlike the burgers, the cheese in Wendy's isn't frozen. That might sound like an improvement, but when you find out what happens to it after it's been cooked, you'll be wishing you'd ordered a burger without any cheese...
Because the cheese isn't frozen, it's often left lying around for a long time before it's cooked. You can only imagine what that does to the cheese in a hot kitchen. Us employees used to refer to it as being "tampered cheese"...
If you go to Wendy's, and you're in the mood for some chicken, order one of the more expensive items on the menu like the chicken sandwich. Then you'll get what you're paying for. Otherwise, the "chicken" that you're eating won't be what you think it is...
The chicken in Wendy's is mechanically separated. So that big lump of pink goo is exactly what it looks like before it's molded into whatever cheap fast food item you desire. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for...
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[post_page_title]If You Look Like This, You'll Get Extra Food[/post_page_title]
One of the few perks of the job is that us Wendy's employees can subtly flirt with hot customers. How? Well, when you're a server in a fast-food restaurant there's only one way that you can flirt with someone that you think is cute...
We'll give you extra food if we think you're cute. So if you notice some extra nuggets in your box, or a large fries when you've only ordered a medium, then you might want to ask for you Wendy's server's number. It's a sure sign that they've got the hots for you!
Even though Wendy's managers can be overbearing, the only thing they really care about is making sure that customers get served quickly. Whilst the kitchen itself is spotless, the personal hygiene of some of the people I worked with was extremely questionable...
A lot of servers in Wendy's don't wash their hands anywhere near as often as they should. I once worked with a guy who bragged about the fact that he never washed his hands and got away with it. Now you can really understand why my opinion of the restaurant I'd loved as a kid changed so rapidly when I worked there!
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[post_page_title]Medium Is A Large[/post_page_title]
Sometimes, when you rock up to a Wendy's, or any fast-food giant for that matter, and you're offered the chance to upgrade from a medium to the large soda, the answer is an immediate yes - if you're thirsty enough. But you could be wasting your money.
Yup. In a lot of fast food franchises, they can get away with charging more for a medium drink if it's got more ounces in it. So it's typically the size of what would otherwise be a standard large, according to research conducted by Duke University. The more you know, eh?
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[post_page_title]Your Soda Could Be Dirtier Than A Toilet[/post_page_title]
On the subject of soda, there are also some seriously questionable hygiene practices going on at fast-food giants, and I'm not just talking about Wendy's.
This is because, as any former employee will attest, cleaning ice machines can be nigh on impossible at times. Unbelievably, a 12-year-old investigated it as part of an award-winning science project and discovered the water is 70% dirtier than toilet water. So you might want to give that soda a miss...
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[post_page_title]The Coffee Cups Could Be Making You Sad[/post_page_title]
It's no secret that the styrofoam cups used by most fast-food chains including Wendy's are bad for the environment, but a lesser-known fact is that they're also bad for your health. Seriously.
This is because they can secrete a substance called styrene. It's toxic and it's known to cause depression and a loss of concentration. However, it's worth noting that it's more likely to be secreted by the cups when they contain highly acidic substances like coffee.
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[post_page_title]What The Nuggets Go Through[/post_page_title]
Nuggets are a staple of just about every self-respecting fast-food giant, even if McDonald's is their most famous creator. And because they're cheap, they all tend to be produced in the same problematic way: with mechanically separated meat.
Reddit user DFunkatron, who claims to be a former McDonald's employee, wrote: " […] I accidentally left a whole bag of about 100 chicken nuggets out on a counter for way too long. They melted. Into a pool of liquid. I never understood why. But they were completely indiscernible as being the nuggets I once knew."
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[post_page_title]Your Food Is Surprisingly Old[/post_page_title]
Sure, fast food isn't the healthiest grub on the planet, that's no secret, but one thing which most burger-loving patrons don't know is that it's also surprisingly old.
Well, depending on where you're eating. This was something brought to light by photographer Sally Davies, who places fast food in jars to see how quickly it deteriorates. When she did it with food from McDonald's, it still looked edible five months later... That's a lot of preservatives.
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