Review: Wendy's - The "W" Cheeseburger

Toeing the line between Wendy's value menu junior hamburgers and more premium Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Cheeseburgers, Wendy's offers a little bit of both with the "W" cheeseburger for $2.99.

The "W" features red onions, hand-leafed lettuce, crinkle-cut pickles,two 2.25-ounce beef patties, two slices of American cheese, and Wendy's signature sauce on a buttered, toasted bun.

You actually get the approximately the same amount of beef as one of Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Single Cheeseburger, just split in two and thinner and therefore more likely to be less juicy but I didn't really notice any significant difference on that front. What I did notice was that whoever seasoned my burger went a little too crazy with the salt shaker and I got some sharp, clear notes of salt as a result. Other than that there was a good amount of beef and melted American cheese.

The lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles were all of good quality. The lettuce and tomatoes were pretty standard fast food stuff but fresh. The onions and pickles lent the burger a more premium feel especially the pickles which were a good, crisp step above the usually soggy fast food pickle.

The sauce is a Thousand Island variant not too different from Wendy's typical blend of ketchup and mayo with some extra notes of flavor like mustard and relish.

I'm not a fan of the bun though. While I like the idea of buttered and toasted, I'm not really tasting it here and the buns feel a bit fragile. Also, there's a slight odd smell to these new buns that I just don't like and find a bit off-putting. I try not to get a whiff of the new buns (please bring back the old Kaiser buns!).

Unsurprisingly, the "W" tastes a lot like one of Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Cheeseburgers but with a slighty different sauce which is fine and good but, I don't know... if you're going to name a burger after your namesake, I expect something a little more different and special than something already on the menu. Between the two, I'd probably just go for the "W" just because it's a little bit cheaper (compared to $3.59 for the Hot 'N Juicy).

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Nutritional Info - Wendy's "W" (242g)
Calories - 580 (from Fat - 290)
Fat - 33g (Saturated Fat - 14g)
Sodium - 1280mg
Carbs - 40g (Sugar - 9g)
Protein - 32g