Laredo Wendy's Accepting Pesos

Evidently a Wendy's restaurant in Laredo, Texas (a city on the US-Mexican border) is now accepting pesos as well as US dollars in payment for their burgers.

In this photo from examiner.com, you can see a sign the fast food restaurant posted, stating, "We Take Pesos / Aceptamos Pesos."

Back in 2007, there was an uproar when Pizza Patron started accepting pesos for their pizzas.

Will Wendy's suffer the same backlash?  Is Wendy's promoting illegal immigration (as some charged Pizza Patron) or are they simply providing a service to their customers?

Like many fast food chains, Wendy's has a Spanish version of their website.

Wendy's Bacon & Blue Burger

Wendy's new Bacon & Blue Burger has blue cheese crumbles and smoked bacon, with sautéed onions and steakhouse sauce.

"We've heard loud and clear that our customers love the new Applewood smoked bacon," says Ken Calwell, chief marketing officer for Wendy's. "This great bacon and real blue cheese crumbles takes the Bacon and Blue hamburger to a whole new level and offers gourmet taste for a value price."

The Bacon & Blue is available for a limited time and priced at $4.29.

The burger has 680 calories and 40 grams of fat. It proudly serves up 75% of your daily Saturated Fat intake (15 grams). Here are the complete nutritional facts:

I don't normally do this, but while I was checking to see if I could add this burger to our HFCS-free Fast Food list, I couldn't help but notice the rather extensive list of ingredients, so I decided to include them ALL right here. Seems like a lot... even for a 'fancy' burger! By the way, 3 elements of the burger have High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the bun, the Creamy Steakhouse Spread and the ketchup; the mayonnaise just has regular corn syrup. Okay, here's all the parts of the burger and their respective ingredients...

Premium Bun
Enriched Flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast, Soy and/or Canola Oil, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Dough Conditioners (contains one or more of the following: sodium stearoyl lactylate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono and diglycerides, DATEM, calcium peroxide, calcium sulfate, L-cysteine, enzymes), Yeast Nutrients (contains one or more of the following: ammonium sulfate, tricalcium phosphate, ammonium chloride), Modified Food Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Wheat Starch, Maltodextrin, Gum Arabic, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Propionate (preservative). Topped with Yellow Corn Meal. CONTAINS: WHEAT.

Hamburger Patty
Ground Beef. Seasoned with Salt.

Tomatoes, 1-2 slices
Tomatoes.

Lettuce
Lettuce.

Applewood Smoked Bacon, 4 Strips
Pork Cured With: Water, Salt, Sugar, Sodium Phosphates, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite.

Creamy Steakhouse Spread
Soybean Oil, Water, Blue Cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), Egg Yolk, Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Spices, Garlic (dehydrated), Onion (dehydrated), Shallots (dehydrated), Mustard Seed, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (preservatives), Glucono Delta Lactone, Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Calcium Disodium EDTA (to protect flavor). CONTAINS: EGG, MILK

Seasoned Sauteed Onions
Sauteed Yellow Onions (yellow onion, sea salt, maltodextrin, evaporated cane juice, potassium chloride, fractionated coconut oil, caramel color, spices, natural flavor, extra virgin olive oil, citric acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate), Onion Seasoning (maltodextrin, salt, autolyzed yeast extract, natural flavors, spice, garlic powder, onion powder, artificial flavors, less than 2% of each of the following: silicon dioxide and sunflower oil [processing aids]).

Real Blue Cheese Crumbles
Blue Cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, mold, natamycin), Powdered Cellulose (to prevent caking). CONTAINS: MILK

Mayonnaise
Water, Soybean Oil, Corn Syrup, Egg Yolk, Modified Corn Starch, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Spice, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (preservatives), Natural Flavor, Calcium Disodium EDTA (to protect taste), Yellow 5 and 6. CONTAINS: EGG.

Dill Pickles (4)
Cucumbers, Water, Vinegar, Salt, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate (preservative), Alum, Natural Flavors, Polysorbate 80, Yellow 5, Blue 1.

Ketchup
Tomato Concentrate (made from red ripe tomatoes), Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Salt, Spice, Onion Powder, Natural Flavoring.

Mustard
Water, Distilled Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric (color), Paprika, Spice.

Onion (4 rings)
Onions.

American Cheese Slice
Cultured Milk, Water, Cream, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Citric Acid, Sorbic Acid (preservative), Artificial Color, Enzymes, Soy Lecithin. CONTAINS: MILK, SOY.

Wendy's NEW Bacon Deluxe

The name remains the same, but changes have been made to Wendy's Bacon Deluxe.

The New Bacon Deluxe is "fresh-cooked beef, melted American cheese, hand-leafed lettuce, and sliced beefsteak tomato topped with four seriously thick, crispy strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon on a Kaiser bun."

Yup, you caught it:  Applewood Smoked Bacon.

Wendy's is so excited about their new Applewood Smoked Bacon, they even have a special Twitter account to talk about it:  @urBaconMeCrazy

Wendy's Gourmet Mushroom Swissburger

Wendy's has introduced their new Gourmet Mushroom Swissburger for a limited time.

It is 1/4 lb. of beef topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed Portabella mushroom blend, hickory smoked bacon, pepercorn sauce, lettuce, and tomato.

And if you're signed up for WendyMail you've received a $1 off coupon for one.

But hey, don't let the mushrooms fool you!! This baby isn't about being a healthy burger.

166% of your daily value of fat, 136% of your daily value of sodium, 205% of your daily value of saturated fat, AND a whopping 4 grams of Trans Fat! It has 1810 calories, 970 from fat and 108 fat grams.

Boy, did we get that wrong! As you can see in the comments below, I was quickly called out for ersatz nutritional data on this burger. I did get my data directly from Wendy's, but am still uncertain about what happened. Some of the figures are 3 times what is now on Wendy's site. One, the Cholesterol, is actually more than what I listed before. I'm inclined to believe that Wendy's corrected their site shortly after I posted the data, but I can't be sure. Mistakes do happen. Thanks to you alert readers for catching the error.

Here's all the corrected nutritional data (as reported by Wendy's):

By the way, the 1.5 grams of Trans Fat is still rather disappointing when everyone else seems to be eliminating Trans Fat altogether.

Wendy's Flavor Dipped Chicken Sandwiches

Wendy's is currently promoting their limited-time-only Flavor Dipped Chicken Sandwiches.

There are two versions, BBQ and Buffalo.

The chicken breasts at the center of these sandwiches are fully dipped in one of the two flavors.

The Spicy Buffalo Sauce dipped chicken filet comes with lettuce, tomato and blue cheese sauce (on a bun, of course, as shown in the photo).

The BBQ sauce dipped version comes with onions and pickles.

The BBQ version has 450 calories and 12 grams of fat. The Buffalo version has 530 calories and twice the fat (24 grams).

Here's the complete nutritional information for both sandwiches:

World's Best Wendy's is in Colorado

A Wendy's fast food restaurant in the small town of Firestone, Colorado has been chosen as the best Wendy's in the world.

It won over other finalists in Charlotte, NC, Valdosta, GA, and Auckland, New Zealand. The Wendy's were judged on quality, service, cleanliness, food safety and leadership.

The manager of the Firestone, CO Wendy's, Vance Gray (pictured with his award) won a new Pontiac Solstice convertible. The management team and crew will also receive more than $15,000 in prizes, but Grays says it's more than just about the prizes.

"For some of my teenagers here they're 16 and 17 years old. For me to go up and say, ‘You know what? You're the best in the world at what you do.’ That can inspire them for a lifetime,” said Gray.

Here's an interview with the winning Wendy's manager Vance Gray on Denver, Colorado's NBC affiliate KUSA-TV Channel 9.

The 'best' Wendy's crew:

Merged: Arby's and Wendy's

Shareholders of Arby's parent company Triarc and Wendy's approved the merger of the two fast food restaurant chains.

Roland Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Triarc, said: “We are very pleased that the shareholders of both Triarc and Wendy’s have approved the merger, and we look forward to working together with employees of both companies in setting a new course for Wendy’s/Arby’s Group. We believe our combination represents a major strategic opportunity to create significant long-term value for all of our stakeholders, and we are working on a comprehensive integration plan and organizational structure to support enhanced operating performance at both brands. We intend to share more detailed plans regarding the new company as soon as practicable after the transaction closes.”

The two chains are not expected to merge their menus, though, despite being part of the same company. The Arby's and Wendy's brands are likely to remain separate and distinct in the eyes of consumers.

Fast Food Burger Reviews from 1978

Thanks to a new Newspaper archive at Google News, we can go back in time 30 years to read what one food critic in Pittsburgh had to say about the fast food burgers available then.

The article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dining Out section by Mike Kalina was called "Wendy's Grinds Out Foes in Burger Taste Test."

Here's the burgers reviewed:
Wendy's "Wendy's Single" - price: 85¢ - Rating: A
Burger Chef's "Super Shef" - price: $1.09 - Rating: B
Burger King's "Whopper" - price: $1.09 - Rating: C-
Hardee's "Deluxe Huskee" - price $1.10 - Rating: C-
Winky's "The Great One" - price $1.09 - Rating C-
McDonald's "Quarter-pounder" - price: 95¢ - Rating: D

Today, 30 years later, a Whopper costs $2.59. That's up 238% in 30 years.

Other things were different then, too. McDonald's was the old stand-by, all the other chains were "feisty newcomers:"

"For years, McDonald's hamburgers dominated the fast-food scene, but in recent years the firm's success has been challenged by feisty newcomers."

The Post-Gazette's taste test "revealed unequivocally that Wendy's puts out the best hamburgers."

Also noted, as Wendy's has been promoting heavily of late, Wendy's hamburger meat is "ground fresh daily, which greatly enhances its taste (most chains use frozen patties)."

About McDonald's, Kalina wrote:  "The burgers...contained fewer garnishes than any others we sampled and were the poorest-tasting.  The sesame-seed rolls, however, were very good...The patties...had the texture and look of shoe leather."

And about Burger King:  "The thin, charcoal-broiled pattie was a bit dry and encumbered by too large a roll (about five inches across).  There seemed to be too much bread and not enough burger."<

30 years later and 4 of the restaurants Mr. Kalina reviewed are even bigger national chains.

Wendy's still doesn't freeze their meat, BK still flame-broils theirs, and some would still agree that a McDonald's hamburger patty has the look and taste of shoe leather!

---

A side note... I thought I'd see if Mr. Kalin might still be doing restaurant reviews in Pittsburgh and discovered that despite a successful career with columns and TV shows about food and travel and a popular cookbook, he committed suicide in 1992.

Wendy's 'Never Frozen' Claims Justified

Wendy's "Always Fresh, Never Frozen" claims have been upheld by the BBB.

Burger King took issues, last year, with a claim Wendy's made in some of their advertising.

Two of the claims made in television advertising by Wendy's that were challenged were these lines:

1. "If hamburgers were meant to be frozen, wouldn’t cows come from Antarctica? Wendy’s hamburgers are made with fresh never frozen beef. Who else can say that? It’s better than fast food. It’s Wendy’s."
2. "So, Dad, you know Wendy’s is dedicated to using fresh beef that’s never been frozen do you realize what kind of commitment that takes? I mean, to vow to something and then to continue to deliver on that promise ... a promise is only good if it is kept. Wendy’s hot and juicy hamburgers are made with fresh, never frozen beef, that’s a promise. Its way better than fast food, it’s Wendy’s."

BK took their complaint to the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of the Better Business Bueaus.

Wendy's supplied NAD with "a thorough explanation of how the process was specifically designed to process only fresh beef and why there is no danger of the beef temperature falling below the freezing temperature."

The NAD stated: "Following its review of the evidence in the record, including the affidavit, NAD found that the advertiser provided a reasonable basis to support the claim, "Wendy’s, Always Fresh, Never Frozen," with respect to its hamburger patties."

You can read the NAD's full report.

Wendy's Double Stack on Value Menu

Wendy's has announced the national introduction of a 99-cent Double Stack cheeseburger to its value menu. The company plans to aggressively promote the menu option, along with the popular 99-cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger and 99-cent Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

"The Double Stack is a proven store traffic and sales driver," said Wendy's interim chief marketing officer Paul Kershisnik. "While the sandwich has been offered over the years in a number of U.S. markets, this will be the first time we have rolled it
out nationally."

The Double Stack will feature two junior hamburger patties, cheese, ketchup, onion, mustard and pickles. The sandwich will replace the Stack Attack on Wendy's Value Menu.

The question is, can you get it anyway you want it or are the ketchup, onion, mustard and pickles mandatory?!?!

Meatatarians Viral Video from Wendy's

Wendy's has a new viral video circulating on YouTube.

The video shows a 'Meatatarian' head of lettuce violently devouring a Wendy's hamburger (see video below).

The video info links to www.meatatariansunite.com. A site that describes itself thusly:

The Highly Esteemed Council of Meatatarians is an establishment of meat lovers and eaters whose goal is to eat meat, and only meat, without the inclusion of other non-meat products, while celebrating meat with the utmost regard. Our goal is to continue our dominance atop the food chain and bring meat lovers to a new understanding of their nature, their calling to become true Meatatarians.

The "Meatatarians Unite!" offers to let you sign up to receive an e-mail (from Wendy's). The e-mail includes a link to a printable "Certificate of Meatatarianism."

It also has a link to coupons.com which asks you to install their "coupon printer" software in order to print a Wendy's coupon.

Note: Coupons.com 'coupon printer' program is installed on your computer and is reported by some websites to track your browsing. I'm not installing it, and Wendy's should know better than to make us install something on our computer in order to print their coupons! (Heard of .pdf guys?) If you're brave enough to install software from an advertising company on your computer, let us know in the comments what the coupon is all about (or send us an e-mail).

[Update] Sandy writes:

It’s for $1 off The Baconator. Expires 9/27/08.
I’ve had the coupon printer add on installed for ages.
Lots of companies use it to make sure printed coupons are legit.

Consumerist: Wendy's requires toppings

The Consumerist has Brandon's story about visiting his regular Wendy's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and ordering his regular sandwich, a double stack "plain" (as in no toppings, just meat & cheese on a bun) and being told that that was impossible.

Brandon was told that it was Wendy's policy to only serve the double stack the way it comes (with toppings).

Hmmm? Sure, I know it's Burger King that says, "Have it your way," but surely any fast food joint can serve a plain old cheeseburger without all the extras, right?

But no. Brandon ended up leaving Wendy's without his burger. No matter what he tried, they would not serve him a burger without all toppings.

Read the whole story at one of our favorite blogs, The Consumerist!

Move over Frosty! New frozen drinks at Wendy's

Two years ago this month, Wendy's finally began offering a variation on their 36 year old "Frosty." The original Frosty was chocolate... in July of 2006 Wendy's started selling a vanilla Frosty.

Now Wendy's has a whole new collection of Frosty variations.

These new variations include sippable ones. The original Frosty was served only with a spoon.

The frozen drinks now available at Wendy's include:

• The Original Frosty in chocolate and vanilla,
• Frosty Shakes in Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla Bean, and Strawberry,
• The Frosty Float, and
• Twisted Frosty in Oreo, M&M, and Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough.

(Click the links above for descriptions and nutritional info from Wendy's.)

Arby's buying Wendy's for $2.3 billion

Actually, the owner of Arby's, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, is doing the buying, but he also owns Arby's (through a company called Triarc).

Dave Thomas started Wendy's in 1969.

Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news.

"It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome," said Farber, 53.

If her father were alive to hear news of the buyout, "he would not be amused," she said.

Associated Press

Wendy's customer wins burger build

In May, Wendy’s challenged America to create and vote for its next great burger. Seven months and 15,000 entries later, the people have chosen a winner: The Philly Style Hoagie Burger, created by Ian Van Camp, a screenwriter from Los Angeles.

Wendy’s announced the winning burger today to mark the 38th anniversary of the founding of the hamburger chain by Dave Thomas in 1969.

Upon winning the $25,000 prize Van Camp said, “I knew if I got too crazy with the ingredients it wouldn’t be possible for Wendy’s to make – but it had to be unique,” said Van Camp. “The fact that Wendy’s tested my burger in their food kitchen and that people liked what they tasted – how cool is that? Not many people can say that.”

More on Van Camp's burger at www.thisismyburger.com

New product testing by McD's and Wendy's

Wendy's only sold chocolate Frosty's until July of last year (2006) when they introduced a vanilla shake. Now Wendy's is testing strawberry shakes.

Since the introduction of the vanilla Frosty, Frosty sales are up 60 percent and now top 300 million a year.

via Ohio News Now

McDonald's has begun testing two new McSkillet Burritos in a number of markets. One of the new McSkillet Burritos features steak and the other features sausage, both combined with potatoes, eggs, cheese and peppers.

via Cattle Network News

Wendy's social "hot, juicy burgers"

Wendy's new promotion and web site, hotjuicyburger.com, is an attempt at social burger marketing.

The site lets you upload a picture of your face which is then added to a customizable character with a red, Wendy's wig. You also give your character a slogan representing why you should receive free 'hot, juicy burgers' from Wendy's for a year. If people vote on your character/slogan and you receive points. More importantly, from Wendy's point of view, you also receive points when you refer friends to the site by supplying their e-mail addresses.

The site is pretty slick. It's easy to use and it's new and different. This promotion might work out well for Wendy's.

By the way, if you're feeling generous, you can vote for my character and slogan! Just follow the link (you get a custom link when you register) and find my character or your character and click on him/her to vote. That's my character pictured at the top of the post.

via SoGoodBlog and AdRants

Wendy's controversial graffiti ad

Wendy's has a new ad that is being shown nationwide in movie theaters. It features graffiti artist "Siloette" spray painting her version of "Wendy" on a communal wall in Phoenix. (Watch the ad below.)

But one public servant isn't happy with the ad. Denver, Colorado City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz has written a letter to Wendy's asking them to stop running the ad. She wrote, "Please do not make our community efforts to stop graffiti vandalism harder and more expensive than it already is."

Faatz pointed out that the city of Denver will spend over a million dollars on graffiti clean-up this year.

Denny Lynch, senior vice president of communications at Wendy's, said the ad celebrates Sillette's distinct style of art and that other videos in the ad campaign feature other styles of art.

via YouTube and The Denver Post.

BK's new $1 trans fat sandwich

Burger King is now serving a spicy, crispy chicken sandwich that only costs a buck.

The Spicy Chick'n Crisp Sandwich is a crispy chicken filet with a spicy kick served with lettuce and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun.

It may not shrink your wallet much, but it will certainly expand your waist. For a smallish, one dollar sandwich, this thing is loaded with fat. And not just any fat...it's got 2 grams of trans fat!

I thought BK was planning on going trans-fat free like Wendy's and so many other fast food chains. Guess not.

It has 480 calories, 280 calories from fat, 31 grams of fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 2 grams trans fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 460 mg sodium, 8 grams carbs, and 10 grams of protein.

UPDATE: Here's the TV ad promoting the sandwich as the latest member of the BK Value Menu. It's a strange ad made on the cheap (like the sandwich I guess).

Wendy's Baconator quite popular

Wendy's new "Baconator" sandwich has six strips of hickory smoked bacon on top of 1/2 lb. of beef with American cheese, ketchup and mayonnaise.

"This is one of the most successful new product introductions we've had in some time," said Wendy's Chief Executive Officer and President Kerrii Anderson.

Wendy's sold 25 million of the Baconators in the first 8 weeks they were being promoted.

That's over 20 billion calories and 2,810,893 lbs of fat! That much fat is equal to 439 H2 Hummers. (And you'll need a Hummer to tote you around if you eat many Baconators!)

Here's the nutrition facts for just 1 Baconator: 830 calories, 460 calories from fat, 51 grams of fat, 22 grams saturated fat, 2.5 grams trans fat, 170 mg cholesterol, 1920 mg sodium, 35 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 8 grams sugar, 57 grams protein.