Wendys has shrunk!

I usually get the spicy chicken sandwich, or the Taco Salad at Wendy's, but opted for a burger the other day.
Is it my imagination, but the burger was so thin, It may as well be non existant?
I got the regular one, not the .99 cent special one.
And, also, I noticed that the chili, is very watery nowadays... Hardly any meat in there.
Guess I go back to the chicken sandwich, and skip the chili and burgers!
At least here, they put tomato's on their sandwiches without being requested.

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

I usually get the spicy chicken sandwich, or the Taco Salad at Wendy's, but opted for a burger the other day.
Is it my imagination, but the burger was so thin, It may as well be non existant?
I got the regular one, not the .99 cent special one.
And, also, I noticed that the chili, is very watery nowadays... Hardly any meat in there.
Guess I go back to the chicken sandwich, and skip the chili and burgers!
At least here, they put tomato's on their sandwiches without being requested.

Do you mean the chili looked like the "d" word?

I only get the 99c burgers because I don't see much difference. Plus these FF places regular menu prices are getting to where it's a better value to just go to a real restaurant.

quote:

Originally posted by NebGuy

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

I usually get the spicy chicken sandwich, or the Taco Salad at Wendy's, but opted for a burger the other day.
Is it my imagination, but the burger was so thin, It may as well be non existant?
I got the regular one, not the .99 cent special one.
And, also, I noticed that the chili, is very watery nowadays... Hardly any meat in there.
Guess I go back to the chicken sandwich, and skip the chili and burgers!
At least here, they put tomato's on their sandwiches without being requested.

Do you mean the chili looked like the "d" word?

LOL

And, I think I was better off getting the 99 cent burger, cuz it sure looked like one.. just the bun was larger...

I was in a pinch, so I went to Wendy's. I got a $.99 chili and a $.99 baked potato with sour cream. Poured the chili over the potato with cream cheese.
for $2, I was full and it was edible. Though, if I had it over, I would likely skip the chili and stick to the potato. It's pretty tough to screw up a baked potato.
But, all in all, decent quick meal.

quote:

Originally posted by stevencarry

I only get the 99c burgers because I don't see much difference. Plus these FF places regular menu prices are getting to where it's a better value to just go to a real restaurant.

Surprise!!!

I've been saying this for years (although not on this site; I figured the people who hung out at Roadfood were smart enough to know this already).

Now granted, I'm in Chicago where there's a very good mom & pop burger/hot dog/Mexican/pizza place on almost every corner. I'm sympathetic to those who do not have this luxury. Still, if you take a hard objective look at the quality you're getting for the price your paying, you're better off going almost anywhere other than a corporate fast food joint.

I don't care how small your town is, surely there's SOME place, a local diner; a drive-in; a little grocery that makes sandwiches, that serves up better food at a better value than any fast food place can offer.

None of these places is doing you any favors in terms of price, quality or, lately, speed. There's an old business adage: "Everybody wants their goods or services cheap, good, and fast. The reality is you only ever get to pick two of the above." Increasingly, over the past ten years or more, corporate FF places offer none of the above!

Buddy

Buddy, good message. there is FF (Jack in the Box) near here where there is a line for the drive thru 16-18 hours a day PLUS the walk in business. Small real estate,no dishwashing, no service, minimum wage and shorthanded at all times. What a money pit. Everything should be 99c
All WE can do is take your good advice and I do.

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

quote:

Originally posted by stevencarry

I only get the 99c burgers because I don't see much difference. Plus these FF places regular menu prices are getting to where it's a better value to just go to a real restaurant.

Surprise!!!

I've been saying this for years (although not on this site; I figured the people who hung out at Roadfood were smart enough to know this already).

Now granted, I'm in Chicago where there's a very good mom & pop burger/hot dog/Mexican/pizza place on almost every corner. I'm sympathetic to those who do not have this luxury. Still, if you take a hard objective look at the quality you're getting for the price your paying, you're better off going almost anywhere other than a corporate fast food joint.

I don't care how small your town is, surely there's SOME place, a local diner; a drive-in; a little grocery that makes sandwiches, that serves up better food at a better value than any fast food place can offer.

None of these places is doing you any favors in terms of price, quality or, lately, speed. There's an old business adage: "Everybody wants their goods or services cheap, good, and fast. The reality is you only ever get to pick two of the above." Increasingly, over the past ten years or more, corporate FF places offer none of the above!

Buddy

Yes, sad but true. I must get my lazy butt out of the car and go inside a "real restaurant". I do like to "give to the local economy"..I like the thought of "what you pay for here, stays here.". I bought my washer and dryer from a local shop downtown, not the Big Guys.
I should start doing that with my eating out also!

Hello All,
The local Burger King has also shrunk the size of their fries by introducing a
new bag instead of box container.
As usual, the fast food place is downsizing what they offered, and for
working people the prices of "real restaurants" are beyond what we can
pay on a daily rate. Maybe I am just out of reality. I want a place to
eat, either fast food or a local, that just knows what I can afford and like.
I don't think anyone is happy with what is happening in the food world or
the "real world."
Or maybe it is me.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Fieldthistle,

I appreciate your situation regarding affordability at a "regular" restaurant. My point is that if you carefully study what you are getting for the price you are paying at most fast food places, you will see that they are no bargain at all! Corporate fast food stands use a carefully contrived menu featuring "combo meals" to lead you into believing that you are getting a deal when it simply isn't there. True, that combo meal may fill you up, but it's filling you up with empty calories and worse!

Again, I recognize that living in a major metropolitan area makes the choices easier for me, and, not knowing what you're specific geographic limitations are, fast food places might be your best option. However, If you really compare prices and portions at fast food joints versus those at a sit down place, I think you will see, in the long run you come out ahead at the regular restaurant.

For instance, while a sit down restaurant will charge more for a meal, the portions have become so ridiculously large that you can make more than one meal out of a single dinner. A typical pasta (or chicken, steak, or whatever) dinner served with soup or salad and a bread basket can easily be dinner on Monday night and lunch on Tuesday. Once you factor that in, along with the better quality, I think you will find it adds up to a more affordable price in the bigger picture.

While I like to think of this as being a careful consumer, your choices ultimately will come down to the necessities and restrictions of location, availability, and personal likes or dislikes.

Good luck in your Roadfood quests,

Buddy

Wendy's still cooks quarter pound uncooked weight patties for their burgers. The reason it appears smaller is simply the fact that that the patty has spent quite a bit of time in their steam warmer. The best of Wendy's has gone. In the meantime, insist YOUR burger be cooked to order & served off the grill. That is the only way you are going to get ANYTHING similar to the old process. BTW. Tell them that you want your burger "Hot & Juicy". Stand back, and watch the confusion that soon follows. Also & FYI. NEVER order chili from the front line before at least 1 PM on any given day.

Go get a good Roadfood type hamburger if you really want a good burger.

But if you want to get your Fast Food money's worth insofar as hamburgers are concerned, then go to White Castle. You're paying not for the weight but the idea. And it's all there.
The Bear

quote:

NEVER order chili from the front line before at least 1 PM on any given day.

I agree.

Remember the Super Bar???? It was an all you can eat bar with 3 sections: salad, Mexican , and Italian. You could make your own nachos, tacos, etc. They also had differnt pastas and sauces. On Sunday afternoons in college, I used to graze there for hours.

quote:

Originally posted by Pumbaa

Remember the Super Bar???? It was an all you can eat bar with 3 sections: salad, Mexican , and Italian. You could make your own nachos, tacos, etc. They also had differnt pastas and sauces. On Sunday afternoons in college, I used to graze there for hours.

I wiped out their taco "section" on several occasions.

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

BTW. Tell them that you want your burger "Hot & Juicy". Stand back, and watch the confusion that soon follows.

Hot & Juicy, huh?
Hmmmmm
Bad Tara!

They have changed their Taco Salad again. Instead of chips, you get seasoned tortilla strips. You can also order it meatless, that is what I did & it was quite nice.

And yes, I remember the 3 sections of the bar, we had to stock it again & again. Warming up tortillas & making everything hot with water from the coffee maker. Putting "butter" on the noodles (most likely melted margarine, in a white "ketchup" container), and keeping everything fresh.

Glad someone else noticed, was beginning to think it was something local

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

They have changed their Taco Salad again. Instead of chips, you get seasoned tortilla strips. You can also order it meatless, that is what I did & it was quite nice.

.

I heard them call it their "New Southwestern Taco Salad".. I liked the old one better....
Have not seen meatless chili at Wendys,.. you must be in California..J/K

They seem smaller and drier and rather tired, on a consistent basis, which is sad, because Wendys was once my first choice in the area, when backed into a fast food corner.
Unfortunatly, all 5 of my local Wendys seem similarly afflicted

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

They have changed their Taco Salad again. Instead of chips, you get seasoned tortilla strips. You can also order it meatless, that is what I did & it was quite nice.

.

I heard them call it their "New Southwestern Taco Salad".. I liked the old one better....
Have not seen meatless chili at Wendys,.. you must be in California..J/K

Yeah well. I asked for it w/o the meat, then as I am ready to pull away from the window, she asks me do I want the chili?

Feel like they have written off the burger market

quote:

Originally posted by Phildelmar

Feel like they have written off the burger market

I guess they are trying to stay in with the "Healthy Diet" of pushing chicken sandwiches now, like everyone else.
They are running a Carolina Classic here locally in SC. It is a single with chili and cole slaw.
I guess their version of a Carolina style BBQ sandwich....
Does not interest me whatsoever.. I like slaw on my Que.

Good Food Ain't Cheap,Cheap Food Ain't Good"
Drsmoke!

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

Wendy's still cooks quarter pound uncooked weight patties for their burgers. The reason it appears smaller is simply the fact that that the patty has spent quite a bit of time in their steam warmer. The best of Wendy's has gone. In the meantime, insist YOUR burger be cooked to order & served off the grill. That is the only way you are going to get ANYTHING similar to the old process.

The other thing to do is only go during peak times when the burger turnover is so high that they can't leave them sitting around. We have a Wendy's in the Hospital where I work and at lunch the lines are really long (insert joke about creating new patients for the hospital with unhealthy food here). Anyways, they are very efficient and even with the longest line the wait is never more than 5 minutes and you are pretty much guarenteed a fresh burger at that time. If it is not a peak time, that's when I go with the chicken or if it is during lent, the fish.

I worked at wendys for almost 2 years. there chili is sometimes watery because the people who make it in the morning dont always follow the directions and one day its to watery the next day its to thick. and that meat in your chili, is burnt up burger meat that they cant serve, so they put it in the freezer and when they are ready to use it, they boil it and chop it up. the chicken has a one hour hold time, but when the hold time is up, they dont throw it out they jus let it sit there till its sold. the grilled chicken didnt sell much where i worked at and it would sit in the pan all day until someone buys it. the burgers are sopposed to be token off the grill when its starts to shrivel and get dark, but they dont do that, thay still serve it, and also the burgers look small because thay might not pat it down right. and if you live near the philadelphia area, dont go to the wendys on 69th street, they are ignorant, the managers have no control over there crew, the store is filthy, they dont wash there lettuce, the employees dont wash there hands, ever! believe me i know. after working at wendys and seeing the things i saw i wouldn't prefer anyone to eat there!

quote:

Originally posted by hatteras04

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

Wendy's still cooks quarter pound uncooked weight patties for their burgers. The reason it appears smaller is simply the fact that that the patty has spent quite a bit of time in their steam warmer. The best of Wendy's has gone. In the meantime, insist YOUR burger be cooked to order & served off the grill. That is the only way you are going to get ANYTHING similar to the old process.

The other thing to do is only go during peak times when the burger turnover is so high that they can't leave them sitting around. We have a Wendy's in the Hospital where I work and at lunch the lines are really long (insert joke about creating new patients for the hospital with unhealthy food here). Anyways, they are very efficient and even with the longest line the wait is never more than 5 minutes and you are pretty much guarenteed a fresh burger at that time. If it is not a peak time, that's when I go with the chicken or if it is during lent, the fish.

When my wife, who worked in the OR there, was awaiting a heart transplant in her corner suite she'd send me down to Wendy's for burgers and taco salads. It was the elevator waits that took the time. The line always moved quickly.

Unfortunately, on the contrary, Wendy's has grown here in Detroit. There hasnt been anymore than one restaurant closure here. A lot of the Wendy's took over the Rally Restaurants. Sio maybe I'm crazy, but nasty burger is growing here and the delicious Rally's fries have gone downhill.

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

I usually get the spicy chicken sandwich, or the Taco Salad at Wendy's, but opted for a burger the other day.
Is it my imagination, but the burger was so thin, It may as well be non existant?
I got the regular one, not the .99 cent special one.
And, also, I noticed that the chili, is very watery nowadays... Hardly any meat in there.
Guess I go back to the chicken sandwich, and skip the chili and burgers!
At least here, they put tomato's on their sandwiches without being requested.

When I was a child, I remember my dad used to drive us all out of the city into the county just because he loved Wendys chili. I guess that was back when Dave Thomas ran the chain because I also have not had a good bowl of chili (with any decent amount of meat in it) in years! If anything, back then Wendys chili had too much meat in it. Now they may as well call it vegetarian chili. It's as if they're looking for as many fillers as possible to dump into the chili to save on the cost of using meat. I finally stopped going to Wendys altogether. If any fast food chain needs to regroup and rekindle it's roots, its Wendys. I'll admit they have a great chicken sandwhich and maybe salads (I'm not a salad eater myself), but when Burger King had chili on their 99 cent menu for a short time, it was actually much more meatier and tastier chili than Wendys. That's sad.
Then Burger King discontinued their chili.

Nope. Their pre-made salads are the pits. When they D/Ced their salad bar that showed me how really "cheap" they had become. Their chicken sandwiches now, while still OK, now arrive to the restaurant frozen in a box. Nothing like being freshly prepared hourly.