We have the following items from the value menus of the local fast food chains (again Williams Co Ohio)

McDonalds — McDouble (99cents)

Wendys — Jr Bacon Cheeseburger ($1.00)
DoubleStack Burger ($1.00)

Burger King — Junior Whopper (99cents)
Bk Stacker (??)
Double Cheeseburger (??)
A&W — No cheap burgers only KFC has 99 cent snackers (chicken/fish)
Dairy Queen — Double Cheese burgers (2 for price on one day of the week)

I’ve already commented on the McDonalds sandwich. One less slice of cheese than the original Double Cheeseburger at the same old price. It’s exactly what you expect from McDonalds. It isn’t the same comfort food I grew up with, but for the price and speed of delivery, I always thought it was hard to beat. Until….

On a whim, I stopped at Wendys for a DoubleStack and a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. All I can say is: I think I’m hooked. Little burgers with a big burger taste. Not at all what I expected. I thought they took a quarter pound single or, in the case of the DoubleStack, a half pound Double and shrunk them. Same taste as a regular size Wendys burger. I have a new mini-price comfort burger. When I want a cheap burger, that is where I am going.

One word on Dairy Queen burgers, I’ve had them, and they were OK. Not great, not bad, just OK. If I want onion rings or some specialty burger, that only they carry (The flamethrower or mushroom burgers are good), I will go somewhere else. There cheeseburgers and double cheeseburgers are just ok, and more than the dollar menu values of the other chains.

Burger King, I’ll have to say I’ve only had the Whopper Jr. Burger King has never been my favorite stop for burgers. I’ve always been able to taste the “gas” from the flame broiling. It may just be me, but it wasn’t a pleasant taste. On the bigger burgers the taste is less noticeable, but very strong on the smaller burgers. Not sure why that is. Their Angus Burgers, while not cheap, are quite good.

A&W — Even their Cheeseburger is more than a buck. Even at the old A&W stand in nearby Antwerp OH, I never cared for their burgers. Give me a chili Dog, Onion Rings and mug of root Beer. Great Combination, but it isn’t a cheap burger.

Next Up Franchise burgers — What they sell now (Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Whopper, Grillburgers, Single, Double, Triple) and the winner is….

During the summer, a contest in our local community was held to determine the best burger in town. I was unable to go to that event, and I don’t even remember who won. I understand it will be a large undertaking, but I may be taking my own survey on the local burger scene. Since I really like cheeseburgers, I imagine most of the burgers will have cheese on them.

Let’s eliminate the fast food burgers first, starting with the smaller dollar menu burgers. I’ll have to make a trip to all the fast food joints in the area (Williams County), but I can start with McDonalds.

Recently to save money, McDonalds now have a new burger on the menu. It is called the McDouble. This is a standard double cheeseburger minus one slice of cheese. All this for 30 cents less than the old Double Cheeseburger. 30 cents for 1 slice of precut American processed cheese. Hmmm. Still, the Double Cheeseburger was a memory comfort food for me. Kind of like White Castle sliders only bigger. Not the best burger around, but a taste that remained the same from restaurant to restaurant. Since the introduction of the McDouble, I’ve been able to tell the difference from the restaurant in Bryan and the one in Montpelier and from the time of day it is purchased. I’m not sure what they do different, but it is no longer the comfort food I was used to. Being the cheap person I am, I’m not about to spend 30 cents for a piece of cheese. So I have to find another $1.00 burger to replace my old standby.

I’ll try to keep you posted…

Also on the list, in time for lent, Fast Food Fish sandwiches…. 😉

On another tangents.org blog, justj has been talking about cheeseburgers, namely White Castles and Burger Buddies (aka Burger Bundles), an ’80’s Burger King product.  I found an old Burger Bundles commercial on youtube and posted the link on his blog in the comments section of the cheeseburger post.  While I was looking around on youtube, I found this old vintage McDonald’s commercial where Ronald looks like something out of a horror movie.  Regardless of what his early incarnation looked like, the clown worked for them in helping to create one of the most successful companies of all time.

As most of my family knows, I have a thing about cheeseburgers. One of my friends and another blogger here, (Hey taylhis) talked about White Castle burgers. Well I saw them in the freezer section of our local supermarket. I just had to get some. When I got home this evening I cooked a couple up. It has been a few years since I’ve visited a White Castle, but the frozen ones were close to what I remembered. Not too bad for a quick snack. Not much more than that, but fun nostalgia.

Strange thing with this, is that my dog got very excited about the smell of the burger. He doesn’t normally have a vocal beg, he just likes looking at you with his big brown eyes, but he was very vocal when he smelled these burgers. I’ll have to see if it happens again when I cook up some more.

On a side note, anyone remember the Burger King Mini cheese burgers? I think I remember getting 6 bite sized burgers for a buck or two. Fun little burger.

Now that my diet is blown, anyone want a burger?