Welcome to Foodie Call, our sporadic food blogging page.
Today, we have the debut entry of this page, with it being Steve Kaycee’s opinion on the decline of Wendy’s.
You can check it out below!
**Note: The following content has adult wording. Discretion is advised
“Wen-deed It Go Wrong?”
From 2015 to 2017, I wrote reviews about certain main courses that I ate, as a way to prolong the blogging aspect of my career. And while it was yet another thing to add to the repertoire, some of my wording in those particular (and likely deleted) entries didn’t feel authentic to me, so I scrapped that particular blogging aspect yet still kept an open mind about giving it another chance. And sure enough, that chance is now, but my first blog entry about food in the current Art Infliction era isn’t about a particular thing from a particular franchise. Instead, it’s about a franchise itself.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is my review about Wendy’s.
During the age 14 through age 17 years of my life, Wendy’s was my favorite burger place for the combination of their hot-and-juicy beef patties and zesty melted cheese tasting like snack food, but in main course form. Plus, their Biggie Fries were the perfect combination of crispy and loaded with hot fluffy potato on the inside, thus making them a perfect combination with a Double Cheeseburger and my go-to-drink of Cherry Coke. And of course, the satisfaction of those beef patties and Biggie Fries coincided when its founder, Dave Thomas, was still alive, and that particular combination remained intact even after he passed away in 2002. But those staples were revamped not too long after and not for the best, so what the hell happened?
Well, two reasons, with the first being that someone had the bright idea of changing the theme of the fries from Biggie to sea salt-flavored, the latter of which reminded me of a bland batch of kettle-cooked potato chips. And while I’ve had those particular fries multiple times since that changeover, they will never replace the crispy and fluffy nostalgia. Now onto reason number two via the next paragraph.
Alright, well beginning as far back as 2004, I began to notice that the hot-and-juicy temperature of the beef patties becoming lukewarm at best, which made me think that someone in charge decided to change the method in how they were cooked. But that wasn’t it. Instead, it was an over-emphasis on produce, which was probably planned by someone, whom also thought/thinks that it’s a good idea to put fucking raisins in a potato salad. And for those that don’t know my preference for potato salad, well I don’t like fucking raisins in it. Anyways, back to the over-emphasis on produce.
You see, all the vegetables that you now see in the pictures of the Wendy’s Single, Double and Triple weren’t in them during the 1998 through 2002 part of my life, which was how the hot-and-juicy temperature was maintained. But now when I get a burger from Wendy’s, it’s like all of the produce is barely out of the freezer, which probably explains the lukewarmness. Look, I completely understand wanting to make burgers healthier, but please don’t have mine be at a temperature that seems like Mr. Freeze cooked it.
Anyways, do I still like Wendy’s? Well, I do like their chicken nuggets, baked potato and drink variety, so somewhat. And although not healthy for me (and will only have in major moderation) as a 41-year-old, I do like their Baconator burgers. But the over-emphasis on produce for certain things on their menu and the change to sea salt fries are why that franchise has failed to recapture most of its past glory, and that’s in my opinion. And while I’ve drastically cut back on the times that I’ve consumed food from or at fast food restaurants since 2014, maybe I’ll order something from Wendy’s, i.e. The Spicy Chicken Sandwich or a Double (with just pickles and onions), and write a review about whichever one that I’ll consume next. However, that’s going to be all predicated on when my fridge doesn’t have a relentlessly excessive amount of leftovers, so don’t expect such a follow-up anytime soon.
In closing, I don’t know when the next entry for this page will be nor do I know if I or somehow else will be the one that writes it. But when I do know, well then you’ll find out about it via one of the two site news pages. And before I wrap this entry up like a sandwich being ordered by a customer at Wendy’s, I encourage those of you that are reading this to share your thoughts/opinions/experiences about the post-Dave Thomas state of that franchise via the comments section below.
Thank you and keep Art Infliction progressing!