Bachelor on the Cheap

Nacho flavors in a burger, what's not to like?

BachelorontheCheap.com

Somebody in the Wendy's test kitchen came up with an excellent idea.  Combining the ultimate snack of nachos with a cheeseburger, what's not to like, right?!

I've been wanting to try one of these since Wendy's first introduced them in late August.   It's one of those "available for a limited time" deals, and a month in, I probably can't be putting off sampling one much longer.   

Here's the description from the Wendy's website:  A quarter pound of fresh, never-frozen beef, American cheese, hot and crispy corn and tortilla strips, spicy chipotle sauce, poblano queso, lettuce, and tomatoes on a jalapeño cheddar bun. This burger takes everything up a nacho.

Out running errands on a Wednesday, I hit the drive-through at my neighborhood Wendy's for lunch and ordered a combo meal.  No, I did NOT steal fries from the bag to munch on during the drive back home. 

The under-the-lid reveal shows a lack of tortilla strips

Tex-Mex inspired, this is a pretty tasty burger, a nice change of pace from an ordinary Wendy's Single.  You definitely get the nacho notes with the poblano queso, spicy chipotle, and crispy tortilla strips.  It's an awesome texture element, but sadly, there weren't enough of those tortilla strips on my burger.  It didn't even come close to looking like the marketing picture, typical of fast food.  The jalapeno cheddar bun is a spin on Wendy's cheddar bun (introduced in August 2021 with a bacon cheeseburger offering), but it's a bit light on jalapeno flavor and you don't get those notes in every bun bite.  Wendy's calls this a Loaded Nacho Burger, and while it definitely has some nacho flavor, I wouldn't call it robust and with the lack of tortilla strips and too subtle with the jalapeno on the bun, I can't see calling it a "Loaded" Nacho Cheeseburger.  I thought about going with a double on this burger, but I think that would have taken away some of the nacho factor, the flavor balance is better off as a single.  

Ordering a double would have taken away from the nacho flavors

Costing me $11.60 for the combo meal, which included the fries and a drink, I'm giving the Wendy's Loaded Nacho Burger 3 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap Stars.  It's a good concept burger, the texture element of tortilla strips is great, but the portion size was poor.  The nacho flavor is there, but it's not as robust as it could be.  It's a whisper of Tex-Mex, and this burger needs to speak up!   As is, it's a borderline repeat buy.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related: Food Review: Wendy's Classic Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken

Related: French Fry Battle: Wendy's new fries vs. McDonald's

The marketing pic, how the burger is 'supposed' to look.