[Sorry for the crappy picture quality; the BlackBerry camera isn't the best thing ever.]

What I Got:  Bacon & Blue Burger $3.99 ($5.99 for a small combo)

This is a new product item at Wendy’s as they have trying to recently alter their menu to up their sagging sales.  This one rolled out nationally yesterday, but we’ve had it here in Indianapolis for a couple of weeks (I love being a test market!).

This burger is a healthy sized burger patty topped with lettuce, tomato, sauteed onions, steak sauce, applewood smoked bacon and crumbled blue cheese.

Going in to ordering this, I wasn’t expecting a lot.  I’m a blue cheese lover, but I know enough to know that when fast food places try to go gourmet with their menu items, they usually end up failing and serving something that is a very weak imitation of a gourmet product.  With this burger, Wendy’s has blown that pre-conceived notion of mine completely away because this thing was damn tasty.  The applewood smoked bacon was chewy (I prefer my bacon somewhat soft as opposed to crunchy, so this was it) and peppery and that made it quite tasty.  The blue cheese was very tart, very plentiful and the heat of the burger melted the cheese onto the burger to make a delicious, gooey mess.  I was actually surprised they put so much blue cheese on here, because blue cheese can get kind of pricey.  Kudos to Wendy’s for somewhat disregarding product cost and being so liberal with the amount that they put on the burger.  The burger patty, while not huge, was sizeable and flavorful enough that it mixed well with both the bacon and the cheese.  The produce was fresh too and that’s a welcome thing when you are eating this on a cold day in February in Indiana.  Sadly, the steak sauce taste was virtually non-existent to me as I could not taste it at all.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes. I’m a value menu guy, as I’ve said many times here before, but if I was going to order something upscale and neglect my proclivity to order off of a value menu, I would definitely order this.  Wendy’s has got a real winner here and hopefully this one will be successful enough to hang around on the menu for a long time so that us bleu cheese lovers have somewhere to go to get a blue cheese burger that doesn’t involve going to a real restaurant and having to pay $8.00 or more to get one.

-IndianapolisEater

Dairy Queen 1/2 lb. Flamethrower GrillBurger

What I Got:  1/2 lb. Flamethrower GrillBurger combo (comes with regular fries and drink) $5.99

I was at Dairy Queen for a bite to eat and wanted to try something different than a normal cheeseburger or chicken sandwich, so I went with this.  Yes, I know it’s still a cheeseburger, but it’s got a different twist to it.

Dairy Queen describes this burger as “Two thick, juicy 1/4 lb. burgers, smothered in a fiery Tabasco® flavored mayo with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno bacon, thick-cut tomato, and green leaf lettuce. Served on a toasted bun.”

I’ve had “spicy” burgers many times before and they usually fall flat on their face and don’t deliver.  This burger, on the other hand, fully delivered.  The double meat patties were perfectly cooked, the bacon was perfectly crispy (and spicy) and the lettuce and tomato were fresh and crunchy.  If you stop there and just put those things together, you’d have a good burger already.  But, Dairy Queen then adds in a Tabasco mayo in which you can really taste the spice and it’s a good taste.  Then, the pepper jack cheese just tops it all off with adding some more kick and flavor in there.

Would I Buy It Again?  Hell yeah. As I was destroying this burger (it’s huge, by the way) after a hard workout, I was continuously shocked on every single bite with how good it was.  Like I said, in my experience most “spicy” fast food burgers don’t deliver, but this one delivered as well as any fast food burger that I’ve ever had.  It was slightly out of the ordinary, but that’s what made it great.  My only complaint, however miniscule it may be, is that the bun that they used just seemed odd.  They need to find a better bun for this burger and then they could compete with anyone.  I would even go so far as to say that this burger could stand up against a Hardee’s Thickburger any day of the week.

This burger won’t do you any favors on your diet either as it checks in at a robust 1080 calories, but it is worth it once or twice a year as a true guilty pleasure.  If you want to tone it down a bit, they do have this burger in the 1/4 lb. variety as well and that’ll knock about 300 calories off.

-IndianapolisEater

Girl Scouts Tagalong Blizzard

What I Got:  Small Girl Scouts Tagalong Blizzard $3.29

This past summer, Dairy Queen introduced this as a monthly special Blizzard.  While I thought it looked delicious at the time, I lacked the nerve to try one at that point.  A few nights ago, I finally worked up the “courage” to try this one out.

Before I go any further, I should point out that Tagalong cookies are my FAVORITE of all the Girl Scouts cookies, so this may be a little biased.  If you’ve never seen or had a Tagalong before, it’s a peanut butter cookie coated in chocolate.  It’s basically an amped up version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  To my taste buds, the difference is that the Girl Scouts peanut butter is a little sweeter and lighter than Reese’s.

As for what goes into the Blizzard…it’s just standard vanilla ice cream blended with crumbled Tagalong cookies and a little extra peanut butter topping.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely yes. Since I already mentioned this was my favorite cookie, I knew going in that I would love this Blizzard and I was not disappointed.  This thing was incredible and was just like heaven.  Since it has proven to only be a monthly special (so far), I would recommend that you head out to get one before they take this off the menu again.

By the way, this Blizzard is not exactly a friend to your health, as if any of them are, as it checks in at 570 calories for a small.

-IndianapolisEater

It’s the United States’ first fast food restaurant, it invented the paper hat and it has been the subject of movies.  The funny thing is, this place really has a polarizing reputation.  Some people hate it, some people love it and some people are scared to go there because of the reputation.  Since it was late at night and there were not many places open, a couple of friends and I decided to make a trip to White Castle.

What I Got:  White Castle Hamburgers 61¢ each.  I won’t say how many I got out of embarrassment, but let’s just say that it was more than a couple (those aren’t all mine in the picture). 

For those of you that don’t know, you have three main options when you order a White Castle burger (prices escalate as you add more things).  You can get them as a regular hamburger with grilled onion and a pickle as the topping, you can get them as a cheeseburger where they add a slice of cheese to the original hamburger or you can get them as jalapeno cheeseburgers where they add a slice of jalapeno cheese to the original hamburger (extra toppings cost extra; it’s at least a dime, depending on your location).  I go with original hamburger 99 times out of 100 because that’s what I prefer.

What makes White Castle hamburgers unique is that the small burger patties (yes, they are small, so you will be eating more than one) have five holes stamped into them so that the burgers can cook evenly and never have to be flipped while on the flat top grill.  They also grill the burgers on top of a stack of diced onions, which mixed with the holes in the burger, allows each patty to have a unique grilled onion flavored twist to it.  Also, they grill the buns on top of the onions on top of the grill as well, so the buns have that unique flavor as well.  Now, doing all of this together gives every burger a soggy, greasy feeling which can be a bit odd, but that is their claim to fame.

Would I Buy It Again?  Remember how I said White Castle has a polarizing reputation?  Well, consider me at the one end that of the spectrum of people that LOVE this place, so yes, I would definitely buy it again and would recommend it to others.  I always go for the plain hamburgers because I’m cheap and I love the classic, but I have had the others and would definitely recommend them as well.  If you can get over the negative connotation of the restaurant, you really should give this a shot.  I’ve also had their breakfast sandwiches and fries and would give those a recommendation as well.  This place will never be confused with being fancy, but if you want a cheap and tasty snack or meal any time of the day, this is the place to go and if you are feeling really frisky, go for a Crave Case.

-IndianapolisEater

Crave Case

Caramel Apple Empanada

What I Got:  Caramel Apple Empanada 99¢

Another entry off the Why Pay More Value Menu (the greatest value menu of all time) is Taco Bell’s Caramel Apple Empanada.  I believe that it has been introduced recently, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

Taco Bell describes this as “A warm pastry pocket filled with sweet apple chunks and caramel sauce” and that’s basically what it is.  I ordered from the counter when I got this and what I found odd is that they must make all of these all at the same time and leave them under a heat lamp all day because they just reached into a container to grab mine.

As for the taste, there were really no surprises based on the description.  It was exactly the way they described it and it was very delicious.  While the measurements of the item were smaller than I thought (it was only about four inches long), they still found a way to pack a large amount of filling into this thing and it ended up being fairly heavy for its size.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I definitely would, especially since it is only 99¢.  It really did shock me how good this thing was.  The apples and caramel sauce were really warm and that may have been what made this taste so good.  I don’t know if I got lucky and just got there as a fresh batch came out or if they are always that way, but it made a huge difference.  If you ended up getting this thing when it is only lukewarm or worse, you probably wouldn’t like it.  Regardless, if you are looking for a dessert to top off your meal at Taco Bell, make sure you get this.

-IndianapolisEater

If I want a quick chicken sandwich, I usually head to Chick-fil-A.  Wendy’s takes 2nd place.   I had a coupon 2 for $5.00, so I stopped by and gave it another try (it has been a while).  At normal price, the sandwich is right around $3.85.

The Big Chicken Fillet consists of a chicken fillet, tomato, lettuce, mayo sesame seed bun.  It was around 9:00 and the sandwich took about 5 minutes to take which is a long time in the fast food world.

I usually hold the mayo, but I scraped it off after the picture.  First bite was really juicy and the chicken was still warm.  It is lightly breaded, not too salty or peppery like you can get at times.  The chicken fillet was big and juicy, they wern’t lying.   

Produce was some of the best from fast food in a while.  Crispy lettuce and the tomato was pretty ripe.  You would think that it would be since it is summer, but with fast food who knows where they are getting that tomato from.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, in fact this is my 3rd time having it and it is rock solid every time.  I would even go as far as saying it is my go-to fast food chicken sandwich, yes even above Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A.  It is that good, in fact good enough to make the Recommended Chain list.

-wibia-

Nutrition Facts: 800 calories, 37g Fat, 1890 Sodium

Chick-fil-A Cookies & Cream Milkshake

What I Got

:  Small Cookies & Cream milkshake from Chick-fil-A ~$2.50 (had a coupon for a free shake, so I forgot to look at the exact price)

The odd packaging of Chick-fil-A’s milkshakes has been covered on this site before by WIBIA, but it does nothing to detract from the shake at all because this thing is outstanding.  As you can see, it is their normal milkshake topped with an overflowing helping of whipped cream and a cherry.

The whipped cream and cherry is standard stuff and tastes as you would expect it and blends well with the milkshake.  The milkshake flavoring itself can be summed up in one word:  OUTSTANDING.  The shake has a very strong flavoring of cream that lingers in your mouth for quite some time after each bite (and for about a half hour after you are done with the shake as well) and is mixed with a healthy helping of crumbled Oreo-type cookies.  They really could do no wrong with this thing.

Chick-fil-A Cookies & Cream Milkshake

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, absolutely, definitely…basically any word that says yes describes my feelings on this one.  Truly, this is one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had.  I got a small and it was the only thing I had for lunch as it was more than filling (HELLO brain freeze!).  If it were at all healthy to eat a milkshake every day, this would be the one I’d get.  On that health note, you’d think this would be the least healthy of all the Chick-fil-A milkshakes, but it checks in at a respectable 570 calories and is only beaten on the menu by the vanilla shake in terms of fewest calories.

It really is not difficult to see why Grub Grade loves this place so much…it is a REALLY GOOD fast food restaurant.

-IndianapolisEater

Rally's Big Buford

What I Ate:  Rally’s (known as Checkers in some parts of the country) Big Buford burger $2.00 (available as part of a 2 for $4 deal at most Rally’s locations)

Rally’s is a guilty pleasure for me and the Big Buford definitely fits that description.  This burger is also a nutrition bomb (570 calories), so its not going to do any favors to dieters.

The burger is a double burger patty with two pieces of cheese stacked on top of a sesame seed bun.  Also included on the burger is red onion, ketchup, mustard, pickle, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  Basically, this thing has every single traditional topping you could think of on a burger.

As for the taste, it’s outstanding.  The burger patties are a little thin, but when you stack two of them together, it really feels like you are getting quite a bit of meat and you don’t really notice their thinness any longer.  Also, the vegetables they throw on this thing are suprisingly fresh.  Both the onions and the lettuce are crunchy which is quite a shock considering what you get on your typical fast food burger.  The wet toppings can get a little messy, but you aren’t eating this thing to watch your waist line, so who cares.  This is truly gluttony at its best.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely yes.  This one is recommended and if you really feel like blowing your diet or just eating a good burger for pretty cheap, this is the route to go.

-indianapoliseater