Cheap Eats: Wendy's

I have no idea if "Cheap Eats" has been trademarked -- I'm too lazy to check. I do know there's a blog with the name that some might call "popular," but when it comes to "cheap eats" I just want simple, straightforward info devoid of blathery commentary and weak attempts at humor.

That said, I'd like to present a photo series explaining how to make a $5 burger out of two $1 burgers at Wendy's in 5 simple steps.

Step 1:
From Wendy's Value Menu*, order a "Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger" and a "Wendy's Double Stack" (and a cup of icewater because it's free).
* Note that prices and availability may vary according to location, but generally all of Wendy's items on the Value Menu are $1 (but check the price of the Jr Bacon on the receipt below!).

Step 2:
Sanitize your hands -- you never know what the employees were touching before they wrapped your food. (And remember that you probably just handled your vehicle's germ-infested steering wheel and car keys too.)
Then, unwrap the burgers and place them upside down.

Step 3:
Remove bottom buns.*
* At this step, you may also add additional condiments, if desired. And if you're still in the car, throw one of the bottom buns to the birds if you need to cut back on the bread.

Step 4:
Rearrange bottom buns, meat patties and other burger content in whatever order suits your fancy.

Step 5:
Combine burgers and enjoy.

For larger appetites, order an additional Double Stack, follow the steps above and you'll have a massive Dagwood Bumstead-style burger for only $3. (You might also have a massive coronary later, but at least you won't die hungry.)

I find there's no need to order anything extra for this meal -- it's very filling and very cheap. And it's about the same size as Wendy's larger, more expensive burgers and includes lettuce, tomato and bacon too. And if you like onions, I'm sure Wendy's would include some for free if you ask.

You can do this same burger mash-up at other fast food places for about the same price. At Burger King, for example, two Whopper Jrs. are more filling than a regular Whopper and cheaper too, but you have to pay extra for bacon and cheese. (And as I mentioned in a previous post, BK's $1 Double Cheesburger is awful.) But for my money Wendy's has the best deal and the best taste combination.

However, McDonald's does have an interesting taste combo with what I call "The Churger" -- a mash-up of their $1 chicken sandwich and $1 double cheeseburger:

Burgers and Math

Nolan Rubin loves hamburgers.

He loves hamburgers so much that he was willing to go on record for a Wall Street Journal article on Burger King "Super Fans" and admit publicly that he would "wolf down bacon cheeseburgers three or four nights a week at Burger King, Jack in the Box and local bars."

And then burger-lover Nolan Rubin was laid off from his job, forcing him to change his eating habits and dine on a tighter budget.

Nolan says now he and his fiance "cook at home using organic vegetables and dine out only on weekends," and "figures he is saving more than $100 a week by eating fewer burgers."

Nolan Rubin may love hamburgers, but he's not so good at math or at being frugal. You can eat 100 Whopper Jrs off the value menu at Burger King for $100...if you were so inclined. You could even add bacon and cheese for pocket change.

And I don't know what those "local bars" were charging for their burgers, but I know BK and Jack's burgers aren't $25 each.

Props to Nolan and his fiance for changing their eating habits and living on a budget, and maybe he'll live longer too since he's backed off the bacon.

But maybe in the future Nolan should leave the math and the finances to his fiance since I think maybe he doesn't know the value of a burger.

Dangit. Now I'm hungry and I have the strangest craving for Burger King...

I guarantee you I won't be having one of their $1 double cheeseburgers they've been advertising. They're awful. BK's double cheeseburger made web headlines recently because their franchisers were complaining they were losing money on the burger.

I should hope so. Their burger made me lose my appetite. BK's $1 double cheeseburger is like eating two kitchen sponges that have been soaked in cheese and beef. At first, I thought it was just poor quality control by the BK location where I first tried one. But unfortunately, it was the same case with TWO other locations.

And what's worse, the meat has a very non-flame-broiled taste that made the Whopper famous.

Burger King's $1 double cheeseburger = Epic Burger Fail.

BACON!

For this blog, I normally don't take photos of new shirts that are still on the rack in department stores. I prefer that they they be more like "found objects," rather than still selling at retail.

But this one is quite possibly the best thing since spliced genes.

And the award for "Best Concept in T-Shirt Design goes to..."

This shirt provides its own caption (and my apologies that it's a little out of focus), so I'm not even going to attempt to write something funnier than the Gary Larson-esque cartoon already is.

But what makes this shirt truly especially special...

 

...it smells like BACON!

I spotted this shirt in January 2010 at Kohl's in the Boys' dept. And even though the largest size was a little snug on me I just couldn't resist owning a bacon-scented T-Shirt. Now I just need to lose 15 pounds so I can wear it.

This shirt is manufactured by HybridTees.com, and although Kohl's stocks Hybrid's shirts regularly and sells them online via Kohls.com they do not offer the bacon shirt on their site.