Taste Test: Wendy’s Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger

Christian Martinelli 
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Wendy’s Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger features a quarter-pound beef patty, pickled jalapenos, applewood-smoked bacon, American cheese, fried onions, a cheesy sauce, and spicy jalapeno sauce all on a toasted bun. This was stepping a little out of the comfort zone for me, not because I don’t love eating burgers but when it comes to spice I’m very white. My tongue can’t handle much in that area, I usually will opt out of adding any hot toppings to my food when I can. This time I opted in.

For a fast food establishment Wendy’s burgers blow away other chains. They’re thick and juicy, and usually much more flavorful than the run of the mill McDonalds or Burger King Burger. This Burger was definitely high quality, when you got chains often the burger looks nothing like the advertised picture, but Wendy’s does a great job at recreating it when you order it. The Burger was huge, bursting with ingredients, and two times the quality of most chains burgers, which you would hope for when you’re spending upwards of $6 for it.

If you put bacon on anything I’m gonna love it. Unless it is covered in thick, gross pickled jalapeños. That’s pretty much my only stipulation. I loved the spicy and cheesy sauce, beef patty, the fried onion, and all the other toppings, but this is the Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseburger so the Jalapeño part is rather vital to the sandwich. There isn’t a single bite where I wasn’t overwhelmed with heat from biting into the Jalapeño. It was just too much for an Italian that doesn’t add red pepper flakes to most things. No, we don’t all like a spicy meatball.

If this was just a “Southwest Burger” and Wendy’s eliminated the Jalapeños I would eat this thing non stop, but with them it is almost inedible to me and I assume many others as well. Sure you could say “Jeez Christian if you don’t like Jalapeños then why would you try this?”, well because I’m a man of the people and I needed to know if although my prior thoughts of dislike were in my head if I could get myself to enjoy the burger. Well you got my answer, no not really.

Now if you’re a fan of spice I think this will be for you, there’s plenty to like and when you add bacon, multiple sauces, and a delicious burger to it, it’s a great combo. I wouldn’t say like LeBron and Dwayne Wade, but maybe like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is a fair comparison. It won’t win you a championship, but you’ll make the playoffs.

I ate the first half of the burger with the jalapeños on it and very much struggled to get it down, but for the second half of the burger I took them off and had a great experience. It’s a great burger but if you can’t take spice, save yourself $6 and a burning tongue.

Verdict: Herbaceously Hot Hamburger 
Grade: C-

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