With the introduction of their new Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, Burger King now has their own McRib. Actually, to be more accurate, Burger King now has their own limited time only pork sandwich slathered with sauce that’s kind of scary looking when you pull back the bun.
BK’s pulled pork sandwich brings together pulled pork, Memphis BBQ sauce, sliced onions, and a sweet southern sauce on a toasted artisan-style bun.
To be honest, I’ve never experienced Memphis barbecue because I’ve never been to the great state of…(double-checking on Wikipedia) Tennessee. So my digestive system hasn’t had the pleasure of eating at fine Memphis BBQ establishments like…(checks Google) Central, Neely’s, Corky’s, Payne’s, The Bar-B-Q Shop, and the G’town Commissary. Since my taste buds have never tasted Memphis barbecue, I can’t determine how offended Memphians (I hope that’s correct) should be or if they should feel offended at all.
As you can see in the photo above, the BK Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich comes with a lot of pulled pork. Although, the pulled pork looks more like finely shredded pork. Perhaps, too finely shredded, because when I pulled back the artisan-style bun, the amalgamation of pork looked like clumped wet cat hair. So if you purchase this sandwich, DO NOT TAKE IT APART! Also, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SANDWICH WHILE EATING IT OR ELSE YOU WILL SEE THIS:
I know fast food in promotional photos never look like that in real life, but there was a major difference between BK’s photos of the sandwich and what mine looked like. While the beautifully photographed sandwich had pulled pork drenched in sauce, my pulled pork was just topped with sauce.
Because the pork wasn’t soaked in sauce, I noticed the pork was a bit dry and with some bites it was slightly tough. It had a mild pork flavor that doesn’t get completely overwhelmed by the sauces.
Wait. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s good the pork wasn’t drenched in sauce because the two sauces that top this sandwich made it extremely messy. I think I used three napkins to clean my hands. The BBQ sauce had a wonderful sweet and smoky flavor. Because there’s no spiciness to it, it’s slightly different from the usual barbecue sauce BK uses. The sweet southern sauce was also tasty, although its pastel yellow color looked a little weird. It gave the sandwich a little tanginess. The onions added crunch and complemented the pork and two sauces.
Even though it’s probably not comparable to a pulled pork sandwich from a Memphis barbecue joint and the pork is a little dry and looks like clumped wet cat hair, I think the Burger King Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is surprisingly decent, thanks to the two sauces. It’s also on the smallish side, but I think it’s a better tasting pork sandwich than the McDonald’s McRib*.
*I don’t really care for the McRib.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 sandwich – 470 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,420 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 29 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of protein.)
Other Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich reviews:
Grub Grade
Item: Burger King Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich
Purchased Price: $4.99 (sandwich only)*
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Surprisingly decent. Tasty sauces. Lots of pulled pork. Onions were a nice addition. Bun held together despite absorbing lots of sauce.
Cons: On the smallish side. Pork not drenched in sauce. Pork looks like clumped wet cat hair. Hella messy. Sweet southern sauce has a weird yellow color. McRib.
*Prices will vary. I will pay more than most of you because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
I’ll have to pass after the cat hair photo, methinks.
Yeah…kinda hairball-like. Freaks me out a little.
Mine didn’t look like that at all and it wasn’t dry. In fact it may have been termed as a little messy with sauces. Sorry if anyone actually gets one that looks like that photo.
Yours looks much much better than grubgrades
Not seeing too much Mr. Brown in there, or Mrs. White for that matter. Still, better than Subway, I’d guess. Thanks for the review Marvo (and be sure to wikipedia what those Mr. and Mrs. mean)
I live in the South, and I have no idea what “sweet southern sauce” is. I’m not a Memphis BBQ fan, but even if I were, the cat-vomit photo would convince me to pass.
The official BK photo looks pretty gross as well, just in a different way. And I’m sorry, but what the fuck is “sweet southern sauce”? It looks like honey mustard. Don’t they do slaw in Memphis?
Haha as Harvin and Carly says…WTF is ‘sweet southern sauce’ and it should NOT be yellow.
Why cant they just make some BBQ sauce and leave it at that…BK does not need to try and get all creative and unique, they are just screwing up something that could be great.
$5 for a “pork” like sandwich? No thanks.
5 bucks is a bit much for that sandwich. You can get like 2 McRibs for that price if they sold them.
I’m not sure where you live but I wonder if you venture out much. I had a good experience with the BK Memphis BBQ & the sweet potato fries. That’s coleslaw sauce on the sandwich. In Miami, the only mistake they made was putting the usual lettuce, tomato, and red onion on instead of just the white onions. Next time, I will ask for pickles only. Mine looked like the promo photo, was nice & neat, and not messy at all. I liked that it was petite, I don’t need a big honking sandwich. It is a fab alternative to Huge calorie burgers, coming in at 470 cals and only 4.5 grams of fat. It was not heavy and I did not feel overfull or weighed down. I have spent alot of time in Memphis which happens to be a historic music city and lots of fun. The BK version had the smokiness of a Memphis pit and the texture was fine. I will order it again. The sweet potato fries were right on. Hot & crisp. You need to dine in because sweet potatoes get soggy by nature & cold of course if you wait 8 minutes. Not sure about your style, expertise or exposure to the world outside. But nice try.
Great review. Mine was ordered without onions. There was no lettuce and tomato either. Also the cost in my area for sandwich only was $3.49 + tax.
Also the prices were much lower here & I’m on the beach!
The McRib blows – along with pretty much everything else on Mac-Donalds’ menu(outside of the Big Mac). Bing “mcrib with no sauce” and you will realise…the horror…the horror.
I had one yesterday after seeing the commercial. It was a little messy, but had a good flavor. I’m also not a McRib fan, but this sandwich had a really authentic Barbecue taste,
Most of your reviews are terrible since you havent done the research that well or get your facts straight before writing.
Tell me, person who has “worked for the burger king corporation for 5 years” (I copy and pasted that from your last comment), what facts haven’t I gotten straight in this review. If I think your changes are warranted, then I’ll make them.
If you’re talking about price, which you mentioned in your last comment, $4.99 is how much I paid for it.
I was sitting at home wondering which drive thru to hit, not really wanting the usual stuff. I saw the commercial for the BK pulled pork sandwich and even though BK’s I’ve been to have gone way downhill since I was a kid and I haven’t enjoyed their stuff in awhile, I was looking for something different and this fit the bill. I checked Marvo’s review and headed out. Got the sandwich, large drink and small sweet potato fries for 6.49+ tax. The sandwhich was very small but the pork flavor was nice. I do actually love McRibs but this sandwhich this sandwich was more like pork made at home, more of a natural feel to it. I can’t say I’d rave over the yellowish sauce, but the BBQ sauce was nice, and yes I did need about 5 napkins, the sauce was all over my face. Very nice alternative to burgers/chicken sandwiches. The sweet potato fries had enough crisp to be cravable and also a nice alternative since I hate BK regular fries. I was also very happy to see they’ve added various sundaes to thier menu, can’t beat a nice hot fudge sundae on a warm night after a flaverful BBQ sammich!
I’d like to add that I did not get that fancy bun, it was just a plain burger bun, nothing special.
What’s the name of the song in the commercial? I can’t remember it for the life of me but I know I love it!
walk of life dire straits
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with sauce on the side. I was told that the meat and sauce was mixed together. My sandwich was saturated with barbeque sauce and some kind of white sauce. It was the messiest sandwich I’ve ever had at Burger King. After two bites I went back for another hand full of napkins to finish the sandwich.
Mine didn’t look nearly as good as the one in the photo. The photo showed pork that looked like it had been hand pulled. Mine looked like it had been machine shredded. It tasted okay but was too mushy and sweet for me. Overall I was disappointed and doubt that I’ll order another pulled pork sandwich from Burger King.
As a reward for finishing the sandwich I tried the bacon sundae. It was outrageous! I guess it’s true that everything is better with bacon! Skip the sandwich and get two bacon sundaes. You’ll leave Burger King happier.
I just sent Burger King an email regarding the Pulled Pork Sandwich and the fact that the pork has been pulled from the sandwich, top of bun met bottom of bun… honestly for the money they charged I am angry, didn’t even serve up the sweet potato fries… got regular. BK sucks, and their stores are filthy in general… no more fast food from them ever.
AWESOME Sandwich!! Yes, you can get a better sandwich at an old school smoke house joint, but for a fast food place, it is really good. Just 86 those onions and get pickles and your in. The local BK here has completely run out of the pulled pork and sweet potato fries everyday this week by 1pm. Someone besides me must love it too.
Thanks for this review. I love pulled pork sandwiches, but I guess I’ll skip this one and stick to the real thing. BK should be sued for the bait and switch they are doing with the ads and the thing you get in the bag. Appreciate you saving me a couple of dollars.
Okay, I’m from Memphis and I’ve never seen BBQ sauce that was any color other than some version of brownish red. I’ve never seen two different sauces used unless you want hotter than regular but aren’t brave enough to use hot sauce undiluted, definitely not two different colored sauces. Pulled pork should not look like a mass of cat hair caught in a vacuum. A pulled pork sandwich is made by taking a fork and pulling with the grain of the meat but it doesn’t shread it into filament. Pulled pork sandwiches are then topped with your choice of regular sauce or hot/spicy sauce, usually from bottles at the table. The traditional Memphis vegetable relish topping is to have cole slaw on the sandwich or not. The expectations of a pulled pork Memphis BBQ sandwich are pretty standard from place to place. We save our variations and BBQ wars for how to correctly make pork ribs. A disagreement over how that should be done can start social warfare.
If they are charging $5 for that mess at Burger King I can go to a reputable BBQ restaurant and get a jumbo one for less, especially if it is on the small side. A very large BBQ can be acquired for just at $5, give or take, at any known restaurant.
I thought the sandwich was pretty good.. Way better than mcrib! But seriously, who has to google to find out what state Memphis is in??
Seriously I bought this sandwich for lunch and literally would not
Eat it until I got home to see what this yellow pus looking stuff was on top my meat, it completely grossed me out. By the way someone should make a
Note that on sweet potato fries you are supposed to put sugar on them not salt!
I had the BQ pork sandwich three times already..It was good..The French Fries shouldn’t be salted. Just leave the salt out and perhaps give customers sugar on the side..
Not bad for fast food though.
This sandwich was actually very good. The yellowish color just so some know there sauce is generally caused by the mustard based sauce they used along side the tangy tomato based sauce. Downside was the fact I got only regular fries and no sweet potatoes fries. I’ll make sure my local bk is aware of this too :-). For a fast food place, they did good with this. Curious to where they get it from.
I just tried the pulled pork sandwich for the first and last time.
The texture of the meat??? It is near mush not shredded pork.
The added sauce added nothing to the sandwich. And my bun was not toasted.
I just tried it for the first time. I was grossed out by the added sauce. Not only did it look disgusting, but I thought it smelled just as bad. I took it all off right away. Once I did that, I though the sandwich was pretty good. I’ll order it again….with no extra sauce!
Watch out McRib, if they advertise more McRib is toast. This sandwich is very good.
I will never eat it OR the sweet potato fries again. The sauce was overly sweet. The meat WAS like cat hair! I could not finish eating it. Go to A&W for their sweet potato fries and chipotle sauce. So much better. I think if any fast food place puts out a new line of food they should make sure it is really appealing, otherwise the bad press will ruin you. BK go back to the kitchen and get it right next time. Also, the coffee was a write off. Go to A&W for a decent cup of coffee. Far better than Tim Hortons.
i liked the pulled pork sandwich at B/K
but would like to know how many ozs of
pork there is in the sandwich
The Burger king Memphis BBQ sandwich was small. I was given the impression this was larger and loaded down with the pulled pork. Well the one I purchased in Willcox, AZ, sure wasn’t, barely enough there to feed a little girl. Taste was fine, but not anything like its picture.
I decided to try the new BK Pulled pork sandwich last night and I am completely regretting that decision. First the appearance looked gross with the matted clump of hair consistency of the meat and the odd and sickening color of the sauce that was put on top. Second once I cut this sandwich in half I took a bite and it was sweet not too bad; however…… wait for it. …… I discovered what appeared to be a fully intact artery sticking out of the sandwich. I was completely disgusted. We brought it up to the manager to take a look and she gave us a new sandwich of our choice, but I have to say that went to waste because I was literally green with nausea after that experience. I will not be going back to BK, EVER.
I thought it was delicious! I love pulled pork sandwiches, and I think they should have them in more fast food restaurants.
As a Memphian, I can tell you this is only marginally similar to a Memphis BBQ Sandwich. Yes we have pulled pork, but as the author notes, this is shredded pork… The texture is all wrong. And no Artisan Buns, no onions and no Sweet Southern Sauce. In Memphis it’s a regular bun and cole slaw either on top or on the side. Plus the BBQ sauce is drizzled on top not mixed in with the meat. Although the sandwich was fairly decent as far as fast food goes, it can’t compare to a real Memphis Style BBQ sandwich… and in reality has little to do with a Memphis Style sandwich, there are more differences than similarities. If you want a real Memphis BBQ sandwich, just come on down to Memphis
and find out for yourselves.
I had high hopes for Burger King’s pulled pork sandwich; I got hooked on Subway’s version this summer, but it’s no longer available.
I was very disappointed. The pork was swimming in a very sweet sauce. I like bar-b-que, but not so sweet. Thankfully, I asked for the “coleslaw sauce” on the side, just to be safe. Turns out that it is indeed sauce, not coleslaw at all, and again very sweet. I read the nutrition info after I’d eaten, and the sandwich contains 29 grams of sugar! Hopefully I didn’t get quite that much by leaving the coleslaw sauce off.