It’s been a while since I last had to come close to unhinging my jaw to fit food into my mouth. But that was the case with the new Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger stacked with an all-beef patty, bacon, crispy onion strings, American cheese, pickles, and smoky BBQ sauce on a toasted brioche bun.
It joins the Deluxe and Big Cheesy Bacon Burgers on the Arby’s menu. Burgers are selling well enough that the meat chain made them permanent additions to the menu earlier this year, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more variations in the future.
I’ve never had an Arby’s burger before, not even the limited time Wagyu Steakhouse one, so everything was new to me, but this new one looked delicious. What caught my eye after seeing its height and how good it looked was the beef patty’s thickness, which was the primary reason I had to stretch my mandible muscles. It was a patty I’d expect from places like Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, or other casual dining chains that end with an apostrophe S or have a day in their name.
While it had a nice thickness, it was a bit dry. However, it had a decent meaty flavor and a nice char. But that was when I ate the beef by itself.
My burger was thick but also messy, thanks to the generous heaping of smoky and sweet barbecue sauce that was so plentiful that I needed five napkins to clean my mouth and hands after eating most of it. I don’t know if that’s the usual amount or if the person who made mine wanted to be the Oprah of sauce philanthropy.
There was enough of it that it drowned out the flavors of most of the ingredients. Other than the pickles, everything else pretty much tasted like barbecue sauce. No smokiness from the bacon. No pungent flavors from the crispy onion strings. No cheesiness from the American cheese. And no meatiness from the beef patty. I thought I lost my sense of taste, but after letting my wife take a few bites and asking her what she thought without mentioning my issues with it, she said it mostly tasted like barbecue sauce.
While it looks delicious, Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger wasn’t as tasty as it looked. I’m not sure it was worth straining my mouth to make it fit in there.
Purchased Price: $10.49*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 711 calories, 41 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 1821 milligrams of sodium, 50 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 37 grams of protein.
WHY is it so pink? Ground beef at a chain restaurant that isn’t known for cooking (because let’s be real – Arby’s mostly serves sammiches that don’t really need ‘cooked’ so much as sliced and assembled) seems sketchy to me anyway, but that photo just looks… undercooked.
Steak? Pink AF, sure. But fast food ground beef? I need to see it well done. Ooof.
The beef is cooked in the factory by their supplier, using the sous vide process. Then it’s placed in the fryer at Arby’s for a minute and 45 seconds, cheese is then melted atop it, and it’s served medium well. They can do well done upon request.