Author: Marvo

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.

Because Arby’s has the meats, it’ll always have turkey. But if you want to make that turkey sandwich from Arby’s feel more like a Thanksgiving meal, you can now get a pumpkin pie at the fast food chain for a limited time. Okay, not an actual slice, but a flaky turnover with a sweet pumpkin pie filling and topped with cream cheese icing.

However, it would’ve been better if Arby’s offered pie slices because its Pumpkin Pie Turnover doesn’t put me in a festive mood.

The pastry’s exterior is pleasantly flaky, slightly buttery, and pretty good for a fast food offering, but it’s the orange goo inside that doesn’t work for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. But shouldn’t expecting its flavor to unquestionably and instantly be recognizable as sweet pumpkin pie with delicious warm spices be the minimum? However, that’s not the case with the Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

The dessert’s usual warm spices are there, but they lack that oomph of flavor that I’ve experienced with almost every pumpkin pie I’ve stuffed into my pie hole. It’s like a lite pumpkin pie, with the squash flavor standing out more. I have not been this disappointed in a pumpkin pie product since eating a Kirkland Signature Pumpkin Pie years ago. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but that gigantic pie tastes bland.

The cream cheese icing on top, which I think is supposed to look like laces on a football, has a mild tanginess, and it was nice to taste it on its own. But it’s not enough to help turn around this turnover.

When I received my order, the cashier asked me if I had the Pumpkin Pie Turnover before. She said she has yet to try it. I told her I haven’t. But now I want to drive back to Arby’s and tell that cashier it’s disappointing. Arby’s may have the meats, but it doesn’t have a very good Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 347 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 4 milligrams of cholesterol, 261 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.