Place: Carl's Jr/Green Burrito
Lunch: The All-Natural Burger (no lettuce, no tomato), side of beans, Coke
PREVIOUSLY ON THE LUNCHTIME SOCIAL...Greg and Brenda split up after Greg slept with Brenda's mother. Also, I checked out Hardee's decidedly un-natural Bacon Velveeta Patty Meltdown.
So why not try the polar-opposite LTO happening at Hardee's sister chain.
This is "fast food's first All-Natural Burger", according to the Carl's Jr website. But if you read the fine print after the asterisk, things get fuzzy. "All-Natural attributes refer to beef patty." "First All-Natural patty among major fast food chains." So Burgerville fans can calm down now.
The main description of the burger reads "A grass-fed, free-range charbroiled beef patty with no added hormones, steroids, or antibiotics." If I'm the only one who imagined hamburger patties happily rolling through a grassy meadow, my drugs are better than yours.
"But wouldn't they be easy targets for coyotes and wolves and outdoor house cats?"
Please. Haven't you seen the covers of those religious pamphlets where children and leopards and fire-breathing dragons are all peacefully co-existing? You need to watch less violent nature shows.
The description goes on to note the burger is "topped with natural cheddar cheese and vine-ripened tomatoes." I'm actually more excited about the cheddar than the beef. I'm all for natural cheddar.. I may never understand why people like processed American cheese. The burger is otherwise dressed with what appears to be Carl's "Six Dollar Burger" veggies and Fresh Baked Bun.
So how is it? Believe it or not, the beef patty tastes different than the standard Carl's Jr patty. It tastes...aged, I think. I guess it would be silly to have a patty being marketed as some sort of premium taste exactly the same as the non-natural patty. Remember when McDonald's launched their Angus patty premium burgers? Their social media comments were almost universal in complaining that there was no discernible difference in taste between the Angus beef and their regular beef.
The cheddar is nice, though seems to be mild. I could go for a sharper cheddar.
But I'll give Carl's a "well played" anyway. It's a perfectly nice, premium tasting burger.
Hanging out in Tulsa this morning for the first time ever. Going to check out Taken 3 at a new Warren multiplex.
Never seen "Taken" or "Taken 2".
I'm guessing that won't be an issue.
