Place: Carl’s Jr
Lunch: Bacon Truffle Angus burger, onion rings, Coke
Me: “Bacon truffle Angus burger combo with onion rings...”
Smiling Counter Girl: “One third pound, one half pound, two thirds pound, single, or double?”
Me: “Uh...one third pound.”
Smiling Counter Girl: “Large or medium combo?”
Me: Medium.”
The register monitor indicates I’ve ordered TWO such burgers and an order of fries. No drink. Smiling Counter Girl anticipates my confusion. “I’ll fix it. MANAGER!”
Some Guy shows up. “He only wants one,” she says. He swipes his override card. The extra sandwich disappears. Now there’s one burger and fries.
Smiling Counter Girl: “Does that complete your order?”
Me: “I asked for a combo with onion rings.”
Smiling Counter Girl: *looks at menu board* - “It comes with onion rings on it.”
Me: “A side of onion rings instead of fries.”
Smiling Counter Girl becomes Confused Counter Girl. She scans the menu board. Looks at the register. Shouts “MANAGER!” Two Guys show up.
“He wants...onion rings...instead of fries?”
One of them swipes his override card. Fries disappear. She figits with the register. Onion rings appear, as does my drink. Transaction complete. She gives me the table number, but not a drink cup. I ask for one.
“What did you want to drink?”
Why is she asking me this? You just give me an empty cup and I fill it with whatever I want.
Despite not asking this out loud, she anticipates my question. “It’s broken,” she says, pointing to the dining room fountain. “We have to get it from that one,” pointing to the drive-thru fountain.
Coke eventually achieved.
To quote the press release, “the new Bacon Truffle Angus Burger features a decadent truffle-infused white cheddar sauce, which has a deep, rich and savory flavor including notes of garlic, toasted onion and aged parmesan. The burger includes a charbroiled 100 percent Black Angus beef patty topped with the premium white cheddar truffle sauce, two slices of Applewood smoked bacon, crispy onion strings, Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and mayonnaise on a premium bun.” The fine print claims “natural and artificial truffle flavor”. There aint no real truffles in here, baby. Not at this price point.
Looks great on paper. And...wow. TASTES great in mouth. The press release description absolutely nails what I’m tasting here. Smoky, maybe jut a bit mushroomy, and a bit garlicy. A perfect mix in any case. This may be one of the best burgers Carl’s Jr has ever come up with. There wasn’t a single bite of this burger I did not enjoy.
Not available at Hardee’s, tragically.
It’s kind of rare that an advertised LTO burger hits an expectation home run.
This one did.
