There are so many great places to grab a burger in Concord, it can be pretty overwhelming sometimes.
Whether you’re looking for something downtown or more in the sticks, whether you want something basic or fancy, there’s something for you at one of the plethora of local eateries in town.
But since we are an equal opportunity publication, we felt bad about doing a whole issue on burgers while leaving out the three most successful burger companies in town (and maybe ever): McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King – collectively known as the Big Three, the Holy Trinity, the Triumvirate, among others.
Since we have two McDonald’s restaurants (three if you count the one on Fisherville Road), two Burger Kings and a Wendy’s right here in Concord, we decided to give them all a go. After all, most of you won’t admit it but we know you love these places, and you might even be reading this right now thinking, “I should hit the drive-thru real quick.” Don’t be ashamed – we all do it (especially me)!
What we wanted to do here was go to each place and order something that would be considered their signature burger, or an improvement on it. This way we could get right to the root of the issue, to the sandwich that the CEOs have deemed best represent their companies.
The first stop was McDonald’s, which now carries three sizes of its world-famous Big Mac. We opted for the biggest possible one (obviously), known as the Grand Mac, which is really just an extra-large Big Mac.
The Grand Mac offers everything the Big Mac does – two patties, lettuce, onion, pickle, special sauce, two slices of American cheese and an extra piece of bread in the middle – only with pound of beef.
This thing was every bit as messy as the Big Mac, and then some. In fact, the challenge of eating the Grand Mac is the most notable attribute it has. After about six bites, it was impossible to hold the burger the way a domesticated adult should – since I was in the office among my peers, I resorted to the ol’ pick-pieces-out-of-the-box technique the rest of the way, rather than get both hands completely covered in special sauce and drip debris all over my desk (which, in truth, probably already has plenty of that caked on there as it is).
After a bath, a change of clothes and a full sanitary wipe-down of my work space, it was on to Wendy’s, home of the famous square beef patties.
Since Wendy’s signature sandwich is arguably the spicy chicken (not a burger), we went with the Baconator Double, featuring two -pound beef patties, a whopping six strips of applewood smoked bacon with mayo, ketchup and cheese on a toasted bun.
This burger was durable and quite tasty – it had been a while since we last had beef from Wendy’s, and it was nicer than we remembered. The bacon was also packed with flavor and a bit on the sweet side, likely coming from the applewood smoke or smoke flavoring.
All in all, this was an enjoyable eating experience.
Last but certainly not least, we stopped by Burger King to complete the burger pyramid. Burger King is, of course, known for the Whopper, but we noticed a similar item on the menu that we tried instead: the Bacon & Cheese Whopper.
This burger is basically the same as the original Whopper only – you guessed it – there’s bacon on it. It’s a -pound beef patty with the aforementioned bacon, American cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles and onions.
Much like the Grand Mac, this burger, an “upgrade” of sorts over the franchise burger, it was a challenge to hold together while eating. With every bite, some stuff fell off.
The big takeaway here is that the bacon was really good. Even though the Wendy’s Baconator is all about its six strips of bacon, the strips on the Bacon & Cheese Whopper were crispier and more savory.
In the end, if you need a burger on the go, the options at the Big Three are pretty different, so make sure you’re informed before making that decision.
