Wendy's

[Alpha8472]

I tried it too and it was not very good. I think they should just claim that the peppermint ran out and vanilla is back.

Customers will not come back unless they bring back vanilla.

[storewanderer]

I asked someone else about it and they tried it, they described the taste as like an Andes Mint (not quite the peppermint that would be expected) but thought it was okay.

I think vanilla with a mix in packet for the customer (like a ketchup packet) for flavor may work better.

[Alpha8472]

I tried the garlic fries again and this time they were salty and oily. The flavor was decent, but it was just too oily. The amount of fries was very small.

Maybe Wendy's should offer Frosty flavors via flavor shots like Starbucks. If you just want plain vanilla you can have a choice.

[storewanderer]

I tried the garlic fries again and this time they were salty and oily. The flavor was decent, but it was just too oily. The amount of fries was very small.

Maybe Wendy's should offer Frosty flavors via flavor shots like Starbucks. If you just want plain vanilla you can have a choice.

I think that is the best outcome. I think part of why they keep Frosty as it is, dispensed directly from the machine with no "finishing" required by staff, is for efficiency purposes for the low price point the Frosty has had over the years. But this pricing seems to be changing. For instance, the Sacramento/Fresno Wendys franchisee now wants 2.29 for the Junior 8oz Frosty (this is 1.29 in Reno- not long ago it was 0.79).

[Alpha8472]

Wendy's is bringing back the vanilla Frosty for a limited time. Their Frosty sales probably dropped to practically nothing when the peppermint came out. Many people hated it and avoided Wendy's. I haven't been there in such a long time since that awful peppermint was introduced.

I never see long lines at Wendy's any more. The restaurant has lost so much business.

Their new items are still not impressive. Nothing appeals anymore.

Are the restaurants still open early for breakfast? I am not sure if the local Wendy's are open in the morning as there are no cars in line. The app says they open at 6:30. I find it hard to believe they get enough business to justify staffing the restaurant that early.

[ClownLoach]

Wendy's is bringing back the vanilla Frosty for a limited time. Their Frosty sales probably dropped to practically nothing when the peppermint came out. Many people hated it and avoided Wendy's. I haven't been there in such a long time since that awful peppermint was introduced.

I never see long lines at Wendy's any more. The restaurant has lost so much business.

Their new items are still not impressive. Nothing appeals anymore.

Are the restaurants still open early for breakfast? I am not sure if the local Wendy's are open in the morning as there are no cars in line. The app says they open at 6:30. I find it hard to believe they get enough business to justify staffing the restaurant that early.

Their pricing by some franchises is out of control. I visited a Wendy's off I-15 in Riverside county to try the chicken sandwich with the fried mozzarella on it. A combo with small fries and small drink was almost $13. By the time I upgraded to large drink and fries it was $16. I could have had two double-double combos at In-N-Out for the same price, and there's no question which one is better. And Wendy's has been claiming their fries are guaranteed hot and fresh for a few years now, but the program hasn't arrived at any of the restaurants I've visited. I think they still operate internationally under the oft quoted "fries aren't old until they're sold" model. Cold, stiff and stale every time unless you complain. But if you went through the drive thru then it is a huge inconvenience to go back and complain about the fries. By the time you get fresh fries your sandwich is now cold. What's the point? Their California Market share has gone entirely to In-N-Out.

On top of that the interior looked like it was straight from the 90s, unremodeled, old dirty nasty carpet, and what seemed to be permanent reduction of spaced out tables probably leftover from COVID social distancing orders. There was a giant uncomfortable space between seating and the order counter, including a large section of mismatched flooring that was probably the footprint of the salad bar that left decades ago. This was in a moderately busy power center, but we were the only customers that were inside at dinnertime.

[storewanderer]

Wendy's is bringing back the vanilla Frosty for a limited time. Their Frosty sales probably dropped to practically nothing when the peppermint came out. Many people hated it and avoided Wendy's. I haven't been there in such a long time since that awful peppermint was introduced.

I never see long lines at Wendy's any more. The restaurant has lost so much business.

Their new items are still not impressive. Nothing appeals anymore.

Are the restaurants still open early for breakfast? I am not sure if the local Wendy's are open in the morning as there are no cars in line. The app says they open at 6:30. I find it hard to believe they get enough business to justify staffing the restaurant that early.

Their pricing by some franchises is out of control. I visited a Wendy's off I-15 in Riverside county to try the chicken sandwich with the fried mozzarella on it. A combo with small fries and small drink was almost $13. By the time I upgraded to large drink and fries it was $16. I could have had two double-double combos at In-N-Out for the same price, and there's no question which one is better. And Wendy's has been claiming their fries are guaranteed hot and fresh for a few years now, but the program hasn't arrived at any of the restaurants I've visited. I think they still operate internationally under the oft quoted "fries aren't old until they're sold" model. Cold, stiff and stale every time unless you complain. But if you went through the drive thru then it is a huge inconvenience to go back and complain about the fries. By the time you get fresh fries your sandwich is now cold. What's the point? Their California Market share has gone entirely to In-N-Out.

On top of that the interior looked like it was straight from the 90s, unremodeled, old dirty nasty carpet, and what seemed to be permanent reduction of spaced out tables probably leftover from COVID social distancing orders. There was a giant uncomfortable space between seating and the order counter, including a large section of mismatched flooring that was probably the footprint of the salad bar that left decades ago. This was in a moderately busy power center, but we were the only customers that were inside at dinnertime.

I don't think Wendy's can afford giveaway breakfast promotions anymore with what has happened to egg pricing (they crack whole eggs in store) and without those promotions they kept running last year I am not sure what will be happening to their breakfast traffic/program. Lately their best offer has been $2 off Breakfast Combo.

Wendy's started to post on the menu all combos at "medium" size price and default to "medium" when a customer ordered a combo around October. I think this made it look like (another) price increase occurred that did not actually occur. I notice less traffic at Wendy's around Reno/Sparks than they used to have, but they seem to always have the dining room open again so it appears the franchisee has finally resolved that issue after 2 years. On pricing that item is high priced across the board. The Reno units tend to run pretty close to a corporate price scale so basically about as low as can be.
In Reno/Sparks that Italian Chicken is 10.19 small, 10.99 medium, and 11.49 large. Sandwich alone is 7.59. (all before tax)
In Sacramento that Italian Chicken is 13.39 small, 15.08 medium, 15.48 large (these are before tax). Sandwich only 8.99.
Denver is the west-most Corporate Wendys locations. There, sandwich only 7.49 and combos 10.89/11.89/13.19.

Wendy's "hot and crispy" fries program is a joke. The fries are usually lukewarm and soggy when I receive them. On the rare occasion they are hot, they seem like they haven't been cooked all the way, and end up soggy within a few minutes. I've given up on Wendy's fries because they are prepared so poorly and get the baked potato instead. I still like the various junior burgers but lately those haven't tasted good either, or are almost cold, so I have pretty much given up on those too. I am paying a lot more at other places due to Wendy's inability to serve a properly prepared product, but that is okay, that is just how it is. If Wendy's wants to go to a fry that "transports well" they should look at something like BJ's serves, it is a somewhat thicker and battered fry. Battered fries haven't flown well in fast food but those BJ's fries transport pretty well; even after 10 minutes in the car as long as they are on the top of the bag in the cup they are "hot and crispy." But that would also require the fries being cooked fully and that is something all of these fast food chains struggle with, but especially Wendy's and McDonalds, on pulling fries before the timer is done.

[Brian Lutz]

I never tried the Peppermint Frosty, but keep in mind that having two different Frosty flavors is still a relatively recent change, and the chocolate Frosty never went away, which is what I still prefer. That said, it's been quite a while since I got one because McDonald's frequently runs buy-one-get-one for $0.29 promotions on McFlurries so that's often a better deal for my wife and I. In general McDonald's still seems to be much more generous with their in-app offers (they're still running $2 breakfast sandwich promos here for example, and it's common to see things like $1 large fries or buy-one-get-one for $0.29 on double cheeseburgers or 6 piece McNuggets) and that might also be hurting Wendy's locations that are close to McDonald's.

The main reason I've been going to Wendy's less is that the closest Wendy's location to here sits in a cluster of fast food places in close proximity to a McDonald's, a Taco Bell, a KFC, a Maverik with Bonfire Grill and Olympus Burgers (one of the "Greekburger" places peculiar to the Salt Lake area), and tends to have rather poor service compared to some of the other ones. When we lived in Washington there was a fairly decent Wendy's we went to (the Broadway location in Everett) but there's just better options here.

[storewanderer]

The main reason I've been going to Wendy's less is that the closest Wendy's location to here sits in a cluster of fast food places in close proximity to a McDonald's, a Taco Bell, a KFC, a Maverik with Bonfire Grill and Olympus Burgers (one of the "Greekburger" places peculiar to the Salt Lake area), and tends to have rather poor service compared to some of the other ones. When we lived in Washington there was a fairly decent Wendy's we went to (the Broadway location in Everett) but there's just better options here.

Wendy's in Salt Lake City used to be corporate but got sold at the same time as Sacramento corporate units got sold, but to a different buyer.

Maverik has partially closed some of the Bonfire Grills already; in Reno multiple locations have signs posted that say effective January 11 they are ending the made to order options and will only be offering prepackaged items going forward. Some locations do still have the made to order option available. One out in Winnemucca converted the Bonfire Grill into a Godfather's Pizza. I think bringing other branded food options may be a better idea for them, but the old Flying J under that ownership never used any brands other than its own, and even developed its own fleet card program so as to not get tied up with a different fleet network (only reason they had Concoo gas on some sites was because Conoco had an ownership stake in the old Flying J), so I expect Maverik to continue its path forward with generic concepts largely.

[cjd]

I’ve actually found Wendy’s fries to be pretty good myself.

The one here finally remodeled recently, it’s not as nice as some of the locations I’ve seen remodeled over the last 5 or 6 years. There’s no area with couches and chairs, no fireplace or TV.

But it looks good, there does not seem to be a lot of customers dining inside or in the drive thru lately at night, although I’ve noticed they’ve always seemed to get more lunch traffic than dinner.

The 4 for $4 in my opinion is still a great value, although the cheeseburger is smaller, at that note, I’ve noticed the DQ $7 lunch burger seems smaller also now.

I never tried the peppermint frosty, although the strawberry one was very good.