TL;DR Version: The beef pot roast sandwich from @culvers is simple, delicious, and won’t destroy your daily macros. The cheese curds are also a must because they’re equally delicious and surprisingly macro-friendly. Full Review: One of my favorite fast food chains is Culver’s because of its broad assortment of comfort foods and its ties to my summers in Wisconsin. My friends even threw me a surprise birthday party there this year after we finally got one in my town. Before I started tracking my macros I would have ordered frozen custard, a butter burger, and cheese curds at every visit. Now a single meal like that would eat up my entire allotment of calories for the day, so I attack the menu a little differently. I still order a medium cheese curds because they are too awesome not to order and they’re, somewhat shockingly, not terrible for you. The medium order of curds comes in at 510 calories, 25g fat, 51g carbs, and 20g protein. But what allows me to get the curds without a second thought is that my entree is the beef pot roast sandwich. This lesser known gem of the menu is 410 calories, 13g of fat, 40g of carbs, and 31g of protein. It is as simple as fast food gets: beef pot roast on a bun, no sauce, no toppings. Despite the lack of sauce or toppings it still has plenty of flavor, to the point where I actually prefer it to the butter burgers. My days of ordering dessert anywhere are basically over, but if your diet leaves room I highly recommend the salted caramel cookie dough concrete mixer, which will set you back either 610 (mini), 890 (small), 1130 (medium), or 1600 (large) calories. No matter what you order, it’s hard to go wrong. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #Culvers #PotRoastSandwich #CheeseCurds #WisconsinFastFood #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CW3GZj4LWuG/?utm_medium=tumblr

TL;DR Version: I thought I was already ordering the perfect fast food diet meal from @Chickfila, but it turns out I only had half of it right. The correct order for dieting fast foodies is: Cool Wrap, Chicken Noodle Soup, 8-Count Grilled Nuggets, and a Coke Zero. Full Review: It is not easy eating fast food every day while simultaneously getting in shape. It is, however, possible if you research the menu in advance and stick to the plan when ordering. For my personal diet goals, I need 130g protein and a caloric intake below 2,000 every day. Meeting these twin objectives does not leave a lot of wiggle room, particularly for someone who eats every meal out. Up until a week ago I had a perfect high-protein, low-calorie order ready to go for any fast food restaurant I frequent. Or so I thought. For years my go-to Chick-fil-A order has been a spicy chicken sandwich meal, substitute a small chicken noodle soup for the fries, Coke Zero for the drink, add an 8-count nugget with sweet & spicy sriracha sauce. Total macros for this meal are 875 calories, 33g fat, 83g carbs, and 64g protein. Then last week I was at a conference in Tampa and met an extraordinary woman who is a bona fide Chick-fil-A expert. When I brought up my perfect Chick-fil-A diet meal she asked if I was getting the cool wrap and grilled nuggets. I ran the numbers and my mind was blown. Her revisions to my meal result in macros of 600 calories, 19g fat, 46g carbs, and 76g protein. The cool wrap is a bit bland, but she recommended a side of light balsamic vinaigrette, which adds flavor and only 80 calories, 4g fat, 10g carbs, and 0g protein. Even with the dressing, the macros in this new meal are miles ahead of my old meal. If you’re looking to diet without giving up fast food, it’s definitely doable with appropriate scouting. If you’re looking to do it Monday - Saturday, this meal is an awesome addition to your fast food diet. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #FastFoodDiet #Chickfila #CoolWrap #ChickenNoodleSoup #GrilledNuggets #CokeZero #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ6Z1DPrNK3/?utm_medium=tumblr

TL;DR Version: The @RealZaxbys Spicy Signature Chicken Sandwich is a worthy addition to the menu and much better than their previous chicken sandwich efforts, although it isn’t very spicy. Full Review: This is probably my last chicken sandwich review for awhile since I feel burnt out on these. However, @RakMichaell requested this review and fast food restaurants keep churning out chicken sandwiches, so here we are. I was particularly dubious of this one because my last Zaxby’s chicken sandwich experience was terrible, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I got this time around. The sandwich is mostly what you’ve come to expect at this point; crispy fried chicken breast on a potato bun with spicy sauce and three pickle slices. The sandwich was pretty large, the chicken breast thick and perfectly breaded. The little heat it had came from their new Spicy Zax Sauce. The original Zax Sauce is one of my favorite sauces in all of fast food and I think it’s really the perfect fried chicken dipping sauce (great for your fries too). This spicy version is good, but it doesn’t measure as legitimately hot for me. My favorite part of this sandwich, as weird as it sounds, was the pickles. Most of these chicken sandwiches have basically limp, flavorless pickles and only the two slices so you barely notice them. With this sandwich and it’s three pickle slices I felt like I could taste pickle in every bite. The Zaxby’s spicy signature chicken sandwich comes in at 770 calories, 42g fat, 53g carbs, and 45g protein. This isn’t the best spicy chicken sandwich out there, it isn’t very spicy, and it’s got a lot of calories relative to most of its competitors, but it is a very good sandwich and I highly recommend it based on its flavor and size. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #Zaxbys #SpicyChickenSandwich #ChickenSandwichWars #ZaxSauce #SignatureChickenSandwich #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CNz-9n_lQ10/?igshid=1kure3bpidejy

TL;DR Version: The Totchos from Sonic were an extremely uninspired offering and definitely didn’t justify the hit to my daily macros. Full Review: I’m a big fan of @sonicdrivein. I like that they carry a wide variety of entrees and sides that normal fast food joints simply don’t have. I’m also a huge fan of tater tots and will get it as a side over nearly any other option. So when I saw the commercial for the new Totchos at Sonic I was excited to try them. I picked up a medium order late one night and the first thing that struck me was how “thrown together” they looked. It’s a medium order of tots with some cheese sauce, Baja sauce, bacon pieces, diced onions, and sliced jalapeños. The bacon and vegetables are just sitting on top of the tots and not stuck to the them in any way, so it all just falls off when you pick up a tot. As a result, I ended up eating them with a fork to try to hold the ingredients together and even that didn’t work well. The reason nachos or cheese fries work is because the cheese binds all the solid ingredients together. The cheese sauce and Baja sauce here aren’t strong enough to do that for the Totchos and the result is overwhelmingly a loose pile of toppings on some tater tots. It’s also not doing your macros any favors at 550 calories, 36g of fat, 48g of carbs, and 10g of protein. I appreciate that Sonic is trying to add to their already impressive menu, but I’m sad to say this one just doesn’t work for me. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #Sonic #SonicDriveIn #Totchos #TaterTots #Bacon #CheeseTots #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/B8_uGDjlfQB/?igshid=17pqtkx99w3ma

TL;DR Version: The new $1 tacos from @BurgerKing closely resemble the deep fried tacos from @JackintheBox and I’d rather drive an extra several miles to @TacoBell for a fast food taco. Full Review: Burger King is trying something new this summer by introducing tacos to their menu. But these don’t look like typical tacos. They’re deep fried to the point where the tortilla shell is as crispy as it could possibly be and the filling is basically a lump of ground beef, lettuce, shredded cheese, and taco sauce within. The tacos are pretty small, but they’re only a buck each so it’s not like they’re overpriced. They taste okay, with the taco sauce adding a small hint of heat. The consistency of the ground beef actually made me think there were refried beans mixed in, but according to their website it’s just seasoned beef. They’re basically the same as the tacos from Jack in the Box, except the Burger King tacos don’t have a full slice of cheese inside and Jack in the Box sells their tacos 2 for $1.29 last I checked. They even appear to have the same macros as the Jack in the Box tacos at 170 calories, 9g of fat, 19g of carbs, and 5g of protein. If you’re someone like me who orders at least 5 tacos at a time, it is really hard to salvage your day after that. For comparison, the crunchy beef taco at Taco Bell has more taco filling and macros of 170 calories, 9g of fat, 13g of carbs, and 8g of protein. If you live in an area without Jack in the Box and crave one of their tacos, want a smaller crispier taco than what you get at Taco Bell, or just want to see what this is all about, the Burger King taco is for you. If you want something with more filling that more closely resembles the taco emoji (🌮), drive yourself to Taco Bell instead. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #BurgerKing #Tacos #BurgerKingTacos #DeepFriedTacos #JackintheBoxTacos #TacoBell #LimitedTimeFastFood #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz3E8u7l8Iz/?igshid=lqciz6x9zokp

TL;DR Version: The new chicken sandwich from @popeyeslouisianakitchen is much better than the average fast food chicken sandwich, but it’s not better than @Chickfila and isn’t worth waiting an hour in these ridiculous lines. Full Review: For the first time in its existence, Popeye’s released a chicken breast sandwich... and America lost its collective mind. Driving home from the gym a few nights ago I saw a line at Popeye’s at 10pm that looked like a lunch line at Chick-fil-A. On my lunch break the next day I drove to a Popeye’s away from campus to beat the lines, but the drive thru line there was still spilling out onto the parkway and the wait inside for a chicken sandwich was an hour. I went back 5 hours later and the wait was still 30 minutes. Unless you’ve absolutely gotta try this Popeyes sandwich right now, don’t stand in a 30-60 minute line. No sandwich is that good. Meanwhile, everyone is comparing this Popeye’s sandwich to the original Chick-fil-A, but they’re really pretty different. The size of the sandwiches are similar, but the Popeye’s sandwich is fried very crispy while the Chick-fil-A sandwich is lightly breaded. The Popeye’s sandwich is also covered in mayo (or spicy mayo if you get the spicy sandwich), while the Chick-fil-A sandwich (spicy or not) doesn’t come topped with any condiment. For my money, a sandwich that requires no condiments is superior to one that does and I much prefer the texture of the Chick-fil-A sandwich. In terms of nutrition, however, it’s not even close. The original Chick-fil-A has 440 calories, 18g fat, 41g carbs, and 28g protein. Popeye’s has announced its sandwich’s calorie content at 690 and all the mayo probably accounts for about 100 of those calories. We don’t know the rest of its macros, but I am guessing it is around 40g fat, 55g carbs, and 27g protein. Ultimately it’s just a matter of preference because these are both top tier fast food chicken sandwiches. If you want to try this sandwich, wait a month and go back when the dust from the chicken wars has settled. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #Popeyes #ChickenSandwich #PopeyesChickenSandwich #SpicyChickenSandwich #Chickfila #ChickenWars #FastFoodMacros https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jutTWFJTu/?igshid=u1xpz4v4u5pn

TL;DR Version: The Stroopwafel McFlurry is a big step up from the standard McFlurry flavors, but not worth the incredible carb total it comes with. Full Review: On June 5th, @McDonalds introduced their international line of fast food items. Largely uninspired (the “Australian” bacon cheese fries are the same thing they offered a few months ago), the lone interesting entry is the Stroopwafel McFlurry from The Netherlands. The cashier at my local McDonald’s described it to her coworker as, “The same as the Oreo McFlurry except you use *these* things instead of Oreos.” In this case, “these things” refers to crushed stroopwafel, which I had to look up online because I’m apparently not that cultured. Stroopwafels are literally “syrup waffles” with a layer of caramel between two thin sheets of dough pressed with the grid pattern of a traditional waffle. Crumbled and mixed into vanilla ice cream, it’s a little bit crunchy and a little bit chewy with a flavor more waffle than caramel. I enjoyed it while I was eating it, but it completely blew up my diet plan for the day. The “large” was not very big, but still contained 650 calories. McDonald’s doesn’t publish the other nutritional info for this item, but the M&M McFlurry, which has nearly the same calorie content, has 96g of carbs, 22g of fat, and 13g of protein. It’s worth trying one to say you did, but you really need to spend the rest of your day eating great to overcome the terrible macros. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #McDonalds #InternationalMenu #Stroopwaffel #McFlurry #StroopwaffelMcFlurry #InternationalFastFood #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/realfastfoodie/p/ByYO4UjF_iY/?igshid=1odqge5n05sm

TL;DR Version: The Apple Pie Milkshake from @PDQFreshFood is absolutely awesome and worth however many calories are in it. Full Review: Between going home for my high school reunion, buying a house, and preparing for a category 4 hurricane, I have not been on top of my fast food reviews lately. However, in the midst of all that I did manage to find a PDQ and try their current seasonal milkshake: the Apple Pie shake. I originally ordered a Heath Bar shake before seeing the poster for the Apple Pie shake and asking the cashier which was better. She didn’t even think about it before telling me unequivocally that the Apple Pie shake was better so I changed my order. And I was so glad that I did. The shake had a vanilla ice cream base, Apple Pie filling, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and hunks of apple, topped with whipped cream, more Cinnamon Toast Crunch, caramel drizzle, and an apple slice for garnish. I can’t underscore just how delicious this shake is. If you like apple pie a la mode, you’re going to love this milkshake. Unfortunately, PDQ still refuses to list the nutritional information for their limited time offerings so I can’t tell you the macros here. This is confusing because the shake has been available for more than 60 days and therefore does not qualify as a “temporary menu item” under 21 CFR 101.11(a). If anyone can explain to me how they avoid complying with the FDA regulations, please let me know. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #ApplePieMilkshake #CinnamonToastCrunch #ApplePieFilling #PDQ #FDACompliance #WhatAreTheMacros #FastFoodMacros #iifym (at PDQ) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo1ax8SnDcC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qb7d319qhpi7

TL;DR Version: The Chocolate Iced Glazed Donut from @KrispyKreme is only available today and it’s definitely worth trying if you like the original Krispy Kreme donuts. If you got a sample earlier in the week, go back and try it again today because they’re infinitely better today. Full Review: In recognition of World Chocolate Day, Krispy Kreme announced that it would be producing a chocolate glazed version of its original glazed donuts for only one day, July 7, 2018. I stopped at my local Krispy Kreme this past week to try their other limited time donuts (reviews of those coming soon) and asked what the deal was for Saturday. In response, the woman behind the counter gave me a free sample of the chocolate day donut. I was going to do the review that day based on the sample, but I’m glad I didn’t because the sample donut wasn’t nearly as good as the real thing. The sample had a very thin, light brown layer of chocolate and only tasted faintly of chocolate (see the third photo in the set above). Meanwhile, the donuts this morning were unrecognizable as dark brown, heavily layered and bursting with chocolate flavor (first photo in the set). Under all that chocolate was the same light and airy original donut that Krispy Kreme patrons love so well. My only real complaint was that, despite the “hot original glazed now” light being on, these *chocolate* glazed donuts were not served hot. Nutritionally, these aren’t that different from the original glazed with one chocolate iced glazed donut giving you you 240 calories, 11g of fat, 33g of carbs, and 3g of protein. If you like the original donuts and you love chocolate, you should treat yourself to one of these today while you have the chance. If you got a sample during the week and didn’t like it, go back today and get the real thing. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #KrispyKreme #WorldChocolateDay #ChoclateIcedGlazedDonut #OriginalKrispyKreme #HotNowSign #FastFoodMacros #iifym

TL;DR Version: The @PDQFreshfood Spicy Chicken Sandwich has unseated Chick-fil-A as my favorite Spicy Chicken Sandwich and their spicy nuggets are easily the hottest around. Full Review: They say a playoff series doesn’t start until someone wins on the other team’s court. That’s how the chicken sandwich wars have felt for me up to this point. Decent chicken sandwiches pop up here and there, but everyone has been playing for second. And I didn’t expect anything different when I stopped for dinner at PDQ on a long drive. This latest entry into the spicy chicken sandwich fray looks slightly different than the standard, but not very. A seasoned breaded filet, two pickle slices, a pile of iceberg lettuce, and PDQ’s new signature sauce on a buttered, toasted, and steamed potato bun. The new PDQ sauce is creamy horseradish, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic, and black pepper. The interesting thing with this sandwich is that it’s spicy without the sauce because the the marinade and the breading. The spicy nuggets are marinated and breaded the same way as the sandwich so I bought an 8 count just to get a better idea of where the heat was really coming from and the answer was “everywhere.” Sans sauce, the nuggets were still very spicy. Adding the PDQ sauce had me downing my entire drink for relief. The woman working the drive thru gave me a warning about the nuggets because she routinely gets complaints that they’re too spicy. Everyone else trying to do truly spicy nuggets should go to PDQ because they’re the only place who’s got it right. My one complaint about PDQ continues to be that they don’t post nutritional information for their limited time offers. Based on their “Crispy Chicken Sandwich” I’m estimating the spicy chicken sandwich is around the same 510 calories, 23g fat, 45g carbs, and 32g protein. But if you like spicy chicken this as good as you’ll find in fast food. This sandwich and these nuggets are definitely worth the trip. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #PDQ #SpicyChickenSandwich #ChickenSandwichWars #PDQSauce #SpicyChickenNuggets #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-ETdWlkWv/?igshid=15nxxclklzswt

TL;DR Version: The Crystal Ball Frappuccino from @Starbucks tastes like peaches & cream and it’s wonderful. Full Review: I’ll level with you, my first thought when I saw there was a new Frappuccino at Starbucks was, “Crap. I’m gonna have to get this.” As I’ve made strides to get in better shape, part of the movement has involved cutting the Frappuccinos out of my daily Starbucks visits. Today I wasn’t even going to get my usual macchiato, but the sign over the counter made it clear people would be asking me about the “Crystal Ball Frappuccino” and this was going to be a fat day. I apologized to the barista behind the counter (they hate making Frappuccinos) as I ordered a grande. I hadn’t bothered asking what was in it and from the picture it looked white with green streaks and sprinkles on top. I later learned there are three color options and the color of the sprinkles you get is up to the barista. Based on the photo, I was expecting some sort of vanilla bean and matcha or sour apple flavor. I braced myself for what I expected to be a hideous taste, took a sip, and couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed it. Instead of some tart nonsense or something that tastes like cotton candy covered in raw sugar, this had a tropical flavor I couldn’t place. The earlier, “Crap. I’m gonna have to get this” had turned into, “Oh, crap. I actually really like this.” I asked the barista what kind of syrup was in it and she said, “mocha.” I chuckled and asked, “What *else* is in it?” At that point the other barista chimed in and explained that it also had peach syrup and peach flavored whipped cream. When I said I loved it they both laughed and congratulated me for being the first person all day who did. It’s possible I’m the one with broken taste buds, but I can’t imagine not liking this. I didn’t pick up on the mocha elements, but I might not have the refined palate to taste those notes. No matter, I really enjoyed this and if not for the rather outrageous price, I’d get this again since it only has 130 more calories than my usual Caramel Macchiato (380 vs 250). #RealFastFoodie #InstaReviews #PeachesAndCream #Starbucks #FrostedSunrise #Frappuccino #CrystalBallFrappuccino #FatDay

TL;DR Version: The Salted Caramel Shake from @Whataburger is wonderful and, if you love caramel, you owe it to yourself to try it before it’s gone. Full Review: I recently got a request to do a review of the new Salted Caramel Shake at Whataburger. This was the first I’d heard of it so I immediately opened up the Whataburger app to see what I was dealing with. The app showed nutritional information for only two sizes, a 16oz and a 20oz, while the Whataburger app and the Whataburger website showed different calorie counts for the 16oz Shake (370 on the app, 430 on the website). Whichever it is, the 16oz shake was worth giving up 400-ish calories somewhere else in the day. The caramel taste was strong and accurate, like a liquid Werther’s Original. In fact, this shake reminded me how much I miss the days when I allowed myself to eat a whole bag of Werther’s Original Chewy Caramels in one sitting. The end result was me running my straw all around the bottom and sides of the cup trying to suck up every last drop because it was that good. If you like caramel, you owe it to yourself to try this before it’s gone. Bonus Review: If you love caramel like me, I recommend the Caramel Pretzel Mania flavor frozen Greek yogurt from @Yasso. Vanilla, swirled heavily with caramel, and filled with small pieces of chocolate covered pretzel. I can’t remember the last time I was that impressed with something I got in the Publix ice cream freezer. #Whataburger #SaltedCaramelShake #Whatashake #FastFoodReviews #ReaderRequests #RealFastFoodie #WerthersOriginal #CaramelPretzelMania #Yasso #Publix

TL;DR Version: The Grilled Cheese Burrito from @TacoBell is a larger version of the beefy crunch burrito, except covered with melted cheese. It tastes great, but I can’t handle the 39g of fat on any regular basis. Full Review: Through a confluence of being busy with my actual job and restaurants pulling back on new items during the pandemic, it’s been a long time since I reviewed anything. Fortunately, TacoBell has soldiered on and @liz.d.ellis specifically requested this review, so I give you the Grilled Cheese Burrito. Inside the burrito you’ll find seasoned beef, seasoned rice, nacho cheese sauce, sour cream, chipotle sauce, crispy tortilla strips, and a three cheese blend. Atop the burrito you’ll find a thin layer of melted cheese from one end to the other. It’s almost the exact same thing as the Beefy Crunch Burrito, except this has chipotle sauce inside, melted cheese on the outside, and fried tortilla strips instead of Flamin’ Hot Fritos. I also think it’s larger than the beefy crunch burrito, which is nice because too often I feel like I need multiple entrees to get full. As for the nutrition, it’s not terrible at 710 calories, 39g of fat, 64g of carbs, and 26g of protein. While not terrible, it’s also not something that will regularly fit my macros since I try to keep my fat intake around 60g per day. But if you have the room in your diet, this is a burrito that tastes good and fills you up as much as any other single item on the menu. I thought I was also going to review Taco Bell’s new Pineapple Whip Freeze, but the machine at this particular Taco Bell was broken. If I find a working one, I’ll do a follow up review because it looks excellent and the woman at the drive thru highly recommended it. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #GrilledCheeseBurrito #BeefyCrunchBurrito #BrokenIceCreamMachine #TacoBell #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CD92pQrFHkn/?igshid=1phawvh1rolks

TL;DR Version: The Wendy’s Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant is a tasty option, while the Breakfast Baconator is a fat bomb with mismatched parts. Full Review: When Wendy’s started serving breakfast two months ago I was dealing with the flu. Then I decided that I was going to focus on diet and exercise during the apocalypse so it pushed this review back even farther. But last weekend I decided it was finally time to scope out the menu, set an alarm, and make it to Wendy’s before 10:30am. The no brainer of my order was the Breakfast Baconator. This Baconator is a sausage patty, egg, double helpings of bacon and cheese, with a Swiss cheese sauce on a standard bun. I think I would have enjoyed this sandwich if it hadn’t been for the Swiss cheese sauce. I generally don’t like cheese sauce and this one in particular did not mix well with the other flavors. It’s also weird to have a breakfast sandwich with a traditional bun. But the most damning thing is the nutritional information. At 730 calories, 50g of fat, 36g of carbs, and 34g of protein, it accounts for 1/3 of my daily calories and almost my entire daily fat intake. While I wasn’t a fan, I genuinely applaud the concept and I think with a few tweaks this could work much better. I knew I had to get the Breakfast Baconator, but I wanted to try a second sandwich too. After looking at every other item they had, the only one that seemed noteworthy was the Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant and it was much better on all counts. All of its ingredients (a fried chicken filet, bacon, maple butter, and a croissant) are right there in the name. The maple butter was perfectly sweet and the croissant actually made sense for a breakfast sandwich. The croissant was slightly small and more dense than I expect a croissant to be, but it was a fine sandwich and a good change up from your standard fast food breakfast options. It weighs in at only 560 calories, 30g of fat, 51g of carbs, and 22g of protein. If you’re going to try one of these sandwiches, I’d go with the Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #Wendys #WendysBreakfast #FastFoodBreakfast #MapleBaconCroissant #Baconater #FastFoodReviews #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/CAFlmLql661/?igshid=10m43y5v2kiio

TL;DR Version: The Dr Pepper Shake from Whataburger is subtle enough that it works, but it’ll disappoint if you’re expecting more than subtlety. Full Review: I got a coupon flyer in the mail this week advertising a new Dr Pepper flavored milkshake from Whataburger. My reaction was a head on collision between “I can’t wait to try this!” and “How could Dr Pepper with milk possibly taste good?” I scoped out the macros in advance this time and waited for a day where I could handle the calorie hit of a small shake. The small (16oz) shake tips the scales at 420 calories, 9g of fat, 78g of carbs, and 8g of protein. Admittedly, 16oz isn’t very much shake, but if you’re trying to be only *slightly* irresponsible with your dieting or if you just want to take a flavor for a test drive, it’s plenty. By a drive thru quirk I ended up watching my shake get made and it was a bit disappointing to peek behind the curtain because all the guy did was spray some Dr Pepper syrup into a vanilla milkshake and hit it with a mixer. Whataburger shakes are so thick that even after the drive home it was still too thick to drink through a straw so I removed the lid and ate it with a spoon like ice cream. When I looked under the hood the shake was was much lighter in color than I expected; more coffee & cream than Dr Pepper. At first I wasn’t sure they’d given me the correct flavor, but then the aftertaste was definitely Dr Pepper. With every additional bite the Dr Pepper came through more clearly until I reached the bottom where there was only vanilla ice cream because the syrup hadn’t mixed to that depth. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, but I’m not sure I’d do it again. Give it a try if you’re looking for something different or if you really love Dr Pepper. Although, you might be disappointed if you’re looking for a strong Dr Pepper flavor. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #DrPepperShake #Whataburger #DrPepper #Milkshake #WhataShake #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sGkG7FdnP/?igshid=13l333gphnzvc

TL;DR Version: The BFC Thickburger from @Hardees is a good burger, but it’s as bad for you as you’d expect from a sandwich topped with a fried cheese wheel. Full Review: I can’t remember who sent me the ad for the BFC Thickburger, but I do remember thinking I’d have to starve myself the rest of the day to eat something like that. It wasn’t quite that bad, but I wasn’t too far off. The BFC Thickburger is a 1/3 pound beef patty, lettuce, tomato, spicy “Star” sauce, and a deep fried wheel of seasoned cheddar and mozzarella cheese on a premium bun. My concern going in, other than the macros, was that the burger wouldn’t be flavorful enough with just the Star sauce as a condiment. Those fears turned out to be unfounded because the cheese wheel was packed with all kinds of flavor from the seasoning and the Star sauce was a perfect complement to it. As for the macros, this sandwich tips the scales at 1,060 calories, 62g of fat, 78g of carbs, and 49g of protein. It’s certainly not the unhealthiest thing I’ve eaten. It won’t even be the unhealthiest thing I eat this week. Still, it has nearly 100% of my fat content for the day and accounts for nearly half my daily calories. I think this is a good burger and it’s worth trying if you love fried cheese, but all things in moderation and be sure to eat the entire sandwich while it’s still hot because cold fried cheese is no one’s friend. #FastFoodReviews #RealFastFoodie #BFCThickburger #Hardees #FriedCheese #FriedCheeseBurger #FastFoodMacros #iifym https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XBJSTleyT/?igshid=1vd5zjzbe2ohf