14 Things To Avoid Ordering At Wendy's And Why
If it's a quick bite to eat you're after, Wendy's has got your back. From breakfast to burgers, chicken to chili, Wendy's has an extensive menu that will cater to pretty much anyone. The iconic quick-eats chain not only offers indulgent treats but has some unexpectedly wholesome options, too, with healthy sandwiches and surprisingly nutritious fast food salads. This range is part of the reason why Wendy's is so ubiquitous across the country, with almost 6,000 stores mainly concentrated across the Eastern states.
But while there are a lot of positive qualities to shout about on the Wendy's menu, there are also a few bad ones. With such a lengthy menu, there are bound to be a few bad apples in there — and Wendy's has a few key food options to avoid. This isn't just because they're not super-nutritious, either. We got the inside scoop on how some Wendy's items are prepared or handled, and let us tell ya, you'll never want to order them again. Let's take a look at all the things to avoid ordering at Wendy's and why.
Wendy's chili is made from old burgers
Wendy's chili is pretty iconic, guys. The chain restaurant has somewhat cornered the market when it comes to chili in a fast food joint (let's be real, you won't find a cup of piping hot meaty goodness that conveniently in many other places). But while it might be quick and tasty, you might be surprised to hear that some people think you should never order Wendy's chili.
For starters, where do you think the meat comes from in their fast food chili? If we told you that it was made from old burgers, how would you feel? That's right — the beef in their chili is made from the burgers that haven't sold, which are chopped up and simmered in the chili sauce, revealed someone claiming to be a former employee via Reddit. Now, it's important to be clear that there's nothing intrinsically wrong with this from a health perspective. But we're willing to bet that the thought of eating potentially past-their-prime burgers isn't music to your ears.
That's not the only reason why you shouldn't eat the chili, either. This menu item is frighteningly high in sodium, with just one small portion containing 910 milligrams. When you consider that adults should try to consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily, that's almost a third of your Daily Value in one relatively small cup of chili. You might be better off reaching for something slightly less salty.
Your fries might not be fresh
Cheap, tasty, and uncontroversial — it's hard to go wrong with fries at a fast food restaurant. But if you're at a Wendy's, the fries could be one of the last things you want to order. This isn't necessarily because of their taste, though, and more because of how they're treated – especially if you ask for them fresh.
A commenter on Reddit exposed that when customers ask for fresh fries at Wendy's, the employees will routinely "just take the fries already in the warmer and put them in the fryer again just long enough to heat them back up" (per Reddit). This was corroborated by another former employee in the same thread, who discussed the practice of refrying already-salted fries to freshen them up and make them seem less salty. This doesn't take a great leap of logic to figure out that doing this results in overly-greasy, over-cooked, pretty disgusting fries.
For balance, another commenter and former employee replied that this sounded pretty bogus and that they'd never seen it happen. "Unless new fries are coming up, your fries at gonna be 5 minutes old at most," they shot back. But it's better to be safe than sorry, right?
The Triple Peppercorn Mushroom Melt is laden with saturated fat
Look, you weren't born yesterday. You know that if you're buying a burger from a fast food place, it's not likely to be the healthiest thing you can be eating. But even the most ardent of burger lovers would be shocked at the nutritional value of this next sandwich.
The Triple Peppercorn Mushroom Melt from Wendy's is a no-go due to its unhealthy nature. The sandwich contains a mammoth 1,290 calories per serving before you even factor in any add-ons like fries or a drink. And its fat content is through the roof, with 86 grams of the stuff, including 33 grams of saturated fat. As well as this being well over your recommended limit for the day, these types of fats can have a detrimental impact on your body, and raise your bad cholesterol levels when eaten in higher quantities.
This meaty monster also provides 78 grams of protein per serving. While that could potentially sound like a good thing, particularly if you're trying to bulk up in the gym, it's useful to remember the risks. Consuming too much protein regularly can lead to digestive trouble, a greater impact on your risk of heart disease, and pressure on your kidneys. This behemoth burger is best left behind on the menu. Thankfully for your arteries, many Wendy's locations might not carry the burger anymore.
Their Frosty mix may not be kept hygienically
Think of Wendy's, and the image of a Frosty probably isn't far off. Icy, creamy peaks of frozen, milky, sugary delight, Frosty's are a staple of the Wendy's menu. But — and this is a big but — ordering a Frosty in a Wendy's could be a grave error due to the unhygienic conditions they could be kept in, a user said on Reddit.
"Never order Frostys at Wendy's," said the Redditor. In a thread asking fast food employees what menu items to avoid, the user said, "Most employees don't care to properly clean out the frosty machine correctly." Instead, when everyone's finished for the day, employees will simply slop out the mixture into a bucket, put it in the fridge, and reuse it for the next shift. Additionally, the user claimed that the conditions that the Frosty is kept inside the fridge itself are pretty poor, with the bucket often not even sealed by employees. This leaves it open to contamination from other sources. All of this mistreatment of the food and the equipment it's served in can heighten the risk of infection from bacteria or foodborne illness. That Frosty might be delicious, but it might not be worth the risk.
The Wendy's fish sandwich may not be super-fresh
For people who prefer to eat fish over meat, fast food restaurants can be a pretty bleak place. Usually, fast food joints have one, or maybe two fish options on the menu (most notably, McDonalds' Filet-O-Fish). Because of this, these fish selections better be good — but at Wendy's, unfortunately, you could be left wanting more.
The Wendy's fish sandwich — currently marketed as a Wild Caught Alaskan Fish Sandwich or Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich, made with pollock — is a disappointing affair from start to finish, according to a user claiming to be a former Wendy's worker via Reddit. The user said that the fish sandwich was the one thing they wouldn't order. This is due to it not being a popular item, which leads to restaurant managers not rotating their stock as often as you might think. Of the fish sandwich, the user said, "It's just common enough to keep around, but as for how often we would get a new shipment...let's just say some of those fishes could have been old enough to have a birthday." Yikes!
As such, if you're looking for a fried fish sandwich from a fast food restaurant, you should probably go elsewhere. Popeyes, White Castle, and good old McDonald's all have options that might be way more pleasing, and hopefully they use fresher fish.
The Homestyle Avocado BLT Chicken Sandwich is quite calorific
High-profile high-street chains are masters of branding, and this is evident from their advertising way down to what they name their meals. And so, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Homestyle Avocado BLT Chicken Sandwich is a healthy, nutritious choice. Sure, it has bacon in it, but there's also lettuce, tomato, and avocado, and it's "homestyle." That all just means goodness, right?
Wrong. As Wendy's sandwiches go, the Homestyle Avocado BLT Chicken Sandwich is pretty unhealthy. The sandwich has 720 calories, with half of those calories coming from fat alone. Although it's not the most calorific or fatty thing on their menu, it's still potentially more impactful than their other sandwich choices.
It should be pointed out, of course, that some of these fats are coming from the inclusion of avocados. And these fats are monounsaturated fats that can keep your cholesterol in good order if eaten as part of a healthy diet. The problem is that the other components of the sandwich, from its breaded chicken to its slice of cheese, aren't so nutritious — and it has a cholesterol level that's about a third of your daily allowance. While the sandwich may not be available at many Wendy's locations anymore, the simple chicken BLT on its menu is thankfully much lighter.
You might be disappointed by their baked potato
How much trouble can a baked potato be? This trusty foodstuff works as easily as the base of a meal as it does as an accompaniment to others. We wouldn't blame you if you don't understand why Wendy's baked potato, so humble and delicious, is on our list.
The reason they're here is not so much that they're bad for you, but that you might be happier ordering something else. "I would order anything from Wendy's except for baked potatoes," said a user claiming to be a former employee on Reddit. The worker, however, was keen to stress that this wasn't for any nutritional reasons. "Only because they're hit and miss. You never know how fresh the potato will be," they said.
Another user agreed. "I worked at Wendy's," they said, "and I would happily eat anything on the menu, except for a baked potato anytime more than an hour outside of the lunch /dinner rush, they get a little chewy." Practices will naturally differ from store to store, and your local restaurant might have super-fresh potatoes. However, based on this insider knowledge, you might want to try one of their other sides.
The Triple Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseburger is a calorie bomb
Just this sandwich's name should give away the fact that it's not the most nourishing burger in the world. Anything that has "bacon," "cheese," and "triple" in its marketing probably isn't going to imbue you with wellness, y'all. But honestly, Wendy's has really outdone itself with this burger, resoundingly making it one you should never order.
This enormous sandwich clocks in at an eye-watering 1,260 calories, which is the majority of a person's recommended Daily Value of calories in one go. To add to this, the Triple Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseburger delivers 86 grams of fat and 4.5 grams of trans fats. While we're not crazy about the total fat count, it's those trans fats that are important to flag up here. Trans fats, which are commonly manmade, harm your cholesterol levels, decreasing the good cholesterol in your blood and increasing the bad cholesterol. This can have some pretty negative implications for your heart health. The jalapeño variation might not be on many Wendy's menus anymore, but other triple-burger sandwiches still remain. So if you're feeling health-conscious (or just don't want to consume such a monster burger), it's far better to opt for another sandwich on the Wendy's menu.
Wendy's salads are unhealthier than you think
A mere mention of the word "salad" can conjure up images of virtuousness and health. Unfortunately, though, some Wendy's salads just aren't that healthy. Take the Wendy's taco salad, which is one you should think twice about ordering. Its sodium levels are off the chain, with almost 1,900 milligrams per serving. Given that some of their other salads can contain high sodium levels too, it could be useful to ask your server how you could reduce your intake, by requesting no added salt or a dressing on the side.
Wendy's salads may also be trouble for a different reason. If ordering them earlier in the day, you could be given day-old leaves past their prime. "Don't order salads from Wendy's until at least 12:30," a Reddit user said in a thread asking former fast food employees what not to order at their restaurants. "The first salads are yesterday's salads that have been flipped upside down and a layer of lettuce taken off the bottom." And Wendy's seasonal salads don't fare much better. Any Wendy's summertime salads that use strawberries may be at risk of a moldy berry sneaking into the fray thanks to fairly lax standards around separating moldy and non-moldy food, another Reddit user said in the thread. This may of course just be one person's experience in one location, but you might want to watch out nevertheless.
The Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple is astonishingly high in fat
Oh, boy. Wendy's has really outdone itself this time. The fast food joint is by no means a temple of nutrition, but the Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple obliterates any chance that you might consider it a healthy place to eat. This is one of the most unhealthy things you can order at the restaurant, says nutritionist Lisa Richards. "It is fairly obvious from a calorie standpoint alone why this burger earns the title worst Wendy's meal by providing nearly the full amount of calories most individuals need in a day at over 1500," Richards told Mashed.
As well as the phenomenal amount of calories, the fat content in this thing is through the roof. The Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple has 109 (!) grams of fat. Given that's way over the amount you should eat every day, and limiting fat intake is a smart move to protect your general and heart health, eating this frankly rather frightening burger is just going against nutritional sense. To add to that, the burger has 44 grams of saturated fat and 5 grams of trans fat. "Put these two facts together and you have a single burger that raises one's risk for nearly every chronic disease including hypertension, heart disease, and obesity," Richards warns.
Wendy's lemonade is not as fresh as you might think
Nothing hits the spot on a hot summer's day like a glass of fresh lemonade. And at Wendy's, fresh is on the menu, with the naming of their All-Natural Lemonade arguably implying that it's freshly made and wholesome. Regrettably, this is pretty far from the truth, according to former employees — and it's an item you really shouldn't order. A user claiming to be a former employee of the fast food chain said on Reddit that while a lot of Wendy's food is indeed fresh, the lemonade isn't. Instead, they said it's made from frozen concentrate.
And if you thought that this might just be an isolated method in one Wendy's store, unfortunately, it appears to be standard practice. A different user who said they're also a former worker said on Reddit, "The 'fresh' lemonade comes from a carton and mixed with tap water."
Now, it's of course worth mentioning that many juices and drinks are made from concentrate, and this doesn't necessarily mean that they're bad for you. When you consider how much sugar is in Wendy's lemonade, though, you might change your tune. A large serving of the drink contains a huge 93 grams of sugar, enough to make your dentist giddy. Between that and its production methods, we'll stick to a diet soda.
The Dave's Triple cheeseburger contains a large amount of your daily calories
One thing you can rely on Wendy's for is a good old burger. But somewhere down the line, their classic patty-and-bun combinations started to get bigger and more outlandish. One of the results of this is their Dave's Triple, also known as the ¾-lb. Triple with Cheese, and it's one of the unhealthiest sandwiches on the Wendy's menu. The burger throws three quarter-pounders between a bun and tops it with mountains of cheese, and the result is a sandwich that's sky-high in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
Consuming the Dave's Triple will provide you with approximately 1,090 calories, and that's if you just eat the burger and don't have any sides or a drink. It's useful to remember at this point that according to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average man should aim for roughly 2,500 calories daily, and the average woman should aim for 2,000. Dave's Triple, therefore, could put over half of your suggested calories per day on one plate. Instead of knocking out your calorie allowance in such a bold fashion, we recommend going for a smaller-sized burger. Sorry, Dave (whoever you are), this one's not for us.
Watch out for the chili cheese fries — the cheese may be made in a questionable way
The combination of crispy, salty fries, spicy chili, and oozing melted cheese that makes up chili cheese fries is not one to be missed. But if you're going to order chili cheese fries, you'll want each component to be superb — and that's where Wendy's might fall short. Reddit users who claimed to be ex-employees of the fast food chain said Wendy's has fairly questionable methods that some higher-ups use to make their cheese. "It depends on location but watch out for the liquid cheese," one user said via Reddit. "Some managers will make the crew pour boiling water from the coffee maker into it when it's almost out to 'make more.'"
And if you're not put off by that, you might want to take a look at what you're actually eating. Just one portion of Wendy's chili cheese fries provides a pretty big amount of calories for a side, as well as high levels of fat. And above all else, the sodium content is pretty worrying. Just one serving of their chili cheese fries contains 1,640 milligrams of sodium, close to the entire amount our body needs daily. Eating too much sodium can make you feel bloated and puffy, disrupt your digestive system, and contribute to long-term chronic conditions. Probably not worth it when you can get a better portion of chili cheese fries elsewhere.
The sauce pumps may not be up to standard
Fries, chicken nuggets, and burgers usually aren't complete without your favorite dipping sauce. And surely at places like Wendy's, these sauces are totally fine, right? Sure, they probably don't make them fresh, but how much could they mess up?
Well, quite a lot, apparently. In a post on Reddit asking former fast food workers to expose the secrets of their restaurants, a user claiming to be a Wendy's employee went into vivid detail about how gross the pumps can be. "The catsup comes in gallon or so plastic bags and you just take the lid off the pump, and squeeze this whole gallon of catsup in there," they said. The user went on to say the manager of this specific branch told them the pump that the ketchup was going into was never cleaned and that it should be avoided entirely.
The user said their Wendy's ketchup pump had "Old, petrified catsup on the outside borders of the bin (and probably inside the pump nozzle), with slightly less gross, hard layers a little further in, and eventually mushy and red enough to make it through the pump." Excuse us while we get a bucket. This, of course, is just the experience of one user claiming to be a Wendy's worker, and it's wrong to assume this is the case across the board. But maybe get a sachet of ketchup next time.
Static Media owns and operates The Daily Meal and Mashed.