Drive-Thru Gourmet
Dairy Queen turns up the heat with Western BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger and Oreo Hot Cocoa Blizzard
This week I reached out for a Western BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger, new from America's rolling dessert cart, Dairy Queen, with 6,700 sweet shops spanning all 50 states.
While Dairy Queen gets a well deserved "dilly dilly" for its Dilly Bars, DQ's burgers are an underrated surprise. DQ's burgers have charred crackly edges, something most of the national chains' burgers have long stopped doing. Burgers that put up a fight are a tough find these days. Keep turning up the heat, DQ.
Here's the Western BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger breakdown, including actual quotes from the DQ hype machine: a "100 percent all-beef patty," American cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, crispy onion rings, and smoky barbecue sauce on a lightly toasted bun.
Total calories: 500. Fat grams: 25. Sodium: 1,020 mg. Carbs: 42 g. Dietary fiber: 2 g. Protein: 26 g. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: the Western BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger is part of DQ's "$5 Buck Lunch Deal," which includes fries, a 21-ounce drink, and small sundae.
For $1 more, you can upgrade the sundae to a small Blizzard. Might I recommend the Oreo Hot Cocoa Blizzard, also new at Dairy Queen this holiday season?
Not to go all grammar police on DQ's press folks, but it's not necessary to say "100 percent all-beef." You're repeating yourself. Also, "$5 Buck" is either redundant or makes no sense.
Fun fact: the DQ "manager" in commercials is actor Daniel Acker. So far, he's gotten mostly bit parts. This season, he's billed in an episode of Modern Family as "hat store guy." I smell what he's cooking, but it's not an Emmy.
On to the burger. Slapping an onion ring and bacon on a burger is nothing new. Carl's Jr., Burger King, and others have been expanding their topping repertoire for years. Dairy Queen lets its burger patty do the talking, no lettuce and tomato to cover for it.
Who doesn't love a crunchy onion ring on their burger? Here's what is so vexing: raw onions on a burger, disaster. In fact, a fast food owner I know says it's the No. 1 thing he has to sweep up in the drive-thru at quitting time. But deep-fried breaded onion rings, yippee.
I will never understand how French fries became the preferred fast food side dish over o-rings. I suspect the work of a powerful Washington lobbyist, possibly an unregistered foreign agent.
Dairy Queen's edge is value, this is a lot of food for $5 bucks (I'll let it slide this time, DQ). After you're done eating your burger, DQ's desserts are literally the cherry on top. Nothing at McDonald's, the King, Wendy's, or KFC can touch a Blizzard for a big-time meal finisher.
By the way, DQ's new Oreo Hot Cocoa Blizzard has cookie chunks, warm cocoa fudge, and vanilla soft serve. Yeah, that sounds just awful. How much to make it a large?