Someone (me) holds a Chipotle BBQ quarter pounder. Right: A bird's-eye view of an opened Chipotle BBQ burger.
McDonald's has launched yet another burger, this time inspired by the barbecue culture of the Southern United States, which happens to be my home region. As a North Carolinian, I have a lot of barbecue opinions, some of which are sure to grace these hallowed e-pages in the future. For now, let's say that I am somewhat qualified to review this new menu item.
The new Chipotle BBQ burger comes in a quarter pound and double quarter pound size, and I opted for the smaller burger because I'm just a little guy and I don't really like having that much burger meat in my sandwiches. If you're mad about it, take it up with my supervisor, okay?
The quarter-pound Chipotle BBQ burger is comprised of a beef patty topped with "sweet and spicy chipotle BBQ sauce, hickory smoked bacon strips, crispy onions, pickles, and two slices of processed cheddar cheese," according to the McDonald's website. It's 630 calories, but I literally could not care less about that. I'll be rating this burger out of five stars, so keep an eye on the tally as we go.
Let's take a look inside and see if everything advertised is present.
A bird's-eye view of an opened Chipotle BBQ burger.Willa Holt | MTL Blog
Besides one missing slice of cheese, it seems everything is in order (ha ha). The sauce isn't evenly distributed, which, in hindsight, I should have taken as the first warning sign.
Despite my editor's better judgement, I ordered this meal using a third-party delivery app (guess which one), so I'm lucky to have received the right food in the first place. Living in a far-flung, mostly residential pocket of the city means sometimes McDonald's is not close enough to leave my house on my precious, precious lunch break, okay?
Upon first bite, the flavour profile is that of a McDonald's burger with a hint of crispy crunch from the fried onions. It's a little sweet due to the barbecue sauce, which we absolutely must address immediately.
It's lending the burger a strong barbecue flavour, but the kind that comes from a sugary, mass-produced commercial sauce, not that deep richness that comes from cooking something low and slow.
A surprisingly nice photo of a half-eaten McDonald's burger.Willa Holt | MTL Blog
We're halfway through and I'm feeling mildly displeased. This is just a burger with barbecue sauce on it. Despite my initial reaction to the uneven distribution of the sauce, now it feels overpowering. The second realization I've come to at this point is that there should absolutely NOT be pickles on this burger.
The acidity doesn't blend well with the cloyingly sweet sauce, and it feels like a mistake.
Immediately upon finishing the burger, my stomach was satisfied. For that, this burger earns at least one star out of five. But every bite has reaffirmed that the pickles are a bad call, and the sauce isn't complex enough to hold up for this many bites.
A cross-section of the disappointing burger.Willa Holt | MTL Blog
It's got the barbecue energy to power a small handheld fan, and what I'm really looking for in a five-out-of-five burger is a punch of layered flavour with enough oomph to fuel a small town. It should be balanced and interesting, but this sauce has an unsatisfying, threefold flavour profile: a huge helping of sweetness, a tiiiiiny pinch of spice, and one single spoonful of barbecue flavour.
I wasn't exactly expecting greatness from this burger, and certainly not from the sauce, but unfortunately, she was the star of the show. If you enjoy a McDonald's quarter pounder and you're a fan of cheap, sugary barbecue sauce, you will probably be able to enjoy this burger, which I give a resounding two out of five stars.
When I placed this order, my partner got McNuggets, and I'm honestly a little jealous.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
