Burgers and fries (Part 3)....

(Third of three parts.)

In all the fuss about the fast food war going on here in the Philippines between Jollibee and McDonald's, I failed to mention another fast food chain which has been putting up a good fight against the two giants, and is currently settled comfortably in third place. I'm talking about Wendy's.

The first Wendy's restaurant in the Philippines opened in December of 1983, in the midst of the aftermath of the assassination of former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, which occurred three months earlier. It was a tumultuous time, with popular discontent and political bickerings taking its toll on the Marcos administration (or as some would say, dictatorship) and the economy as a whole. This climaxed with the historical People Power Revolution three years later (see previous post here), which saw the ouster of the Marcoses and installation of Ninoy's widow, Corazon "Cory" Aquino as the new President of the Republic. Of course, that's another story altogether.

Let's go back to fast food. Wendy's at the time had a somewhat more varied menu, being the first to offer pre-portioned salads, a self-serve salad bar (creating a tall salad mound became a black art for most Filipinos) and baked potatoes. More than two decades later, the self-serve salad bar and baked potatoes seem to be a Wendy's exclusive, as no other fast food chains offered those items on the menu.

Wendy's also serves burgers and fries of course, and their signature burger is the Big Classic. There are several variants of the Big Classic, with the largest one having not one, not two, but three beef patties, along with the customer's choice of condiments. At almost P200 for a combo with fries and a drink, its probably the most expensive burger offered for sale in any fast food chain in the Philippines (not including the "gourmet" chains or chains with limited number of outlets), costing almost twice as much as a Quarter Pounder, a Big Mac, or a Champ. I haven't tasted that variant yet (its called the Big Classic Triple) though I have eaten the basic Big Classic on several occassions. It's pretty good, and I generally prefer the Big Classic to a Champ or a Big Mac. I guess I rank it equal to a Quarter Pounder on my own personal preference scale.

A Big Classic Combo meal. Look at the size of that drink.

When it comes to the number of outlets here in the Philippines, Wendy's places a distant third with 40 outlets, compared to McDonald's 250, and Jollibee's 500. I guess that's part of its appeal, since it's not as readily accessible as the other more popular chains.

Other popular burger chains probably worth mentioning are Burger King (as mentioned earlier in the previous installment's comments by Jeff), A&W, and Carl's Jr. A&W is unique in that its signature product is not a burger, but a drink - the rootbeer float which remains an A&W exclusive. Carl's Jr. burgers are actually quite tasty too, easily a match for the any of the other more popular chains. Unfortunately these three chains are on the bottom rung as far as the number of outlets, and presumably sales, are concerned. Maybe one of these days I'll write a post about these other chains, probably when I get a chance to visit one of their stores in the future.

I think I've written enough about fast food for the past couple of days now, and tomorrow I ought to write about something else for a change. All this talk about fast food is making me hungry. :-)