As I know that I've been curious, so last week when I read on a website that one of the best things you could buy at a fast food place was the Low Cal Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr (I believe its called Hardees on the East Coast) which comes in at only 400 calories, I decided that I just had to try it. So I planned for a day when I could work off the calories later and I drove out to Carl's Jr for lunch today.
So, what is a low cal six dollar burger? Let's start with the burger. It's a 8oz Angus Beef Burger cooked and seasoned and quite tasty. Its topped with a single slice of American Cheese, catsup and mayo. They use a real thick bread and butter pickle, fresh tomatoes, and red onion as well. Presumably, you could get the burger without one or more of these ingredients. So far, you're probably asking yourself what's the difference? Well, the difference is that instead of a big thick enriched flour bun, they wrap the burger in two giant lettuce leaves. That's right, Lettuce Leaf, Burger, Fixings, Lettuce Leaf.
Sounds kind of messy? Well, it can be. Fortunately, I have YEARS of experience in eating fast food and Carl's Jr particularly has a reputation for messy eating experiences. So I was well prepared.
My first thought upon opening the cardboard box was that this burger was heavy and it made me wonder how the lettuce could possibly hold up under the strain. It was wrapped in a white food paper that made it easier to hold, but the paper was so large that you could only nibble a bit off the top before you had to start shedding the paper. As I took a bite and realized that there was almost no support for the burger contents inside the lettuce, I knew that it was going to be a race against time as to whether I could finish the entire burger before its contents were shed all over the front of my shirt.
I raced through the eating and towards the end, I pulled the empty cardboard box underneath the burger. This turned out to be fortuitous because all the burgers juices, normally absorbed by the bun, started flowing out - but they poured into the box instead. The end result was that I finished the burger without a single drop spilled, but this is by no means a beginner's burger - expert eaters need only apply.
As for the burger itself, it was still kind of heavy. I'm not sure about that 400 calorie claim, but I was quite satisfied with the amount of food - and that's not necessarily a good thing. Afterwards, I went for a walk and I felt slightly sluggish from the digestion of the meal. Still, I enjoyed the burger. It was quite excellent and I really didn't miss the bun at all. In the future, I will probably order this burger again. But this is definitely not something I would include regularly in my diet. It was a nice distraction, but by no means was it a proper replacement for a good meal. However, considering the lack of options at fast food restaurants today, it was definitely a better choice than any chicken sandwich or salad with chicken or meat inside. So in that respect, it was a good fast food option.
All told it cost me about $6.50 for the burger and a bottled water. And I will give it 2 1/2 Wigs out of 5. (Though considerably less if I were an amateur fast foodie)
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