A Coda to the "Big Arch" Review

Introducing the "Big Glenn."

Earlier this week, I posted my review of McDonald’s “Big Arch.”

My conclusion: Pretty good, if a bit pricey and fattening.

Reader views, both here and at InstaPundit, were mixed. Some liked it. Others said that you could make a better burger at home, or get a better burger at a pub or restaurant.

Those statements are clearly true. McDonald’s is fast food. It doesn’t purport to be haute cuisine, or even “good eats” pub grub. It’s something you can get in a hurry, at a drive-thru window, that probably won’t give you food poisoning.

(As an aside, that was a huge contribution. We idealize the mom-and-pop diners of yesteryear, but while some of them had good food, many of them were ptomaine traps. I can remember being on drives as a kid and looking for places to eat, often identifying places that wouldn’t poison us by the presence of numerous trucks — truckers knew the route and knew where it was safe to eat. McDonald’s and other fast food places brought much safer food (“untouched by human hands,” translated, really meant “untouched by hands that were probably scratching someone’s ass a few minutes before”) to America’s travelers. Restaurants, even most of the lower tier ones, are much safer than they were in my childhood, but fast food, headed by Mickey D’s, really led that trend.)

And yeah, fancier “fast food” like In-N-Out (not in Knoxville yet) or Whataburger (we have one on campus now) is generally better, although I always found In-N-Out okay but not living up to its cult status, and Whataburger, which used to be magnificent, seems to have lost a step or two since it was bought out by a corporation and ceased to be family owned. Then there are places like Chili’s or whatever, which are pretty good, but more expensive and require you to get out of your car and spend time.

But just to show that I can make a better burger at home, too, allow me to introduce the Big Glenn:

6 ounces of Fresh Market lean ground sirloin (I would honestly prefer ground chuck, but the InstaWife is fat-phobic) a slice of Tillamook smoked cheddar, avocado oil mayo, ketchup, and mustard. Cooked medium/medium well, it’s very tasty.

Better than a Big Arch? Yes, and cheaper at an ingredients cost of maybe 3 bucks. Probably around 600 calories all in, instead of over 1000. But, you know, I had to cook it. No drive-thru. So there’s that.

Question for the comments: Is there some other new fast-food burger I should try?