Review: Wendy's Proves That Sauce Is The Boss With New Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger

Wendy's has never been shy about getting creative with burgers. From the famous Bacconator to the fan-created Barnyard Burger, the chain has a long history of giving the classic cheeseburger a facelift.

Fresh off its Spongebob-inspired Krabby Patty burger, Wendy's has released another new burger, but this one is on the more standard side. The Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger launched nationwide on November 12 and will be available for a limited, and as of yet unspecified amount of, time.

Featuring roasted mushrooms, bacon, Muenster cheese, and garlic aioli on Wendy's famous square beef patties, the Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is a slightly different take on the standard mushroom and Swiss. I stopped by my local Wendy's the day this burger launched to try it for myself. Read on to find out if the Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is worth a spin through the drive-thru or if you're better off waiting for the next cartoon recreation to hit the menu.

The Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is not exactly a health food. Its 670 calories in a single is 80 calories more than a Dave's Single. Beyond packing in the calories, this burger is also swimming in sodium. We'll get into sodium more during the review section, but this burger will leave you feeling parched. With 1,210 milligrams of sodium in a single, it outpaces the 1,050 milligrams in a Dave's Single and gets close to the 1,260 milligrams of sodium in the Son of Baconator burger, which contains two beef patties and double the amount of bacon.

From a pricing standpoint, the Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is pretty middle of the road for Wendy's. A single will run you $7.29, a double $8.59, and a triple — along with its 1,350 calories and 1,890 milligrams of sodium — is $9.89. The burger will be available for a limited time, but Wendy's has not released any specific end date as of this writing.

Certain ingredients can be counted on to make a burger better. High on that list are bacon and mushrooms. Both bring unique flavors and textures to the mix, as is the case with this burger. My first impression of the Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is that it's messy. When I peeled back the foil wrapper, I was confronted with a burger oozing with sauce, mushrooms, and a bit of grease. The result is a rather underwhelming-looking cheeseburger. However, the flavors more than made up for the lack of curb appeal.

The star of this burger is undoubtedly the creamy garlic aioli sauce. It's thick and provides a savory, salty binding agent that brings the rest of the ingredients together. I love sauce on my burgers, which is why I generally add more ketchup, barbecue sauce, or anything else I can find to my burgers. But this time, the garlic aioli was more than sufficient in both flavor and quantity.

The mushrooms are tender and plentiful throughout. I never took a bite that was lacking in mushrooms. The same could be said of the bacon, which added to the overall flavor of the burger, though I could have gone for crispier bacon to add a bit of crunch. Finally, the Muenster cheese was a pleasant surprise. Mushroom-topped burgers are so often paired with Swiss that I forgot there were other options. Muenster cheese is mellower with a more nutty, earthy taste that helps bring out the natural umami of the mushrooms.

Wendy's new Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger is really good. It's saucy, savory, and more than a little salty, but it works. This burger is hardly reinventing the wheel, but its subtle tweaks on a straight mushroom and Swiss burger are welcome. Sure, it's messy, but a few extra napkins are a small price to pay for a cheeseburger overflowing with aioli-coated mushrooms. The bacon is tasty, and the Muenster is proof that not all heroes wear capes. If you're a burger lover, you need to try Wendy's Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger.

I picked up my burger — along with fries and a drink — from my local Wendy's drive-thru. I photographed and tasted the food at my home. I evaluated the burger on appearance, texture, and, most of all, taste. Neither Mashed nor I was compensated by Wendy's for this review.