The Difference Between Burger King's Cheapest And Most Expensive Burger

While Burger King, as with most fast food emporiums, is on the budget end of the restaurant spectrum, there's actually quite a wide price range between the different items offered on its menu. Do you tend to order whatever new menu item has the biggest posters and is running the most TV ads, or are you all about the dollar menu? And is there really such a difference in size or quality as to merit what could amount to a 600 percent price markup?

Business Insider reviewed Burger King's lowest and highest priced burgers last fall at a location in New York City, and their conclusions may surprise you.

Burger King's budget option is a plain hamburger, which in NYC may run you $1.89, although it will likely be less than that (89 cents less, to be precise) should you live in a locale where BK still offers a dollar menu. What you get for your $1.89 is a formerly-frozen patty which is flame-grilled, served on a sesame seed bun, and dressed with pickles, ketchup, and mustard. The beef was described as having "a strong and distinctive flavor," and was said to be the most appealing of the budget burgers tested (the others being from McDonald's and Wendy's), even if the taste testers did find the overall flavor balance to be "a little off."

The priciest burger on the BK menu — the Bacon Triple Whopper — boasted three quarter-pound beef patties, cheese, and bacon on a toasted sesame bun, and came fully loaded with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. So what does all that run you? A whopper of a price: $11.19. (Again, these are New York prices — other locations may be a bit cheaper). Is this fancied-up burger on steroids worth the nearly $10 markup? Business Insider says this burger really wasn't much better than the cheapest one, just a whole lot bigger. As the reviewers put it, "Same beef, same pickles, similar bun, and all of it was just okay." 

As far as BK goes, if you want to get your money's worth it's probably best to skip the special items and stick to buying several smaller burgers, or perhaps take advantage of their special meal deals or coupons. If you really want a fancy (pricey) burger, you might as well just go to Red Robin.