9 Facts You Didn't Know About Wendy's Baconator

Basically every fast food restaurant has an item it's known for. Burger King has the Whopper. McDonald's has the Big Mac. Chick-fil-A has its original chicken sandwich. And Wendy's, one of the most prolific burger chains out there, has the Baconator. Compared to other fast food burgers out there, this one is shockingly devoid of vegetables. You won't find even a shred of lettuce on this sandwich. It comes with a full half-pound of beef, six slices of crispy bacon, and two slices of American cheese. It's then slathered in ketchup and mayo to finish things off. For those who are looking for meat — and only meat — in their fast food burger, the Baconator is a dream come true.

Even if you're a die-hard Baconator fan, though, there's probably a lot about the burger you don't know. After all, this is a sandwich with some serious lore. It may not have been on the fast food scene for as long as some of the other iconic fast food burger offerings out there, but it makes up for its young age with its distinctiveness. These are nine facts you didn't know about Wendy's Baconator.

It wasn't that long ago that Wendy's Baconator hit the fast food scene. It was only back in 2007 that the iconic sandwich made its debut on the Wendy's menu. Apparently, the chain was trying to appeal to younger consumers, specifically those in the 18 to 34 range.

It turns out that Wendy's knew what it was doing when they released this burger. Within the first eight weeks it was on the menu, the chain sold 25 million Baconators. Customers were apparently looking for a bacon-centric product, and they got it. And when you think of what was happening at the time, it makes sense. Around this time, media outlets proclaimed that American food culture had been gripped by "bacon mania" — the stuff was everywhere. Wendy's took advantage of that trend and continues to embrace it today. Although the cultural hype around bacon may have died down somewhat, there still seems to be a market for a bacon-adorned burger.

If you're a Baconator fan, there may be times when you're craving the flavor of your favorite burger. However, for whatever reason, it may be an inopportune time to actually eat one. Maybe you're stuck on an airplane or driving a car and want to avoid dropping ketchup in your lap. For times like those, there was once a product for all you Baconator lovers out there: Baconator Pringles. This mashup product infused the rich flavor of the burger in Pringles' crispy chip packaging, and the result sounds ... interesting.

Baconator Pringles were released in the summer of 2020, when many of us were stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It makes sense that Wendy's would want to release a product that didn't require customers to actually go to their restaurants. Unfortunately for all those who want to eat their favorite burger in chip form, though, the collab was only available for a limited time. But who knows? Maybe the brands will bring their strange invention back someday.

When you're ordering a burger from a fast food restaurant, calories probably aren't your first concern. After all, burgers don't tend to be the type of food we eat for our health. But at the same time, there are some fast food products out there that truly come in at startling calorie counts ... and the Baconator is one of them. At 1,010 calories, it's one of the highest-calorie fast food items we've come across. For reference, there are only 590 calories in a McDonald's Big Mac.

We're not here to tell you what you should and shouldn't eat — that's entirely up to you. However, it's always good to be informed about what you're eating so you can try to make the food choices that work for you and your lifestyle. If you are watching your calories, though, there are probably better burger options out there to consider. Dave's Single at Wendy's, for example, is less than 530 calories.

We'll be totally honest: The Baconator is kind of a one-note burger. There's not really much going on besides the mountain of bacon and cheese on the burger. Without crisp lettuce or sharp onions or even a squirt of acidic ketchup, the Baconator can start to feel overwhelming and, frankly, boring after a few bites. That's why we were so excited to hear that Wendy's Canada started offering a spicy version of the Baconator, called a Blazin' Baconator, to its menu in 2022.

Admittedly, the change wasn't that drastic. The brand added jalapeño cheddar cheese to the burger in place of the standard American cheese, and the mayo was infused with some sort of sweet heat. Other than that, the burger seemed basically the same as the original version. However, that extra bit of flavor sounds like it made the somewhat one-note sandwich into something a little more interesting. Unfortunately for all the spice lovers out there, though, the burger is no longer available — it was only around for a limited-time run.

Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, died in 2002. In the wake of his death, Wendy's seemed to suffer for a few years — it saw slumping sales after the founder's passing. As a staple of Wendy's advertising strategy, Dave Thomas played an important role in attracting customers to the brand, so without him, the chain struggled for a few years. That's why Wendy's was looking for ways to reinvigorate the brand with new products ... and the Baconator was the product that delivered the hype they so badly needed five years after Thomas' passing.

It was a product that just made sense at the time, and it brought Wendy's back into the spotlight in a very real way. But somehow, we can't help but wonder what it would have been like to see Dave Thomas advertising the burger on TV — in that case, maybe Wendy's would've sold even more bacon-topped burgers.

We already know that Wendy's released the Baconator back in 2007. But nine years later, it seemed like another well-known fast food chain wanted to get in on a slice of Wendy's success. Maybe that's why, in 2016, Burger King released its "Bacon King" sandwich. It's basically the same exact sandwich as the Baconator. Just like the Baconator, it features two beef patties, American cheese, and bacon. It even uses the same condiments: ketchup and mayonnaise only. The only real difference is the fact that the Bacon King comes with a sesame seed bun, and the Baconator's bun is devoid of seeds.

You would think that Burger King would at least try to hide the fact that it ripped off the Baconator just a little bit, maybe by adding a slice of onion or including some mustard on the sandwich. But, no, it really tried to one-up the original. At the end of the day, though, the Baconator is undeniably the blueprint, and with almost a decade on Burger King's version, we all know that Wendy's iteration is the OG bacon-topped fast food burger.

Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to stay out of trouble. That's probably what one man was thinking, anyway, when he tried to hide weed in a Baconator to avoid being arrested. Police in West Virginia got a call about a suspicious car hanging out in a Wendy's parking lot, and they went to go check it out. The four people they found in the car were apparently about to pregame their meal from Wendy's because a police dog sniffed out a controlled substance, which happened to be cannabis.

And where was the cannabis hiding, you ask? In a Baconator, which seems like a reasonable place to hide it if you're actually already high. One of the people in the car said a Wendy's employee must have put it in their sandwich because, after all, isn't it common for fast food workers to give away illicit substances for free? Sounds like the cops didn't buy it, though, since two people in the car were cited.

Don't you want your vehicle modeled after your favorite fast food item? No? Then you're nothing like NASCAR driver Noah Gragson, whose car was transformed into a marketing stunt for the company during Chicago's Street Race Weekend in 2023. The car was named "The Baconator" and was plastered with massive photos of the sandwich, juicy beef, crispy bacon, and all. This wasn't the only marketing scheme the driver and the fast food chain teamed up for — it was part of a larger campaign.

"At the Daytona 500, I drove 'The BEEF,' at Talladega, I was behind the wheel of 'The BIGGIE,' and I can't wait to rep 'The Baconator' this weekend as my team and I try to bring home the bacon ... literally," Gragson said in a Wendy's press release while explaining the collab. "I've had so much fun with Wendy's this year, from starting a little beef at Daytona, to going biggie at Talladega, and I can't wait to continue to show up for fans in Chicago this weekend."

The partnership appears to have continued in 2024. Unfortunately, though, the Baconator imagery is gone.

But NASCAR isn't the only Baconator-sports partnership Wendy's is after. The Boise Hawks, a baseball team out of Boise, Idaho, also adopted the sandwich's name as its own during the 2024 season. For five whole home games, the Hawks changed its name to the "Boise Baconators." It's not exactly a name that connotes athleticism, but alas, who doesn't want to go out for a burger after a game?

"We are extremely excited to get involved in our community in such a fun way," said Jim and Kathy Taggart, owners of 15 local Wendy's restaurants in the Boise area. "Wendy's is a very innovative and lively brand that loves to give back to our guests and community, and I think you can certainly see that with this partnership."

Baconators and baseball don't necessarily seem like they go together naturally, but we're hoping that the players got their fill of free burgers after their games. Seems like an even trade for changing your team's name.