Carl's Jr. Jalapeño Burger

After glancing back through Phoood's archives, I've noticed that the site's contributors have been truly nice to Carl's Jr., with 5 out of 6 burgers reviewed having a designation of "good" or better. This is no coincidence, as Carl's Jr. is one of the best fast food franchises out there. The company has taken pride in being proliferators of delicious (albeit high-calorie) comfort food, while not seeming to care about their competitors trying to integrate so-called "healthy" options into their menus. Plus, you have to love a restaurant that has so many different burgers. The point is, heart health aside, CJ's hamburgers are good, and the Jalapeño Burger is no exception. This particular sandwich is a standard charbroiled burger on a bun with lettuce, tomato and onion. To give it that extra kick, they throw on jalapeño peppers (hence the name), pepper jack cheese and Santa Fe sauce (which is a spicy mayonnaise). Needless to say, this combination is a winner. It has just the right mix of flavor and spice. The jalapeños have a good amount of heat, but they aren't extreme in any sense. Overall, if you like spicy food and charbroiled burgers (which I do), it would be almost impossible to be disappointed. My only gripe is that sometimes my local Carl's Jr. is a little light on the sauce or the peppers, which detracts from the intended flavor (but when it's well-made, it's truly excellent). I wouldn't say that this is Carl's best sandwich (I'd give that title to the classic Western Bacon Cheeseburger), but it's definitely a great one. If you're in the mood for a top-notch fast food burger with a kick, head over and pick one up.

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