Hardee’s has undergone several ownership changes and menu revisions over the years. If I understand correctly, they were acquired by Carl’s Jr. in 1997, and now Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr are pretty much the same thing.
But, can anyone tell me if Carl’s Jr has the same breakfast menu as Hardee’s? Their biscuit-based breakfast menu (biscuits & gravy, biscuit sandwiches, monster omelet biscuits, etc.) has been my main reason for going there occasionally.
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
While Hardee’s has experienced extensive changes in its lunch and dinner menus over the years, its breakfast menu has remained largely unchanged. As a result, Hardee’s still retains significant customer loyalty.
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I still insist that their classic Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger is the best thing you can order from a fast food restaurant. Unfortunately, we don’t have any around here.
I also like that they have some menu options you can’t find elsewhere - fried zucchini, for example.
Overall, I would put them on par or slightly better than most fast food burger places.
For me they are the best fast food burger. There is a Wendys, McD, BK, Jack in the Box and Carls Jr. all within ten minutes of me. Over the course of a couple weeks I did a taste comparison of similar burgers at each chain and Carls meat just tastes better. You can actually taste the seasoning in the meat.
The worst was McDs. The meat tasted old and stale.
Dennys has biscuits and gravy, as does my local mom and pop diner.
Oh yeah. I love fried zucchini and get it about every other time I go. Their ranch/house sauce is weak though so I just use my own dressing or bbq sauce.
It’s kind of like Domino’s in that both were founded by individuals who were conservative to the point of being reactionary (while Carl Karcher wasn’t as religiously oriented as Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan, he was an early member of the John Birch Society).
Both chains are now owned by holding companies, and Carl Karcher is dead, so the political issues are somewhat moot. Although it could be argued that patronizing Domino’s contributes to Project Rescue et. al., since Tom Monaghan owns the office park where the chain has its headquarters.
I hope that’s not automatic. Some individual locations have say, donated money to pro-gay groups. And the whole company has dialed back, even if to be cynical perhaps for practical reasons.
Although the current CEO also appears to be somewhat conservative, if not a Bircher.
I am in Hardee’s territory- but their bacon cheeseburger is great, although about 1,000 calories. They put actual fresh (for fast food at least) veggie toppings on their burgers, and have curly fries, which are also great. The loaded omelet breakfast biscuit is ah-mazing. Their biscuits in general are by far the best fast food biscuit- not sure if they’d have those in Australia though, since American biscuits aren’t a thing there.
In 1978 Carl Karcher contributed a million dollars in support of the Briggs Initiative in California, which would have banned gays from working in public schools. The initiative was defeated. Karcher, and by extension the Carl’s Jr. chain, became anathema to those who are left of center in the U.S.
That was a long time ago. Karcher is dead, and I doubt that the current ownership and management of Carl’s, Jr. would back such an initiative today.
I usually don’t eat fast food, and I’ve never been to a Carl’s, Jr. I will say that most of their advertising is disgusting. Their slogan used to be, “If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face,” and their ads would feature people eating their burgers while dripping grease and ketchup. One of their current ads features a beautiful woman eating a burger that’s as big as her head by seemingly unhinging her jaw. Their message seems to be, “Eat at Carl’s Jr., the fast food chain for louts.”
Growing up in Southern California, I enjoyed the blessings of such regional fast food chains as Carl’s Jr., In N Out, and Wienerschnitzel all of which I’m quite fond of. There is a lot to recommend at Carl’s, especially any of their Breakfast items.