BK’s new wrap is better than the original
This week I reached out for a Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap, part of the biggest rollout of new menu items in the 54-year saga of Burger King, the No. 2 burger chain, with 12,000 restaurants hither (7,000 in the U.S.) and yon (5,000 in the rest of the world).
I’ll get to the blueprint of the Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap, but stop me if it sounds familiar … it’s practically identical to McDonald’s Ranch Snack Wrap with Crispy Chicken.
If you can’t beat ’em, copy ’em. Which is a smart idea in the drive-thru, since Burger King has been struggling of late while McDonald’s has been rip-roarin’ and now claims 50 percent of all burger-chain sales.
Here’s the BK Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap blueprint: a breaded and deep-fried white-meat chicken strip, a blend of seven lettuces, grated three-cheese medley and Ken’s Ranch Dressing, all tucked and rolled in a white flour tortilla.
Total calories: 370. Fat grams: 21. Dietary fiber: 3 g. Sodium: 1,060 mg. Carbs: 33 g. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $1.59. I’ll have at least three, please.
My first thought was, “SEVEN lettuces?” Burger King will reveal only “romaine, spring mix and iceberg” on its list of ingredients. The rest are anybody’s guess.
If I were on “Family Feud” and host Steve Harvey (maybe the worst “Feud” host ever) said: “We asked 100 fast-food fans to name different kinds of lettuce. Here are their top seven answers … ” the other family definitely would get to steal the points. Boston Bib? Good answer! Good answer!
I like when the grandfather gives an answer that makes no sense but the rest of the family is obligated to say, “Good answer!”
Name a fruit you eat only in the summer:
“Uh, uh, uh …”
Five seconds.
“Bowling ball?”
“Good answer, gramps! Good answer!”
Though a copycat, I’m giving Burger King’s Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap the scoreboard over McDonald’s bellwether wrap. BK knew it had to up its game, and while I can’t name seven lettuces, I’m impressed that BK could. I also think my friend Lisa uses a cheat app when we play Words With Friends.
BK uses Ken’s Ranch Dressing, and I appreciate recognizable supermarket brand names in the drive-thru. I don’t want a squirt of anything from a 5-gallon drum of generic white-looking sauce.
BK’s Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap starts with a homestyle, lightly seasoned chicken strip, torn from a white-meat chicken tenderloin. So it’s real chicken from one bird, not a chewed ‘n’ glued pastiche of poultry glop from chickens that never even met each other.
These Chicken Strips are also new at Burger King, and are two giant steps and one scissor step ahead of BK’s old nuggets and tenders. Burger King has introduced a companion wrap, the Honey Mustard Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap, too. Both only come with a deep-fried chicken strip — there’s no grilled-chicken alternative yet.
Let’s give the Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap an A-plus for taste and value, and a D-minus for originality. But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Now start flattering McDonald’s french fries, Burger King.
Rounding out Burger King’s major product rollout are: Strawberry-Banana Smoothie, Tropical Mango Smoothie, Caramel Frappe, Mocha Frappe and three new Garden Fresh Salads.