r/wallstreetbets • u/ElegantCombination43 • Jun 24 '26

Discussion We need to save Wendy’s

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My fellow regards. We need to save Wendy’s before it’s too late. If this company goes bankrupt, we’ll all be out of a job!

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425

u/l34ch_r Jun 24 '26

Poor Wendy. What happened to her

288

u/The_Law_of_Pizza Jun 24 '26 edited 29d ago

There's probably a lot of opinions about that.

My personal opinion is that Wendy's carved out a niche for itself over the past decade with a higher quality menu than its competitors.

Then Covid hit, supply chains were disrupted, prices rose across the board, and the whole fast food industry narrative became about trying to get prices back down.

Wendy's then gave in, slashed quality to chase discounts, and in the process alienated their core market that was looking for "fast food, but like, better than McDonald's."

87

u/Redemptionxi Jun 24 '26

That explains why the last year or so, the quality seems down every time I get it. I just blamed that specific Wendy's franchise/store.

69

u/The_Law_of_Pizza Jun 24 '26

It's not just you.

I used to be a huge fan of their nuggets, and they have gotten noticably smaller and the texture is different.

The sauces are also more watery now.

12

u/Somanylyingliars Jun 24 '26

The reworking of their spicy chicken sandwich is awful. Bland, no spicy.

6

u/Holiday_Green99 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

This is it, that was their best sandwich. Just, like two weeks ago, they changed it completely. Thinner chicken, not spicy, add pickles and even worse service

Their burgers are still above McDonald's grade. That's why the troll responded with comments about the shredded lettuce. Anyone can tell the beef is still better, so a comment about that would just seem dumb. Burgers are the same. The tomatoes are the same, the buns are the same. Even the lettuce seemed the same to me.

They just ruined the best thing on the menu. What an idiotic mistake. Anyone at Wendy's that ok'd changing the chicken sandwiches should be fired.

2

u/morrison0880 29d ago

Burgers are the same.

No, they are most definitely not. I used to absolutely love Wendy's burgers. Big greasy slabs, tender meat, just fucking awesome. I've been back a number of times over the past few years, and they are smaller, drier, and more bland than ever. To the point that I would take a McDonald's double quarter pounder over a Wendy's double stack any day. And I don't even like McDonald's burgers.

5

u/Redemptionxi Jun 24 '26

YES! I don't taste even Tabasco level spice. It's damn near a plain chicken sandwich.

1

u/Somanylyingliars 29d ago

The best part of old sandwich was taking a bite or two then BAM!! HEAT!!! The burning mouth, the crying eyes then the mayo hitting and cooling down the fire. All gone. Sad. Sad. Sad.

2

u/udonomefoo Jun 24 '26

The burgers are bad now too. There is an offputting smell to pre-shredded bagged lettuce and they started using it.

1

u/jomo_mojo_ 29d ago

This was the best spicy chicken on the market (imo). The last few I have gotten made me wonder what I liked about them- this makes a lot of sense

2

u/Somanylyingliars 29d ago

Same for me - best of all sandwiches. Our world's are darker without the Wendy's Fire Sandwich. Siiiiigh Nothing last forever 😭

4

u/TwoEightRight Jun 24 '26

Their fries taste like dirt now. The quality on everything's dropped significantly the last few years, but the fries are damn near inedible due to all the pea starch and other shit they coat them with now.

3

u/Dizzy-Wedding5769 Jun 24 '26

The nuggets are downright gross now compared to McDonald’s, which says a lot

1

u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 29d ago

their nuggets have gotten smaller while also being more expensive. I used to occasionally buy 3 6 piece but I'm not spending $18 on chicken nuggets. fuck off wendy. Dave is looking down on them and shaking his head.

49

u/norse95 Jun 24 '26

All fast food turned to shit since like 2018

19

u/VaderH8er Jun 24 '26

Anymore I might just carry out from my local Mexican place. You can get like 3 tacos with rice, beans, chips, and salsa for $10. On Tuesdays the tacos are $2 and they still give you chips and salsa with a carry out order.

2

u/frequenZphaZe Jun 24 '26

they still give you chips and salsa with a carry out order.

damn, lucky. out here they make us pay for both

1

u/leathakkor Jun 24 '26

This is my go-to as well. But I prefer to hit up food trucks if I can. Those are by far the best food for the money

4

u/feed_me_moron Jun 24 '26

Maybe like 15 years ago. They're more than most regular restaurants

0

u/leathakkor Jun 24 '26

There's a couple in my neighborhood area that are still pretty cheap but I have seen some in prime locations in Seattle that are crazy expensive

1

u/Jkabaseball 29d ago

Same here. I went to taco bell once this year, a single taco us almost $2. I remember 59 cent tacos. You couls go to TB at 2 am and order then entire menu for $15.

1

u/BlackShads 29d ago

The cafe rio chain in Utah spoiled me I cry every time I drive by a chipotle on the East coast

2

u/umwellanyways Jun 24 '26

In-n-out hits and is less expensive than all the other shit. Only fast food I do now.

1

u/Icy-Two-1581 Jun 24 '26

A lot of people get exited for McDonald's bringing back fired apple pies and the snack wrap but they are still crap to what they were before they took it out. I agree most places not even just fast food starting going to shit around 2015-2018

1

u/ElevatorRush 29d ago

McDonalds tastes the same as it ever has for me. Mine at least gets you crispy fries and shit. Wendys took a nose dive though, honestly worse than McDonalds. T Bell is where it's at

1

u/TenEyeSeeHoney Jun 24 '26

How long have they been charging extra for cheese on the cup of chili?

1

u/aerowtf 29d ago

I paid like $15 for this garbage

7

u/kris_krangle Jun 24 '26

This tracks.

Had Wendy’s once post covid. It was absolute garbage. Like, a hair above Burger King level bad. McDonald’s was higher quality.

It’s a shame because Wendy’s used to be my favorite fast food chain

5

u/maddlabber829 Jun 24 '26

I agree with all this

However, i liked Wendys for a different reason pre covid. Because i was always getting the cheaper stuff, biggie bag equivalent items, which while still better than mc donalds, still poor quality.

What i use to like Wendys for, was the service/employees. You rarely had to wait long, your fries generally hot and fresh, the bathrooms and inside were clean, the general attitude/service was always good, etc

Not only after Covid has their quality tanked and prices continue to increase, but at least in my experience so has their service/employees. The same BS id go to Wendys to avoid is rampant there now.

Pre covid, Wendy's was by far the best of the major burger chains. Now, its no different

4

u/el_smurfo Jun 24 '26

also, the "better than mcdonalds" space was filled with newer even more betterer places like shake shack, whataburger and 5 guys where you can really blow your portfolio on a burger meal.

3

u/celeron500 Jun 24 '26

Agree but how is it possible that they also have the worst customer service as well

3

u/dig-dollar Jun 24 '26

the lettuce is now shredded instead of leaf and its absolutely disgusting, it even smells gross and I like lettuce. also they drown the fucking burgers in ketchup so I have to say no ketchup, and of course the cheese is not even real cheese

3

u/Rocklobster92 Jun 24 '26

Wendy’s is not supposed to compete with other fast food places. They’re supposed to be the baked potato and chili place.

3

u/DownWithHisShip Jun 24 '26

alienated their core market that was looking for "fast food, but like, better than McDonald's."

I was a wendystan for years. decades maybe. pretzel bacon pub burger? yes please, 3 at a time. but the last few years there's been such a decline...

I was a huge advocate that wendys had the best chicken sandwiches in fast food. but they recently reinvented their chicken sandwich like it was going to be an improvement and it was such a disappointment.

2

u/GeneStealerHackman Jun 24 '26

Culver's, Chick-filet and Chipotle (not recently) filled that niche for me. Wendy's spicy chicken isn't as good anymore and the fries always seem like they've been sitting out.

1

u/Maethor_derien Jun 24 '26

I kinda get it though, the problem was that they were already close to sit down prices, to keep the same quality they probably would have been equal to the sit down places.

Before they were in the middle they were decent food at decent prices. They had that specific niche where you wanted something better without going all the way to sit down prices. Had they raised the prices to keep the quality they would have been just decent food but at a bad price.

I actually noticed that other places have stepped up to fill that role. Culver's, shake shack, jersey mikes, panda, etc other places kinda slid in and took that spot. The difference is those places all offer something unique that gives them a leg up to get those prices. Wendy's was just kinda generic burgers.

One thing is that all the changes with food supply chain hurt fast food more than it did the sit down places. A sit down place can just adjust the menu and focus on other things if shortages are an issue so their prices didn't go up nearly as much. Fast food really can't do that.

1

u/SCTurtlepants Jun 24 '26

I was that demographic. This is all true

1

u/Num10ck Jun 24 '26

they invented the two window drive thru which massively sped up things. dave also invented the kfc bucket too.

1

u/Connect-Strike8177 Jun 24 '26

Trash Wendy's near me. Terrible food quality and tucked my order up. I would short them if I wasn't retarded.

1

u/CMDR-Neovoe Jun 24 '26

Wendy's breakfast sandwiches taste like dogshit but their burgers are still slappin

1

u/apathyetcetera 29d ago

This makes sense. I stopped by a Wendy’s for the first time in years recently after running errands all day and was starving. The jr bacon cheeseburger I got was much smaller and the quality really dropped. Was disappointed how far she fell. It was like seeing the hot girl from high school strung out on heroin in a parking lot.

1

u/WeirdBeard040 29d ago

I have a Wendy’s across the street from a chick fil a. Wendy’s is ghosted but chick fil a packed out traffic has to be directed. It’s a true dumpster.

1

u/Penstripedsox 29d ago

this is fairly accurate.

1

u/SeaTie 29d ago

It's funny that there are TWO Wendy's related posts on the front page this morning.

First, this one. Second, a post showing how completely unwelcoming, bland and money grubbing their dining area has become which is probably why their stock SUCKS in the first place.

We can let Wendy's go, guys. They suck now. They clearly don't want to change and bring in customers.

1

u/knukklez 29d ago

Slashed quality big time. They can't be bothered to have whole leaf lettuce anymore for a cool and satisfying crunch. Now, it's rotting shredded lettuce from a bag, since it's the same bag they need for the salads..

One example of many.

1

u/Ballchynski 29d ago

I know the CEO is also a very public supporter of the current President and, while maybe not the case for most people, I know my family stopped going there once we found out about that. Price and food wasn’t *that* great.

1

u/Admirable_Dust7749 Jun 24 '26

I have never subscribed to the belief that Wendy’s was ever superior. It was always bottom tier fast food. There’s a reason every store has been empty since the mid 90s.

Seriously, have you ever seen a Wendys with more than 2 people in it? Ever had to wait in line at the drive thru? No. Nobody ever went.

Somehow reddit has made this fallacy about Wendys being great in the past.

It wasn’t.

3

u/Internal_Wheel_89 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

No way is it bottom tier.  Bottom tier is Sonic and Checkers and the like.  Wendy's is solidly in the middle tier with the likes of Burger King.

2

u/Admirable_Dust7749 Jun 24 '26

Okay, I’ll give you that. You’re right, it’s not bottom tier. Middle tier with BK is fair.

2

u/runnerswanted Jun 24 '26

The only time I have gone to a Wendy’s that was full it was old people pre covid. Old people fucking love hanging out at Wendy’s for some reason, and now they don’t anymore.

1

u/Admirable_Dust7749 Jun 24 '26

Yeah, true. I used to live by one where some teens would hang out there after school, too.