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popular fast-food chain opens in middlesbrough

When news of another fast-food establishment coming to Middlesbrough was announced, many residents didn't welcome the news as they believe the town centre is already overrun with take-aways. However, in the past year the town lost KFC on Linthorpe Road, which had served the town for over three decades, due to dwindling customers as two drive-thru restaurants had opened at Teesside Park and Gateway Retail Park near the Riverside Stadium.

But the fast-food boom in Teesside has continued to grow over the past two years, with more variety and bigger names arriving on Teesside such as Taco Bell, Five Guys and Tim Horton's, which you only ever saw in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and London areas, which we've got to admit is a great boost for our town.

On Thursday 16th of May, the latest big name fast-food chain to hit the town will open its doors to the public - Wendy's.

To hear about the world's second biggest fast-food chain was opening its only restaurant in Middlesbrough was a shock. Why? Well, the town is normally side-stepped by big corporations like this in favour for neighbouring cities like York or Newcastle. So the opening of something like Wendy's is a great addition to the town, but this is the only one to open this far North of Leeds... For now. Yes they've got plans to open more across the North-east and Scotland over the next couple of years, including Whitby! Yes, the beautiful neighbouring fishing town is getting a Wendy's too.

OUR REVIEW

Firstly, what makes Wendy's stand out from the likes of McDonalds and Tim Horton's is that the food is freshly prepared. There's no pre-heated frozen food here. It does make a huge difference to the taste. Yeah, you've Five Guys that do that, but at Wendy's you don't need a second mortgage to feed your family.

We got to sample a majority of its menu and it was filling, tasty and the patties were square. Yep, you read that correctly, their burgers are square. This is so they can fit more burgers on the grill at one time, allowing staff to line the grill in order to cook more burgers,  so they can fulfill orders quicker. 

Wendy's offered a lot more than just burgers. They have Caesar Chicken and Avocado Chicken Salads (pictured above) that were freshly prepared and like the rest of the food, is decently portioned. Sadly, we didn't get chance to try those, but they did look appetising.

What we did get to try was the Spicy Chicken Nuggets, Plain Chicken Nuggets, Classic Chicken Burger, Spicy Chicken Burger, Baconator, Dave's Single Burger, BBQ Chicken Wrap, Chilly Cheese Fries, Baconator Fries, Cheesy Fries, Chilli con Carne, the Chocolate and Vanilla Frosty.  You can even try a burger challenge if you can stomach it.

All of these were all freshly prepared as promised, including the salad that came with the burgers. The chicken nuggets were tasty and were well cooked, meaning they weren't too crunchy like others we've tried. The chicken burgers were both tasty and had the right amount of salad and mayo on the chicken fillets, which are neatly served in a toasted bun. We were surprised that after consumption, we didn't have our hands covered in mayo and not once did we have to put the chicken back in the bun after each bite. 

The beef burgers were also tasty, again freshly cooked so you could taste the beef and didn't feel like your eating a pre-heated piece of rubber. Dave's Single Burger is a single pattie on a toasted bun, with crunchy lettuce, slice of tomato, gerkins, American cheese, onion with ketchup and mayo. Even though this was a tasty burger, there was a little too much sauce that did cause an overspill on biting down. Again, just ease up on the sauces so you can enjoy the food without it being a sloppy mess. In saying that, the Baconator was the winner.  Nice tasty burger with everything that comes with Dave's Single but with added streaky bacon. 

The loaded fries were a nice addition, especially the Chilli Cheese Fries. These were quite filling and as you can see from our photo, the portions were very generous. 

Finally, all this was topped off with the Frosty. An ice cream/milkshake dessert that you start off eating with a spoon before consuming the rest through a straw. We got to sample the chocolate and vanilla Frosty's, both of which hit the tastebuds just right. 

Overall, the food at Wendy's in our opinion is far better than what we've eaten at the likes of McDonald's and Tim Horton's. 

The cheese can be overwhelming on the loaded fries, yet, the sauce amount is just right on the burgers. You don't want to be fighting with your food, you want to be enjoying it and taste everything. We can't complain about the portions, the meals are very filling, we even said it felt like we'd eaten a pub meal. Its certainly worth the money, more so as each item of food is freshly prepared, something Wendy's loves to boast about and we don't blame them.

If you've not tried them before, we recommend you do. Give those tastebuds something different that's not engulfed in salt or mayo and ketchup. Yes, you do have to wait a little longer for your food, but you always do for good food.