Bzz Agent Review: Chili’s Smokehouse Bacon Burger

I have a logjam of blog posts in my head. I keep procrastinating writing this review, but I don’t want to post anything else until I finish this. Thus, no posts for two weeks.

So, a few weeks ago I got an invitation to join the Bzz Campaign for Chili’s Smokehouse Bacon Burgers. As part of the campaign, I received coupons to try the burger for free. Let me tell you, free food makes me really happy.

As far as chain restaurants go, Chili’s is one of the top places on my list for a fun meal with friends. Good selection of food and just the right balance of nice/casual. I’d never had their burgers, though; I usually stick with their Tex-Mex items such as fajitas or quesadillas.

After I received the coupons, Paul and I made a Chili’s stop part of a date night (the other part of the night — ice skating!). We hit the Chili’s on West End before heading to Centennial Sportsplex.

There are three options for the Smokehouse Bacon Burgers:

• Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger (brown sugar and chili-rubbed bacon, Chili’s Big Mouth Burger, smoked cheddar, crispy onion strings, and mayo)
• Jalapeno Smokehouse Bacon Burger (applewood-smoked bacon, Chili’s Big Mouth Burger, smoked cheddar, crunchy tortilla strips, jalapenos, and mayo)
• Smokehouse Bacon Triple-the-Cheese Burger (jalapeno applewood-smoked bacon, Chili’s Big Mouth Burger, smoked cheddar, swiss, provolone, sauteed onions, and jalapeno-ranch dressing)

I ordered the Triple-the-Cheese Burger, and Paul ordered the Southern Burger.

When a waitress brought out our orders, she exclaimed, “I’ve never seen a girl order this burger! It’s huge!”

Um, thanks?

It truly was a massive meal, though. So, first impression: very yummy. Flavorful. Second thought: wow, they really meant jalapeno, didn’t they? At that point I added the jalapeño ranch dressing that came with the burger. The creaminess of the ranch toned down the jalapeño quite a bit. I enjoyed the burger for the most part, but by about halfway through I was tired of the bajillion flavors hitting my mouth simultaneously. I longed for a plain, flame-broiled cheeseburger. I left about a third of the burger on my plate. Hurray for the fries, which were a suitable palate cleanser.

Paul enjoyed his Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger and pretty much cleaned his plate. He said the taste reminded him of the Rodeo Cheeseburger occasionally available from Burger King (while the Chili’s marketing people might cringe, he says that’s a compliment). Paul observed, and I agree, that the bacon on the burgers isn’t really bacon; it’s so thick and tender that it’s more like strips of ham. I kinda wish I had ordered the southern burger instead…sounded like it was more my style.

You know, after I left Chili’s my impression of the Smokehouse Bacon Burgers was that they were decent, but nothing awesome. While writing this review, though, I started craving one, so I guess they were pretty good after all! A little on the pricey side at $8.85, but a lot of food — so if you order one, plan to split it with a friend or take the leftovers home.

One more interesting note — A packaged wipe comes with the meal. I laughed at first, but I needed it. Of course, I am a bit OCD. 🙂

And speaking of OCD, the verb tenses are really bothering me in this post. Should I keep it all in present tense? Past tense? Whatcha think?