I Tried The New Hamburger at Arby’s So You Don’t Have To [PHOTOS]

When fast-food chains roll out new menu items, sometimes it's hard not to get caught up in the marketing. I admit it. I was intrigued when Arby's, a restaurant famous for the phrase "we have the meats" announced it would soon begin serving a hamburger. In the 58-year history of Arby's serving sliced roast beef, they'd never done burgers. I was curious to see if their premium labeled Wagyu Steakhouse Burger could impress.

Before heading to my local Arby's restaurant to pick up the burger, I read a couple of articles about the burger itself. It had been getting some negative reviews due to its consistency and the way that the burger was cooked. As the Washington Post points out, Arby's is not equipped with griddles or grills that could fry up a burger quickly. Instead, they used a method called sous-vide preparation. The food is placed in a vacuum-sealed bag and then heated up in a water bath. Before you scoff, the Post reports that the method is used in fast food as well as many top-end eateries too. But some had complained that this method had left the new burger, well, rubbery. Not exactly what you want to read before ordering one up.

I ordered the deluxe version of the burger which comes with lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onions, and a special burger sauce. Overall, the burger looked pretty good. Another complaint that others have is the pink color of the burger inside. I cut mine in half to show you that wasn't the case with my burger.

I didn't have any problems with the texture of the burger. The brioche bun was also excellent. As for the taste? I couldn't really tell you. The burger was overpowered by the taste of their burger sauce. The toppings all worked well together and I imagine that the bacon version you can also order would be good too.

So did Arby's reinvent the fast-food burger? Not exactly. But if you're ordering a burger at a fast-food restaurant you sort of know what you're getting into, don't you? My grade for the new Wagyu Steakhouse Burger? I'd give it a C. Not sure this is one of the meats that Arby's needs to concentrate on.