Is Wendy's New English Muffin Deal the Best Cheap Fast Food Breakfast?

This is the summer of value at fast food restaurants. After years of price increases, consumers have finally said they've had enough. In response, companies are offering value meals to entice them back into stores and drive-throughs.

Numerous fast food restaurants are trying new breakfast value meals, and I've decided to try each one to see which is the best value. Let's take a look at Wendy's new English Muffin Deal

Wendy's Offered a 2-for-$3 Breakfast Last Summer

Last summer Wendy's announced their Breakfast Bundles where you could choose two items for only $3. These items included:

Sausage Biscuit
Egg & Cheese Biscuit
Small Seasoned Potatoes
Medium Hot Coffee

The deal was popular and today you can still find "Biggie Bag" options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, Wendy's has now introduced new breakfast value options for this summer.

Wendy's Has Revamped Its Breakfast Deal This Year

This summer, Wendy's is offering a new value breakfast option. They're calling it the English Muffin Deal. You get one of either:

Bacon Egg & Cheese English Muffin
Sausage Egg & Cheese English Muffin

And also a small Seasoned Potatoes with the meal. Whether you choose the bacon or sausage version as a sandwich, the meal costs $3 total.

The Upside: Wendy's Has Upgraded Sandwich Value Options

Compared to Wendy's previous "Breakfast Bundle," this one has upsides and downsides.

As a positive, the sandwich options are better. Last summer Wendy's offered either a Sausage Biscuit (just a biscuit and sausage) or an Egg & Cheese Biscuit (which lacked any kind of meat). At my local Wendy's those items cost $2.19 and $2.89, respectively.

This summer you can choose between a Sausage Egg & Cheese English Muffin or the Bacon version. Both of these sandwiches cost $4.29 individually at my local Wendy's.

Put another way, this value menu costs $1.29 less than simply ordering the sandwiches themselves and you get Seasoned Potatoes as a side!

The Downside: No Coffee As An Option

If you're not a fan of Seasoned Potatoes, this year's value meal could be a downgrade from the Breakfast Bundle introduced at Wendy's last summer.

That's because the Breakfast Bundle included a coffee as an option. So you could order either a Sausage Biscuit or Egg & Cheese Biscuit and a coffee (instead of Seasoned Potatoes) as a side.

Thankfully, it appears Wendy's is still offering their old "Breakfast Bundle" deal. So if you prefer it, their new English Muffin Deal hasn't replaced it.

My Review: A Very Good Value

I stopped by my local Wendy's for breakfast to try out the Breakfast Bundle. I'd give it a very solid 8 out of 10, and it's likely the best fast food breakfast value going right now.

Two reasons the deal is good:

I like Wendy's breakfast sandwiches. The eggs look less "processed" than other fast food breakfast options. In addition, as I noted earlier, getting a breakfast sandwich that offers eggs, cheese, and a meat is just my personal preference versus a biscuit with no cheese. My only complaint would be Wendy's sausage seemed less flavorful than a competitor like McDonald's.
I had never had Wendy's Seasoned Potatoes before and was surprised how good they were. The Seasoned Potatoes are thin, which would normally dry out the interior. However, I found the exterior crunchy and the interior moist. Maybe I just lucky and got a very fresh batch, but these potatoes are a winner!

The English Muffin Deal is Better Than Other Menu Items as Well

Along with the English Muffin Deal, Wendy's recently announced new Breakfast Burritos available in both bacon and sausage, so I tried that as well.

I'd give this item a 7/10. The first thing to note is when you open up the wrapper, they're substantial. The wraps are loaded with cheese, eggs, the meat of your choice, and seasoned potatoes. One nice addition is a package of Cholula sauce so you can add some spice to the wrap as well.

At the end of the day, the wrap comes with largely the same ingredients as a breakfast sandwich, so which you prefer between a wrap and sandwich comes down to personal choice. Personally, I think eating Seasoned Potatoes separately is better than including them inside a wrap, which adds a dryness to your bites.

The Wendy's Breakfast Burrito costs $4.89.