Wendy’s square meals with a bit of help from Dave. Is it a powerful 5 star burger?

Wendy’s returned to the UK in 2021 after nearly 20 years away, choosing the former branch of Nationwide in Reading to be its base.

Clearly, the reopening has been a success as the company is now planning to open an additional 400 branches over the next few years, adding to the 34 sites it has already opened.

But is it any good? We popped in to find out.

What makes Wendy’s different?

The company’s USP is square burgers.

And that is exactly what you’ll get. They are thick, flavoursome and juicy.

And they say they always serve fresh food, even if it means going the extra mile.

But that’s not all.

There is an emphasis on bacon, more on that in a bit.

The company was launched by Dave Thomas in 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, and its first drive-through window came a year later. No chance of having a drive-through in Reading, as it is in Station Road and only buses and taxis can drive past.

What’s on the menu at Wendy’s

Like many fast-casual dining restaurants, it’s burgers, fries and drinks.

But Wendy’s does things its way.

Its core burger is the Dave’s Single: a quarter pounder, served in a bun with American cheese, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, onion and a slice of tomato. Named after the company’s founder, it can be ordered as a double or a triple burger option.

The Baconator version sees the vegetables replaced with six pieces of bacon, and there are two burgers in that bun.

Chicken options include nuggets, spicy nuggets, a spicy burger and an Avocado Chicken Club sandwich. There are also chicken wraps to try.

Vegetarian options are limited to a Curry Bean Burger, which is poor in this day and age. It’s made from black beans and chickpeas and comes with a curry mayo. Wendy’s says it will be the best veggie burger people will have ever tried, but more options should be on the table.

No better example of this lack of vegetarian options can be seen than with its salads: Avocado Chicken and Caesar Chicken.

Sides include a baked potato with toppings such as cheese or chilli. Fries can also be topped: cheese, chilli or Baconator (cheesy sauce, shredded cheddar and bacon bits).

There is also a breakfast menu, which is again very meaty. Vegetarians can have an egg and cheese muffin, breakfast potatoes, or a pain au chocolat: it’s slim pickings, especially if you’re vegan rather than vegetarian.

For drinks, some will be delighted with the serve-yourself fizzy drink taps – you can create your own cocktail of Pepsi, Tango and such like, and refill your cup. Truly it floweth over.

Its milkshakes are called Frostys and are really soft ice cream in a cup. They can be vanilla or chocolate, frozen or normal.

What is it like?

Greasy. Messy.

We tried the Dave Burger meal (£9.79), and ended up with mayo, ketchup and burger juice all over our fingers.

The napkins were thin, and we needed several to get the grease off our hands. It was unpleasant to say the least.

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The burger itself was fine, and the thickness was appreciated. It felt like good value in that sense, but as it moved around the bun and the grease expelled itself, it was a mess.

We tried the Baconator fries, and felt it wasn’t worth the upgrade as there weren’t enough bacon pieces to go round, while the Chilli fries had a similarly thin coating of chilli con carne, but at the same time it was a side rather than a main, so it was acceptable.

Had it been on its own it would have been thoroughly disappointing.

Ultimately it wasn’t as good as it could have been.

Eating in at Wendy’s in Reading

The Wendy’s is quite small, especially compared to other fast-food restaurants in the area. Those who remember when Black Sheep Coffee was Burger King will also recall the additional dining room at the back. No such luck here.

There are a small number of tables and a large shared ‘kitchen island’ type seating area.

With high demand from customers, overworked staff didn’t have capacity to clean up as one set of guests left, and another arrived. So, food residue was everywhere. Unless they employ more staff or octopuses with eight arms, this probably won’t change any time soon.

Add in to that the numerous delivery drivers hanging around waiting for their orders to come out of the kitchen and there are a lot of people in such a small place.

It’s a shame as being the first UK branch as part of its 21st century expansion, you would hope it would be a flagship and a poster boy for the brand. Instead, it feels a bit shabby, and that’s a shame, especially as it costs more than McDonald’s.

When is the restaurant open?

The restaurant is open from 7am (8am Sundays) and closes at 11pm apart from Fridays and Saturdays when it closes at 2am the following morning.

Amusingly, the Wendy’s website for the Reading branch contains a picture of a completely random drive-through counter next to some blurb for its Station Road kitchen. You’d expect the store to have its own picture seeing as it was the first UK branch.

Wendy’s Reading
1 Station Road
Reading RG1 1LG
0118 340 2478
https://uklocations.wendys.com/reading/1-station-road