Carl’s Jr.

Loved it! The worker named tristan was super friendly, helpful, and made us feel very welcome in pocatello. The guy is amazing at his craft. Went above and beyond to give us a great experience.

Slowest fast food EVER. We were excited when Carl’s came to Pocatello, but we’ve been frustrated every time we’ve eaten here. Seriously, without exception!

The side of my Carl’s Jr. drinking cup reads; «EAT LIKE YOU MEAN IT». It’s their slogan. It’s trademarked, and I DO eat like I mean it. And when I find something that’s good, I say so. By the same token, when I say «Not so good.» I mean that as well. When Carl’s Jr. most recently opened in Pocatello, it seemed that most everybody else I spoke with was very excited at the prospect. I wasn’t so excited. After all, I thought it wa just going to be another fast food burger joint, like the zillion other franchise fast food burger joints in this one-​horse community. After waiting the appropriate time for the newness of their restaurant opening to wear-​out on the community, I decided to try Carl’s. I am not from around here originally, and where I came from, we never heard of Carl’s Jr. I have to say, I was very impressed. And I am not a person who is easily impressed. Out of all the fast food burger joints that I am aware of, I guess I would rate their burgers up there with Five Guys, and Wendy’s. That’s about the best I can say. Since I generally don’t eat much fast food. That would mean that Carl’s, Wendy’s and Five Guys are just about half a notch ahead of all the other fast food burger joints. The food is always fresh, the staff is always wonderful, and the place is as sparkly clean. In fact, it is the same in those categories as any other fast food restaurant in town. So, what am I writing about
today? Well, I regret to say you should probably stay clear of the new Carl’s Jr. «All Natural Burger». I stopped in today to try this highly touted burger meal, and I was very disapointed. At $ 9.21 for a medium sized «combo», I would have to say the price was very hefty for such a so-​so burger meal. Basically, it’s a typical bureger, fries and a Coke, except I guess the burger is supposed to be «natural», which means no hormones, free range, blah, blah, blah. I don’t know when these fast food places will get the idea that anybody who eats this kind of food on a regular basis really cares at all if the burger meat is «natural» or if the beef cattle were raised on a runway at at LAX, and fed on diet of orange peels, and brass thumb tacks. But the «All Natural» part is what gets me. The burger has no flavor, plain and simple. I even tried removing the beef patty from the bun, and all the veggies, and I tried eating the meat alone. No flavor. I tasted the melted cheese. Also, a closer inspection reveals a burger that looks just like any other fast food burger… about a ¹⁄₃ pound portion of highly compacted, pressed beef, patty. Whoopie ding. The «Fresh Baked Bun» is amazingly huge. It’s huge, and you can’t find the beef patty in a fully dressed sandwich. In fact, there is so much lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion, pickle and bun… well, for the first five bites, I thought I was eating a lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mayonaise sandwich. After I found the meat portion, the burger was sliding out the back of the rest of the sandwich. I was already full from trying to eat through all the salad fixings and condiments. I was also a mess. This was a six napkin meal. Finally, I just pulled the rest of the meat from the mess, and I ate it alone. I didn’t enjoy it, because I had already eaten too much bread and salad. I left about one quarter of the condiments and the bun uneaten. They were laying in a wet heap, on one of my napkins. Look… there are dozens of other restaurants, many within steps of this Carl’s Jr. I say this because the $ 9.21 I paid for this meal was NOT a value. You can go elsewhere in town, even another fast food place, and pay this much money (and less), and you can get a similar experience. I do like other items on the Carl’s Jr. menu, but really, it’s just another fast food joint struggling with the rest of the pack… no better… no worse… just «Meh».