The research and development team for CKE Restaurant brands' Carl's Jr. and Hardee's has been getting creative with the trend of replacing burger buns with grilled sourdough bread. In November, Hardee's introduced the limited-time-offer Portobello Mushroom Melt Thickburger. Now, Carl's Jr. is launching a twist on the classic grilled cheese, the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger.
The new burger features four slices of melted American and Swiss cheeses, sliced bacon and a burger in between grilled sourdough bread.
Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing at CKE Restaurants, said the idea for the burger came out of the company's desire to create a premium grilled cheese sandwich for its vegetarian customers. When testing that sandwich, the R&D team decided to add a charbroiled burger patty and bacon to create a new premium burger. "It really delivers on the idea of a grilled cheese sandwich combined with a bacon cheeseburger," he said. "It's delicious ... and we'll still make a really good grilled cheese sandwich for our vegetarian customers if they want one."
The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burgers are available at Carl's Jr. as a single burger for $2.49, a double burger for $3.49 or Six Dollar Burger version for $4.49. Prices may vary.
The new burger will be promoted through advertising created by Los Angeles-based advertising agency Mendelsohn|Zien, including videos on Carl's Jr. Web site, Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter feed.
Other brands featuring sandwiches with grilled sourdough bread include Arby's, with its Classic Patty Melt (but with roast beef instead of a beef patty). Checkers/Rally's Drive-In Restaurants featured two LTO toasted melts in the fall.
