News

Raise a pint: McDonald’s testing English pub burger

July 6, 2011

McDonald's is testing the English Pub Burger in select markets. The Within the Empier blog first reported the burger spotting at a restaurant in Algonquin, Ill., and offers a favorable review of the product.

The English Pub Burger is made with one-third pound of 100-percent Angus beef, hickory-smoked bacon, white cheddar and American cheese, grilled onions, tangy steak sauce and smoky Dijon mustard. The burger is served on an artisan roll.

The English Pub Burger is priced at $4.49 – the same as an Angus Third Pounder.

The blog's author commented: "This burger is really amazing. The burger itself is essentially the same burger they use on the Angus third-pounders. (Which isn't a bad thing) The mixture of cheeses gives the same cheesy flavor that all burgers have, but give a surprising twist with the added cheddar. I, for one, am not a fan of onions, but the grilled onions on the burger taste great. They give a nice texture to the burger and the flavor mixes well with the tanginess of the dijon mustard and the steak sauce ..."

The marketing tagline for the item is "It's so tasty, you'll be gobsmacked." Gobsmacked is British slang for shocked or dumbfounded.

Burger Business reports that this is the first time McDonald's U.S. has branded a menu item as "English."

However "American" themes run rampant in foreign units, including the "Great Tastes of America" promotion in the U.K. and Ireland that includes the Miami Melt, New York Classic and Texas Grande. McDonald's Japan also recently launched the Big America burger line.

Aside from the positive review from Within the Empier, commenters seem open to the product, albeit confused by the "English" part of it, particularly since it's topped with American cheese. Cheddar cheese, however, was originally made in Somerset, England.