On Sunday I flew home from Chicago to LA on United…behind the curtain. It gave me a chance to try out United’s new smoked gouda cheeseburger, the subject of this week’s Meal of the Week.
I’ve written before about United’s pretzel-bun cheeseburger…one of my favorite airline meals. Earlier this month United rotated out the pretzel-bun burger with cheddar cheese in favor of a new smoked gouda cheeseburger.
The new burger patty is the same size, but the new bread by Brooklyn Bred makes it a lighter sandwich overall. Condiments are still provided in a separate box and now provisioned by Sir Kensington’s. The French fries chips are gone, but you can buy a bag of Kettle Chips for an extra $2. The sandwich now costs $10 (while the old one was $12).
United describes it in this way:
It started with the great burger you like and we found a great, new bread by, Brooklyn-based Company, “Brooklyn Bred” (you’ll recognize some of their breads if you frequent Starbucks …) and we are partnering with Sir Kensington’s – on new condiments too. The new burger patty comes from the same place as the current one – it’s all beef! The cheese is Smoked Gouda, with condiments and Sir Kensington mustard, ketchup and mayo.
We tested 25-30 variations of the cheeseburger on flights and asked customers and flight attendants for feedback. Swiss and Smoked Gouda were the final two cheese choices and Smoked Gouda won unanimously in the feedback. Research was conducted inflight over the course of one month.
The Taste Test
After junior threw up all over the back of my seat, FAs began meal service in the rear of the cabin. I was worried by the time they reached me in the first row there would be no more cheeseburgers left, but thankfully I still snagged one.
Here are two stock photos of the new burger–
And here is what it actually looked like:
Why Pringles? Those were not included, but there were no Kettle Chips loaded so the FA gave me those for free…
CONCLUSION
Put simply, United once again has a winner in the form of its new smoked gouda cheeseburger. It’s worth ordering.
I had the burger last week when first class was miscatered. The FA forgot about the veggies, but the burger was decent, a bit unwieldy to eat.
Also, chips are no longer included as part of the package – you’ll have to shell out an additional $1.99 for the chips. You’re lucky that the FA just gave the Pringles to you.
Matthew said the new price is $2 less than the old price, so looks like they have just unbundled the package? That seems fine to me.
“Good Looking Cheeseburger”
I love these food posts.
Unbundling = saves money for UA as the chips no longer have to be given free to 1K/GS as a part of their free snack in coach policy
I’m not really a fan of funky buns on burgers, but that looks pretty good (and kudos for using something locally sourced).
P.S. I’m with @emercycrite. MOAR food posts!
I had this on UA 727 SFO-IAD on November 13. It was indeed very good (especially with the chips and a Samuel Adams beer) and I’ll order it again, but a bit unwieldy to assemble and eat because I was on a Boeing 757 with narrow seats and the middle seat passenger was manspreading with his elbows as he worked on a Very Important PowerPoint presentation.
I enjoyed this burger tonight on a UA IAH > SNA flight. Delicious, but messy. I was seated in 7D and had to ask for it mid-flight. No snacks were offered for sale during the beverage service (odd). I recommend it if you’re hungry on a three hour plus flight like this one.
Crazy I know – but this is honestly the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had. 🙂