Oh, don't have a cow, fast food and chain snobs, but I had as good a burger as I've ever had anywhere at any price today at . . Wendy's. The Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. Juicy, flavorful beef, really tasty decently thick bacon, fresh, un-wilted fancy (anything other than iceberg) greens, with a rivulet of melted cheese running down the side. I suppose it might have been pasteurized process cheese food substance, but regardless, the combination rivaled or surpassed any burger I've ever had at any price. It even looked as advertised: no steamy half-smooshed bun sitting on a miniature version of what the ad photos look like.
As to health and nutrition, at 680 calories with 36 grams of fat, 46 grams of carbs and 1110 mg of sodium, nobody's claiming this is health food, but some folks just need to relax their taut, toned buttocks (They're judging me. I can feel them judging me) and enjoy a convenient burger done well now and then. Moderation, you know? If it helps, focus on the 36 grams of protein and potassium.
As for the rest of the story, the dining area floor and tables were clean, and the young man at the counter this afternoon was actually friendly. I've seen a notable improvement in fast food customer service employees manners over the past 15 years in Phoenix, but still rarely do they rise above somewhat perfunctorily polite to the level of actually "friendly". Granted that the mission of keeping fast food fast rarely allows for much in the way of customer interaction and the inside of the restaurant was not particularly busy mid-afternoon, but this was still a cut above. My compliments.
I wouldn't rate every Wendy's or everything AT Wendy's this highly, but for a single really good burger, a clean restaurant, and a few moments of personable interaction this day at this location, I'm a fan. My compliments, and four stars.