Review: Does Burger King’s ‘elevated’ Whopper live up to the hype?

It’s apparently burger week over here at Snackology. After devouring McDonald’s new Big Arch Burger on Tuesday, I turned my attention to Burger King on Thursday after they announced the “elevated” Whopper.

You may be surprised to learn that Snackology has never covered a Burger King release. (I missed the chain’s All-New SpongeBob Movie Menu at the end of 2025.) But if Burger King was going to go through the trouble of rethinking its most iconic menu item, I could swing by and see what all the excitement was about.

“Over the past several years, we’ve focused on strengthening our operations and modernizing our restaurants to build a more consistent foundation across the system,” Burger King President Tom Curtis said in the chain’s announcement. “With that work well underway, we’re now in a position to thoughtfully elevate our core menu. The Whopper is an icon, so we didn't set out to reinvent it. Instead, we elevated it based on direct Guest feedback.”

To receive that guest feedback, Curtis himself has been calling and texting the Burger King exec. I think The Burger King himself was left out of this process ...

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The cost

I paid $10.79 for a medium Whopper Meal, which included a Whopper, medium Have-sies (onion rings and fries!) and a medium Coke Zero. Sadly, a Burger King crown was not included.

The pics

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The thoughts

I don’t eat at Burger King often. I think I may have visited a Burger King like once in the past ten years. I have fond memories of it from my childhood. The food court at our town’s now-defunct mall had a Burger King as one of its anchors. There was also the standalone Burger King where I first discovered Mr. Pibb. And while working with two of my closest friends at CVS in high school and college, we used to take advantage of Burger King’s “2 for $2” deal on our lunch breaks.

I can’t speak to how the “elevated” Whopper compares to its predecessor. But I can tell you that it’s a pretty good fast food burger. Burger King promises that the new Whopper is “stacked tall with freshly cut onions and tomatoes, crisp lettuce, tangy pickles and better tasting mayo.” You can’t go wrong with that combo of ingredients, but you’re also not going to create something that breaks the mold like McDonald’s did with its Big Arch Burger.

Speaking of the Big Arch Burger, the upgraded Whopper doesn’t match that burger’s sesame/poppy seed bun combo, but Burger King did make the bun loftier while adding a glaze. The new bun gives the burger a cushiony bite and complements the improved toppings.

The presentation of the Whopper was also improved, with the chain upgrading its packaging from a wrapper that squished everything together to a clamshell box with a half wrapper.

“So the Whopper being smushed, literally, I’ve heard it … and we’ve seen it,” Curtis told CNN. “(We) improved packaging that kind of holds it together.”

My biggest takeaway from this week’s Burger King visit — in addition to knowing that I’d order the elevated Whopper again — is to not make the mistake of choosing Have-sies as my side. Burger King’s fries are good, but I should’ve never sacrificed a full serving of onion rings for them.