Last Updated on January 13, 2026 by Brian Kachejian
I’ve always been a fan of the classic Whopper. Over the years, I’ve appreciated it as a solid alternative to McDonald’s Big Mac, especially since the Whopper has maintained its original size while the Big Mac seems to have shrunk. It’s a huge hamburger that I’ve loved, even if I can’t always finish one because of the sheer amount of food. The name says it all: a Whopper is a Whopper.
So when I started hearing about Burger King’s new Steakhouse Bacon Whopper on social media and in videos, I knew I had to try it for myself. According to Burger King, this burger features flame-grilled beef, crispy bacon, sautéed mushrooms, onion rings, and A1 Sauce on a flame-grilled bun. The combination sounded promising. I headed to my local Burger King with genuine excitement to see how this premium variation would stack up.
Unfortunately, I left disappointed. The sautéed mushrooms completely dominated the flavor profile, overpowering everything else in the burger. The onion rings were small and soggy. Most noticeably, I couldn’t taste any A1 Sauce at all. What I ended up with tasted more like a mushroom burger than a steakhouse burger, and it was a miss. Mushroom burgers can be excellent when done right, but they’re also hit or miss, and this one fell firmly in the latter category.
I understand the challenges of delivering consistency in fast food. Every Burger King location has different people running it, different workers, different managers, and different quality control standards. While the system is supposed to be uniform, the reality is that quality varies from location to location. I have nothing but respect for the workers at these restaurants, who work hard for very little pay. Still, as a consumer, I’d hope every burger tastes the way it’s supposed to, not just sometimes.
Maybe the Steakhouse Bacon Whopper is a solid burger at other locations. Perhaps I simply got an unlucky one. But based on my experience, I can’t recommend it. I’d suggest saving your money and sticking with what Burger King does best: the classic Whopper.
The Whopper was introduced in 1957 by Burger King co-founder Jim McLamore, who noticed customers at rival drive-ins flocking to oversized burgers. He decided Burger King needed to offer something bigger and meatier, creating a quarter-pound flame-grilled patty topped with mayonnaise, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions, and ketchup on a toasted sesame seed bun. At just 37 cents, the original Whopper became an instant success, giving Burger King a significant advantage in the fast-food market. In fact, the Whopper predates McDonald’s Big Mac by 11 years, arriving in 1957 compared to the Big Mac’s 1968 launch. Today, Burger King sells approximately 2.1 billion Whoppers annually, with an estimated 41 Whoppers consumed worldwide every second.
Over the decades, Burger King has experimented with countless Whopper variations, proving the burger is far from a one-trick pony. The Whopper Jr., the most enduring variation, was created almost by accident in 1963 when Puerto Rico franchise owner Luis Arenas Pérez substituted smaller buns when the regular bun molds didn’t arrive in time for his store opening.
Other notable variations include the Bacon Whopper (1991), Chicken Whopper (2002), Angry Whopper (2008) with jalapeños and spicy sauce, the Impossible Whopper (2019) with a plant-based patty, and countless regional and limited-time offerings like the Texas Double Whopper with jalapeños, the California Whopper with guacamole, and the Chipotle Whopper with pepper jack cheese and chipotle mayo. Each variation has allowed Burger King to keep the Whopper fresh and relevant while maintaining the core flame-grilled beef and classic toppings that made it legendary.
Below is my video review……
