Wendy's has been getting pretty aggressive with its new burgers: in Japan, the chain just launched a foie gras burger and in the States, Dave's Hot 'N Juicy debuted after two years of development. In the process of these new burger launches, Wendy's has dethroned Burger King as the second biggest fast food chain. The company admits that its strategy is to go after fast casual restaurants such as Smashburger and Five Guys, which makes even more sense now as rumors of the "Black Label" burger begin to leak.
A Wichita tipster sent photos and details to GrubGrade. The burger is rumored to come in two flavors: Bacon Portabella ($4.89), which has a a mushroom sauce, muenster cheese, three bacon slices, tomato and pepper sauce; and Spicy Santa Fe ($4.49) which has guacamole, pepperjack cheese, salad greens, tomato, red onion and a cilantro lime sauce. The poster advertising the burger states "The perfect harmony of signature taste and select ingredients."
The name itself isn't actually all that original, given that New York City's Minetta Tavern has had a $26 Black Label burger on its menu for several years. Grub Street reached out to Pat LaFrieda, the meat purveyor that created the custom blend, for comment. "...It doesn't bother us one bit. Will people get confused? No. Will Wendy's steal some magic we created? Maybe, but that's okay," said Mark Pastore, president of Pat LaFrieda.
HuffPost Food reached out to Wendy's for comment and a spokesperson confirmed that Wendy's is testing two Black Label hamburgers, and that tests are in the "very early stages." Both burgers start with 1/4 pound of North American beef on a buttered and toasted bun.
Check out more photos of the burgers over at GrubGrade.