a cornucopia of whitecastle oddities (BBQ pork and Chicken Italiano)

good ol' whitecastle seems to do a good job of tossing out interesting "limited time only" products now and then. this seems like it'd be rather important for them lately since it appears that every restaurant in the world is trying to cash in on the "sliders" small burger format in recent times.


i have to admit that when i first saw the ads for the BBQ pork sandwich i was a little grossed out. i'm not the biggest fan of loose meat sandwiches, and whitecastle really doesn't seem like the place you'd want to get one. i'd also heard some terrible rumors regarding non-meat pork parts showing up in the sandwich. these things in mind, it took me a long time to build up the nerve to try one out. i rolled into town at 2am after an hour of interstate travel last week and felt the time was right.

first off, i feel like i should dispel the "parts" rumor. my sandwich didn't have anything weird in it.
it was really ugly though. they wrap them in paper before putting them in the traditional WC box, i assume so you could eat them on the go and not get too messy. as far as the taste - it was exactly what you'd expect. tasted like the bbq that you'd get at a pitch in. not really my thing, but some people dig that stuff. kind of made me want baked beans and potato chips. i would ordinarily say that this is the kind of cheap stuff that parents give kids when they don't really want to go to the effort of cooking, but, i also think that WC has hit upon a reasonable niche here. it's not like to can get a loose meat sandwich at a drive through anywhere else, let alone at 4am.


i noticed something else when i entered the castle.. they were pushing a chicken italiano sandwich. (as well as those awful ranch chicken rings.. bleh) i gave the chicken a shot. it was quite a bit like the honey chipotle chicken they once had. basically a chicken breast sandwich with garlic mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. the verdict? good, but definitely not awesome. the marinara was not the same kind as is given out with cheese sticks, and was just kind of weak. the cheese was awesome (and probably good on other stuff too), but unfortunately the sandwich was assembled in such a way that the cheese never had the chance to melt. i'm actually going to recommend skipping this one unless you are super into chicken marinara. value on the dollar aside, just wait for BK to bring their italian chicken back. it's better.

Whitecastle BBQ pork sandwich - 8/10
Whitecastle Chicken Italiano sandwich - 6/10