Burger King’s BBQ Brisket Whopper

The Whopper has been Burger King’s crown jewel since its introduction in 1957, just a few years after the fast-food chain was founded. Positioned as a larger, flame-grilled alternative to the standard fast-food burger, it set Burger King apart from its biggest competitors.

With its signature sesame seed bun (not initially, and for a small period in the 1980s), quarter-pound beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and mayo, the Whopper quickly became a symbol of the brand’s “Have It Your Way” philosophy, inviting customers to customize it to their liking.

Over the decades, Burger King hasn’t been shy about continually reinventing the Whopper. From limited-time offerings like the Angry Whopper and Ghost Pepper Whopper to region-specific creations and plant-based versions like the Impossible Whopper, they’ve tested just about every topping, sauce, and gimmick imaginable.

While not every experiment hits, the constant innovation shows how crucial the Whopper is to BK’s identity—and how hard they’re willing to work to keep it relevant.

Burger King BBQ Brisket Whopper

How lucky could this BEAST get? I walked into my neighborhood Burger King—just a stone’s throw from corporate HQ—and stumbled onto an early taste test of the new BBQ Brisket Whopper, a whole week before launch.

They handed me a quarter of the sandwich, and I didn’t waste the opportunity. I dissected it bite by bite, analyzing the flavors as if it were my job (because, let’s face it, it kinda is). But I held back on any final verdict until launch day, when I could try it properly—Hot Off The Broiler.

That’s when it all came together: a flame-grilled beef patty, American cheese, crispy onions, mayo, tomato, and slow-cooked brisket drenched in sweet BBQ sauce. It hit the mark, mostly—though the tomato vanished into the background and the sauce leaned a bit sweet.

My advice? Order it fresh, skip the Whopper Jr. nonsense, and double up the meat like a seasoned pro.

Bacon Steakhouse Whopper

Then came the Bacon Steakhouse Whopper. Since I had ordered it cut in half, I quickly realized my mistake—I should have gone double instead of single. If you’re skipping lettuce and tomato, a double works way better. Still, the flavors were on point. I’m a big Swiss cheese fan, so no issues there. Plus, I could see the smoke rising from it while we ate—definitely off the broiler and fresh.

Fresh Beef Whopper

Last December, I told you about the new fresh beef Quarter Pounders from McDonald’s, but I had no clue Burger King was also testing out fresh patties for their Whopper. Right across the street from where my Burger Museum was located, there is a corporate-owned Burger King.

I pulled into the lot around the front of the building to get some of the new crispy chicken tenders. At the drive-thru, I encounter a poster mentioning a new fresh beef Whopper.

While paying, I ask the fella at the window about the sign. He was clueless about it.

As I’m driving home, I think about it some more. Then, I head to the Burger King corporate location near their headquarters.

It’s a few blocks from my home. I drive around the drive-thru’s outer perimeter but see no signage touting it.

Now I’m fully committed to finding out more about it. But, after a quick internet search, I encounter nothing.

This adventure takes me to five more locations en route to Westchester. I finally found the Burger King on Bird Road and 117th Avenue with the poster I was looking for.

I ordered a Whopper with only cheese, mayo, and ketchup, and another exactly as it comes for my parents. Then, I ask the guy in the window about the fresh beef Whopper.

He tells me that they’ve been selling them that way for a while but only recently began publicly mentioning it. So I park in the Burger King lot and open my wrapped fresh beef Whopper.

There I find a patty that looks thicker than a regular one. A feeling of nostalgia comes over me when I hold and then bite into it.

I remember when I could barely hold a Burger King double cheeseburger as a kid. Of course, growing up, we were a Burger King household, and my Mom was and still is one of the world’s biggest Whopper fans.

It had all the right flavor notes of a Whopper but seemed to be missing the very pronounced flame-grilled taste that makes Burger King who they are. I liked it, but I feel this was a little off, so I’m hoping to give it another go again in a few days.

My parents split their Whopper, and both loved it even though I forgot to get cheese. But, hey, you can’t win ’em all.

A few days later, I was back for a second try at the fresh beef Whopper, but this time, it was a double with cheese mayo and ketchup. Again, it tasted just like a Whopper but with a less pronounced charbroil taste.

After telling a few friends about it, we drove to Burger King, but the posters were down, and the fresh beef Whoppers were gone from the menu. We have never heard about them again.

Ghost Pepper Whopper

My first experience with the Burger King Ghost Pepper Whopper was just ok. I went back for a round two & that beauty tasted excellent but warning, it’s not for heat wimps.

Impossible Whopper

Heather Gear makes the Best Whopper in the United States, and she lives in Ohio. It’s true, and I’ll explain how that happened.

Apparently, and unbeknownst to me, who lives a few blocks from Burger King Headquarters in Miami, there is a Whopper Challenge competition.

In early October, Heather Gear bested five others who had won local and divisional Whopper Challenge contests. In the competition, they were tasked with preparing three sandwiches within three minutes.

Happy 65th Whopperversary

Best Whopper in the United States Competition

Her performance was assessed based on factors such as speed, precision, weight, overall presentation, and the cleanliness of the sandwich. In addition to the Golden Whopper trophy, she also received a check for $10,000.

Congrats to Heather, and In case you’d like to visit the Whopper Challenge Champion, her home, Burger King store #1857, is located in Oregon, Ohio, at 2966 Navarre Avenue.

Burger King Dogpper

Back in November 2018, Burger King unleashed a quirky promotion aimed at dog lovers, and it certainly got people talking (and barking). The “Dogpper” was a flame-grilled bone crafted for pups, available exclusively with Whopper orders placed through DoorDash. A clever marketing gimmick? Absolutely. And yes, it worked—I couldn’t resist ordering to see how my dogs, Elsa and Shelley, would react. Spoiler alert: they loved it.

While the Dogpper was fun, my all-time favorite Burger King promotion remains the legendary “Whopper Sacrifice.” Burger King knows how to create buzz-worthy campaigns that leave a lasting impression.

Whopper Sacrifice

One of my all-time favorite BK promotions was the Subservient Chicken, totally wacky, and right up my alley. As great as that was, whoever came up with Whopper Sacrifice in 2009 hit it out of the park.

Social media at the time was just really spreading to all ages groups. We were transitioning from MySpace to Facebook.

Since Facebook was relatively new, everyone was trying to amass their public list of friends. Someone in the Burger King company came up with an ingenious way to take this perceived important aspect of one’s life.

What if you publicly unfriended 10 of your friends on Facebook? And what if Burger King gave you a Whopper for doing it?

What’s worse is your friends would be notified that they had been unfriended for a burger. It caused an uproar, people were pissed.

By the time Facebook shut down the promotion, more than 200,000 people had been unfriended and more than 23,000 Whopper had been handed out.

I don’t remember who I unfriended but I did end up getting a Whopper. Sorry, not sorry to those who were sacrificed for a Whopper.