Wendy’s (Plainwell)
1185 M-89I think we might be losing some of our Wendy’s, y’all.
The news came out last week that Meritage Hospitality, the company that franchises pretty much all the Wendy’s in West Michigan, is going through a bankruptcy.
Today, it’s being reported Meritage is closing 38 restaurants. The article says the filing doesn’t disclose which locations and if they’re all Wendy’s but Meritage only operates Wendy’s and Morning Belle which has just six locations.
When I first heard the news last week, I figured I better get Wendy’s while I can. There’s still a chance these could become corporate owned stores but that’s going to be up to the bankruptcy court.
I was in Plainwell last week when I first started hearing this news and, as luck would have it, I was hungry. I almost never eat fast food at work but I figured this time I could make an exception.
The Wendy’s in Plainwell is on M-89 near 12th Street in front of Meijer not too far off the interchange with US-131. The building was updated to the Ultra Modern Building design from the classic Sunroom design in 2015.
I went in to order hoping they would have kiosk ordering but that only seems to be a thing in the newer Next Gen buildings. This location is not one of those. You still have to go up to the counter to order like it’s the 1990’s. There is a large shelving unit for mobile orders that takes up about half of the counter space. The Next Gen buildings have built shelving in to the wall so this isn’t a thing.
I put in my usual order of a Baconator combo with a large fry and a large drink. The cashier handed me a cup and I headed over to the fountain drink machine. It’s one of the newer Freestyle machines. I pretty much only drink Coke when I’m at a fast food place. It’s fine…but I wish more places had Pepsi.
The dining room at this Wendy’s is pretty large. It was built in 2015 long before DoorDash took over the main part of the fast food business. It’s actually a really nice space with a variety of seating options. A far cry from the uncomfortable plastic seating from the fast food restaurants in the 1980’s and 1990’s that I grew up in.
It didn’t take long for my name to be called. My co-worker was still sitting in the car so I grabbed the bag and headed back out. We actually had an appointment pop up while I was in there so we had to get back to work.
I grabbed the fries first because they were easy to eat while driving. I’ve always been a fan of Wendy’s fries…moreso than a lot of other fast food places. I like the skin on fries. I like them when I get them at a full service restaurant. I like them when I get them at a fast food restaurant. Maybe it’s psychological but I really just like these fries. They are easily one of my favorite fast food fries and actually the reason I pick Wendy’s over other places.
The Baconator has been my favorite burger from Wendy’s since they rolled it out in 2007. The sandwich is super unhealthy coming in at 890 calories, 58g of fat and 1580 mg of sodium…but it’s just so damn tasty. The sandwich is two of Wendy’s square beef patties with cheese and bacon between both of them. The sandwich also comes with ketchup and mayo but I leave both of those off. This is my fast food burger,…mostly because we don’t have very many Hardee’s in the area with their as equally unhealthy Monster Thickburger. If the Wendy’s in the area do go away, I will really miss this burger.
The cost for my meal was around $15.
I know Wendy’s has been the butt of jokes for a while but I really hope we don’t lose them in Southwest Michigan. My son really loves the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and we get a lot of those from the Wendy’s on Sprinkle Road near Wings Event Center. As for this particular Wendy’s in Plainwell, it’s no different than any of the other new Meritage Wendy’s restaurants. I was craving a Baconator because of the news so I stopped in. Hopefully it’s not my last visit to get one of these tasty fast food burgers.
