Have You Seen “The Big Arch?”
As I celebrate National Burger Month 2026, I am looking for the best – and most unique – burgers I can find…which leads to this ad:
Yes, McDonad’s has jumped into the “mega burger” business!
In March, McDonald’s announced a limited time burger – the “Big Arch” – and it’s their biggest burger yet! Here’s what it is:
Patties: Two juicy quarter-pound 100% beef patties.
Cheese: Three slices of melty white cheddar.
Toppings: A combination of crispy fried onions, slivered raw onions, zesty pickles, and shredded lettuce.
The Sauce: The new Big Arch Sauce is tangy and creamy, balancing flavors of mustard, pickle, and sweet tomato.
Bun: A toasted bun topped with both sesame and poppy seeds.
And it weighs almost a pound! So of course, I had to have it – not once, but twice! Here’s what happened:
This is the McDonalds restaurant in Broadview Heights Ohio. I was there on a family visit and decided to take advantage of a break to try the burger!
I placed my order and a few minutes later this box was placed in front of me.
I quickly realized I was going to have a problem – watch:
You see, the packaging is designed to keep the mega-burger in place, but I couldn’t figure out how to grab it with one hand while filming!
I made a bit of a mess of it when trying, and it gets worse! Here’s my comical effort to film myself eating the burger – including an embarrassing camera mistake – check it out!
Well, THAT was embarrassing! I finally managed to get a hold on the big burger and had a bite!
Let me get it out of the way: it is delicious! Cheesy, beefy, and stuffed with toppings, especially the tart pickles that I love!
But my Ohio review failed on many levels – and wasn’t fair to the Big Arch. I needed to try again, this time more focused on how to properly capture this burger as I reviewed it – so let’s head to midtown Manhattan!
Three days after my Ohio debacle, I headed into the McD’s on W. 55th street and 8th avenue in New York City – where an ad proudly welcomed me to try their new burger again:
But this time, I took the burger home so I could film it right!
And knowing about the box, I carefully opened it up to reveal a much more preserved look!
That looks pretty good after an 8 block walk home in a bag! You can see the grilled onion bits, the lettuce and meat, sauce and a few pickles…there is a LOT going on here!
Here’s an important point: I assumed you could grab it with one hand. You saw how that worked for me in Ohio, and the same thing began to happen here:
There is so much going on between those buns that I needed to hold it with both hands to keep it all inside – so that was my fault, but you can see the big beef patty and all of the toppings, which are delicious!
There are actually two big patties on the burger, plus nicely melted cheese and so much more, but you really have to hold it to know for sure!
So I put the camera on a tripod so that you could watch me take a bite:
OK, it’s really good! There is a lot of flavor, the mix of ingredients works really well, and it is filling!
Here’s more of my review – including how I set everything up to be able to capture the first bite – this is a longer video so I understand if you don’t want to see so much detail:
I give Mickey D’s a huge “thumbs up” on this burger! If you order this with fries and a drink, you will pay around $11-$12…and you will be stuffed! You can never capture a partly eaten burger well, but this one offers a full range of flavor in every bite!
McDonald’s just reported strong sales for their most recent fiscal quarter, driven by value meals AND The Big Arch, so we will see how long it stays on the menu!
I have done a number of reviews of various McDonad’s products, like this one:
It’s my Big Mac meets Filet-o-Fish “surf and turf” mashup!
See how it turned out here!
And I love seeing some of the unique McD’s items from around the world, like when Japan took on McDonald’s Burgers – “New York” style!
Three really cool varieties made me hungry – check them out!
Of course, we’ve had McDonald’s in our lives for a long time – so much so that Jason Alexander had hair when he made this wild ad – check it out here!
Because it’s “National Burger Month”, I spent time with the legendary George Motz, Burger Historian and owner/Chef of Hamburger America:
George made me a terrific fried onion burger – here’s my review!
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