Original Thickburger
Before the Monster, there was this. A single thick Angus patty dressed simply with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo on a sturdy bun. Because the patty is thick rather than smashed, it eats more like a sit-down restaurant burger than fast food. A good, honest burger that gets overshadowed by its louder relatives.
The story
By the early 2000s Hardee’s was in trouble: sales had fallen for years after the 1997 takeover by Carl’s Jr.’s parent company, and cheap burgers were not fixing it. The answer in 2003 was to go the other way. The Thickburger put a thick Angus patty on the menu at a price well above fast-food normal, betting that people would pay for a bigger burger rather than a cheaper one. It worked, and it set up the Monster Thickburger that made the chain famous a year later.
What’s inside
Make it at home
There is no copycat of the Original Thickburger yet. Until there is, these recipes on the site come closest to it, judged by what goes into the bun.
- Shares beef and cheese
Zachariah's Shack Burger - Shares beef and cheese
The Mr. Smiley Burger - Shares beef and cheese
McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe (Copycat) - Shares beef and cheese
Whopper (Copycat)
Similar burgers at other chains
Built around the same things as the Original Thickburger.- Burger King · beef and cheese
SignatureWhopper - Wendy's · beef and cheese
SignatureDave’s Single - Jack in the Box · beef and cheese
SignatureJumbo Jack - Burgerville · beef and cheese
SignatureNorthwest Cheeseburger
More from Hardee's
About Hardee's
Wilber Hardee opened his first restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina, in 1960, and Hardee’s became a Southern institution largely thanks to something it started making in 1977: biscuits made from scratch every morning. In 1997 it was bought by the company behind Carl’s Jr., so the two chains share a star logo and several burgers, but Hardee’s has kept its own, more family-friendly personality.
Across the American Southeast and Midwest, plus hundreds of restaurants in the Middle East and Asia.
Not affiliated with Hardee's. Trademarks belong to their owners.