“For anyone looking for an extra cheesy treat, the Bacon Mac & Cheese Burger features hand-smashed double patties topped with thick-cut bacon, American cheese, mac & cheese, pickled hot peppers and Hatch chile aioli on a challah bun,” boasted the Buffalo Wild Wings news release in August.

This article comes from Nutrition Action. We don't accept any paid advertising or corporate or government donations. Any products we recommend have been vetted by our staff and are not advertisements by the manufacturers. They’re just healthy foods we think you’d like to know about!

Think about it. Would you want an ordinary beef burger, when you can pile two patties, plus cheese, plus thick bacon, plus mac & cheese inside your bun?

Surely, B-Dubs could have squeezed a few mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and cheese nachos in there, too. Do they want their patrons to go hungry?

Granted, the Bacon Mac & Cheese Burger with fries has 1,580 calories, 36 grams of saturated fat (nearly two days’ worth), and 3,440 milligrams of sodium (1½ days’ worth). It has more calories than two McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese. So skimpy, it’s not.

What else is on Buffalo Wild Wings’ bacon menu

The bacon burger is part of the chain’s limited-time-only “Thick-Cut Bacon Menu,” which launched in time for football season. If you’re on a diet, are you in luck! The menu also includes a 1,300-calorie Bacon Patty Melt and an 890-calorie BLT Sandwich.

The patty melt has “hand-smashed double patties stacked with thick–cut bacon, Swiss and American cheeses and grilled onions, all piled high on brioche toast with bacon aioli.”

As for the BLT, it’s “a crispy classic, featuring thick-cut bacon that provides a flavorful crunch, paired with shredded iceberg lettuce and tomato, all served up with bacon aioli on a toasted parmesan brioche.”

The bottom line on processed meat

“Everything’s better with bacon,” says Buffalo Wild Wings’ news release. Really? Processed meats like bacon, sausage, ham, hot dogs, and lunch meats raise the risk of colorectal cancer, says the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

So...maybe not quite everything.

Do better-for-you options exist at Buffalo Wild Wings?

Even B-Dubs’ entrée salads approach or exceed 1,000 calories apiece: the Honey BBQ Chicken Salad (910 calories), the Chicken Caesar Salad (890 calories), and the Buffalo Chicken Salad (1,100 calories), thanks in part to unhealthy toppings like bacon, cheese, and/or croutons.

As for the appetizer menu, it’s hard to find anything that’s not deep-fried or white-flour.

A decent pick—though like most restaurant food, it’s still way too salty—is the “Naked Tenders” (grilled chicken) entrée with a Garden Side Salad instead of French Fries. 

Naked Tenders (5 tenders, without sauce):

• 260 calories
• 0.5 g saturated fat
• 1,910 mg sodium
• 61 g protein

Garden Side Salad (with 2 Tbs. Ranch Dressing):

• 250 calories
• 5 g saturated fat
• 370 mg sodium
• 5 g protein