The Discontinued Burger King Sandwich We Can't Believe Was Real

Although fast food burger chains such as Burger King are best known for their burgers, fries, and even chicken, that hasn't stopped major chains from experimenting with slightly odd menu items. In the past, Burger King has offered various burgers with colorful buns, a ham-and-cheese sandwich that was a knock-off of one of Arby's classic offerings, and even a rack of barbecue ribs. While some items, such as chicken fries, are so out-of-this-world that they have become mainstays, more often these creative concoctions leave as quickly as they arrive.

One of the several discontinued Burger King items that we probably won't ever see again is the Whopperito. This brief regional offering took everything that fans loved about the chain's classic Whopper and threw it into a tortilla. Surprisingly, this small change made a big difference, and fans did not react well to a tortilla full of beef crumbles, nacho queso cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions. The Whopperito was introduced in August 2016 as a limited-time item and was first available in Hermitage, Pennsylvania; Warren, Ohio, and a few BK locations in Texas before making its nationwide debut.

This Tex Mex-burger mashup was not originally intended for a nationwide rollout, but Burger King did release its Whopperito coast-to-coast for a limited time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was not the big hit that Burger King may have hoped for, considering that it tasted nothing like a burrito and was arguably less enjoyable than a regular Whopper.

The name itself was somewhat misleading. "Whopperito" implies a burrito, but a Whopperito was little more than a chopped burger in a flimsy wrap, which are thinner than thick, sturdy flour tortillas. The contents of the Whopperito also leaned more toward a wrap than a burrito, with ingredients (lettuce, mayo, and pickles) that you're unlikely to find in an actual burrito. If this was Burger King's answer to the beloved Snack Wraps from McDonald's that fans were begging to come back, the Whopperito missed the mark.

A few fans did enjoy the Whopperito enough to start a Change.org petition in 2021 to bring it back. Three years later, however, the petition has fewer than 150 signatures, which is not enough to get the attention of Burger King's management team.

Many folks who tried the Whopperito don't have fond memories of Burger King's "burrito" offering. One Reddit commenter posted "My boyfriend legitimately would not eat whoppers for years cause they reminded him of the Whopperito and he'd feel sick any time he tried. It was a scarring experience." Another remembered "throwing it away after the first bite."

As for this Daily Meal writer, I was fortunate enough (or If I am being honest, unfortunate) to find myself on the receiving end of a Whopperito in 2016. At the time I did not realize I was trying what would later haunt my food-fueled nightmares for years to come. Without clocking the promotional photos that showcase a chopped-up burger wrapped in a tortilla, I assumed that Burger King was trying its hand at Mexican food. 

What I received was far from my expectations, and I agree with others who claim the Whopperito was one of the worst fast foods released in recent years. The tortilla was not cooked, so it was a tough exterior to bite into. Once I broke through, all the contents fell out of the wrapping, which is a personal "ick" when I'm having wraps or burritos. The messy spillage might not have mattered in this instance, however, considering the contents severely lacked flavor. While I was eating the Whopperito, I kept thinking that I'd much rather be enjoying a burger or a burrito, not this mismatched combination of the two.