Thinking of Wendy’s makes me smile. It is one of the few fast food restaurants that cause random exclamations of “I want!” from me. Just imagining the classic and comforting yellow and red sign, I find myself craving a ninety-nine cent “Frosty”. The “Frosty” has become a comfort to me due to the several times I ate them after surgeries or when having a sore throat. Though, there is probably nothing helpful about the frozen chocolate dairy dessert that we all love – except for producing smiles.

So what is special about this Wendy’s? The answer is that it is a Wendy’s, and if you live on the West or North side of Tyler, then you are close enough to drive to it. It is also conveniently located within the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot. Well, I should say that excluding its proximity to my most used shopping location, Wendy’s is inconveniently located within the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot. It is purely because of the traffic and where the entrances are. If you need to do Wal-Mart and eat, then I suggest going to Wal-Mart first. Trying to turn left into Wendy’s from the main entrance can be both frightening and frustrating. The traffic that runs perpendicular with Highway 64 has right of way at all times, and the flow of traffic so rarely ebbs. Leaving Wal-Mart you can just turn right into the Wendy’s which works out beautifully.

Other than that, I choose Wendy’s often because their ninety-nine cent menu exceeds the industry standards. In fact, it seems to me that they have set the standard, and other fast food restaurants are slowly climbing on board. I can get a full meal for my wife and I for under seven dollars. I’ll order two double stack cheeseburgers, a breaded chicken sandwich, a small fry and two small sodas all for less than I’d pay for one meal at most other places. The cool thing is that I don’t have to settle to do this. Their food simply tastes wonderful and is fully capable of filling us both.

They also have some of the best standard priced value meals. My wife will often order their salads which were surprisingly tasty. I recommend playing it safe with the grilled chicken Caesar salad. If you are feeling adventurous but want to keep it healthy, try the Mandarin chicken salad. All of the burger and chicken sandwich meals have been good in my opinion. It’s more just a matter of choosing the size you want. Though, I almost always go back to the ninety nine cent menu because it’s cheap and just as good in quality and quantity.

The other positive is something that some people might laugh at. We like to eat at this Wendy’s because of the aesthetics in the parking lot. The parking lot is usually clean aside from the occasional bag of used sandwich and fry packaging that someone was too lazy to deal with. What we love the most is the grackle population. If you are unfamiliar with these birds I suggest making a trip to this parking lot. They look like slightly more unattractive crows, but they have an amazing awkward caw. They also have become trained like seagulls to come really close to people and expect a handout. So, we watch the birds and then watch the impatient people trying to leave the Wal-Mart parking lot. It’s entertaining to those like me who enjoy observing people.

As for negative things, there aren’t many. The store sometimes smells weird. The employees have been pleasant more than ninety percent of the time. I’ll occasionally catch the grumpy window associate during a rush, but luckily it is occasional and not a habit, like so many businesses in America. Also, before visiting this location, commit to not being upset over the salt. They rarely salt the fries correctly and sometimes at all. I suggest automatically asking for extra salt and ketchup. Then you can just keep being happy at little effort on your part or theirs.

Another weird experience I had with this Wendy’s was not food related. I had set up a time with them to do a fundraising car wash for a mission trip I was going on with a group of students. We had called at least a month in advance, and the manager had been very kind to say that we could use their parking lot and water for the day. The day of the car wash we woke early and got our supplies ready. Someone suggested I call to confirm, and the employee acted like I was crazy. They had no record of my team being scheduled. In fact, there was another team scheduled to do a car wash on that day. It was lame, but I don’t hold it against them. I know how stressful working in fast food can be. Random events like mine do not take precedent when you have hungry Tyler residents to feed.

Overall, I’d give this Wendy’s the number one slot in Tyler fast food burger joints. Give it a try. If you already like Wendy’s, then I think you’ll prefer this one to the other locations.

3816 State Highway 64 W
Tyler, TX 75704
(903) 535-9292‎