 This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only. |
View from the street of drivethrough
| Location |
| 1701 Cowell Blvd. |
| Hours |
| Dine in open till 10pm, drive-through open till 2am. |
| Phone |
| (530) 297-0120 |
| Website |
| (National Website) |
| Established |
| 1997 |
| Departed |
| 2012-06-26 |
| Payment |
| Cash and major Credit Cards |
Wendy's is a fast food restaurant known for their square burgers, frosties and fries. They also have fairly good fast food salads. The burgers are square and are made fresh rather than from frozen patties like most other fast food burgers. Almost all of the original burger chains founded in the early 1920s, like White Castle, serve square burgers. Wendy's burger (and original menu) is based on Kewpee Hamburgers, which — being founded in 1923 — are typically square. Square patties also allow better use of the grill space, as they can be tiled next to each other.
After three flips, they chuck burgers into the chili, so chili from later in the day tends to be meatier than a chili from early in the day (plus you know your burger wasn't sitting under a heat lamp). Contrary to urban legend, they don't use burgers that fell on the floor. The health department would frown on that. Grab some chili with your meal, take it home and stick it in the fridge. The next day, make some spaghetti, chop some onions and use it to make chili-mac. With loads of beans and meat, it's a perfect chili for chili-mac. Drop some shredded cheddar (or sour cream if you're feeling New England-y) atop it if you want to be fancy.
Wendy's has recently introduced the new Dave's Hot N Juicy which is available with 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 lb. of beef.
It's all about the 99¢ menu — 99¢ nuggets, 99¢ fries, 99¢ frosties... you get the picture.
Frosties come in several flavors. The original Frosty is actually a mixture of half vanilla and half chocolate. A vanilla Frosty was later introduced. They later added Frosty Shakes which can be consumed using a straw. Wendy's now has a Wild Berry Frosty Parfait and Wild Berry Frosty Shake. The parfait is made with real berries. There is also Wild Berry Tea. In addition, there is also the Caramel Apple Frosty Parfait with real apples and an Oreo Parfait.
In 2008, the parent company of Arby's bought Wendy's. The merger with 2 competing restaurant brands was not profitable and Arby's was sold in Summer 2011. Wendy's/Arby's Group changed names to Wendy's Company since they are now only focused on Wendy's restaurants. Wendy's is once again independent.
The Wendy's location in Davis closed and the building is now a Carl's Jr.
The Finger
A woman claimed to have found a severed human finger in their chili at a Wendy's in the Bay Area. The police investigated and appear to have determined that the woman was performing a scam trying to extort money from Wendy's. After a warrant was issued to search her house, the woman has dropped all charges and she does not want to go to court. It was revealed that she has sued other restaurants (including El Pollo Loco), a car dealership (who sold her a car whose wheel "fell off"), and several sexual harassment suits.
On 4/22/05, the woman was arrested in Las Vegas at her home. The finger was finally traced back to a friend of her husband's who injured himself in an industrial accident last December. DNA tests have determined that the finger is his and he has admitted that he gave the finger to her. Here are details.
On 9/9/05, the couple involved pled guilty and face ten and thirteen years in jail. According to the court, Wendy's sales have dropped two and a half million dollars due to their actions.
On 1/18/06, they were jailed for nine years each.
The Wendy's in Davis will refuse to serve you if you joke about finding a finger in their chili. While that may seem severe, consider that there have been times that they have been tormented about it via the drive through window. They will politely ask you to leave as they are declining you service. NOTE: according to msnbc.com as a result of this woman's claims, sales at Wendy's Northern California stores have fallen off significantly, enough so that there have been layoffs and reduced hours at some locations. No wonder they are a bit touchy about it.
Closure
The locations in Davis and Woodland were closed suddenly in June 2012. Currently the only comment made by the company claims it as "strictly a business decision." This is curious as both locations had full employed staff and had been, to all appearances, doing well as businesses. The Sacramento Bee article on the subject revealed little more information. Further adding to speculation were recent events involving contractors/construction workers of some sort being housed at the nearby La Quinta hotel, as well as statements regarding opening up at different locations in the area. These, combined with the abrupt nature of the closures, may imply problems with the buildings themselves.
Both stores were corporate
Upon further investigation there are many issues involving the corporation vs. franchise owners. As Franchise owners continue to try to cut cost whenever and however they may, Wendy's corporate hits them hard if it costs food quality or violates any of the Wendy's International policies. More closures have included: Yakima, Kennewick, and Walla Walla Washington Eureka, CA- Made even stranger since it was the last Fast Food chain still open in Humboldt County.
There have also been closures of approximately 600 other stores in at least seven other states, including the original Wendy's location in Columbus, Ohio (closed March, 2007) over the past 5 years.
It is quite odd since Wendy's sales in their 6k plus stores exceeded those of Burger King in 2011 in their 12k plus stores for the first times in the franchises history making Wendy's the number two most eaten fast food, right behind McDonalds. Apparently, this is not enough to justify costs to the franchise owners.
A quick Google Search, specifically looking at franchise-owner related articles, indicates the majority of the closures are most likely related to the high cost of "up-fitting" the restaurants. Every 20 years, Wendy's corporate requires the up-fits in their chains, and the costs average around $1.5 million per store. Since 77% of the Wendy's in this country are franchised owned, the majority of them are choosing to close their lowest profit stores rather than pay the extremely high costs of the up-fits. Some franchise chains, including BZB, owners of the stores in Washington and four other states, have chosen to close all of the stores and sell of the properties to the highest bidders.
Alternately — and it should be clearly understood that this is a rumor — it has been stated in local talk radio that word at a local coffee shop has it that the franchise owner was doing something related to dealing drugs out of the location(s). If you know any facts, please edit this to confirm.
2006-06-14 13:40:48 Wendy's in Davis often neglects to turn their lights off at 2:00 a.m. when their drive-thru closes. I have twice been fooled into thinking they were open, and other cars have followed me in there, too. It is very inconsiderate to keep the lights on and get late-night burger-lovers' hopes up the way you do, Wendy's! I wrote corporate to complain, and they sent me coupons for free stuff, so I win in the end! —RickEle
2007-04-22 20:49:13 Think guys with long nasty hair that is not hair netted or covered. Think "Sorry, no fries tonight." Think about your order being wrong every other time you come. Think Wendy's in Davis! —SoCalGal
2007-08-04 03:40:05 i have had nothing but bad experiences here , I went one night this guy with longer hair was cussing i was with my girlfriend and was pretty shocked and food was cold well the fries were i called and complained and manager seemed the same way, what are ya going to do? —Brians
- night shift seems to goof off a lot —FredChen
2007-11-15 22:47:31 chicken nuggets. ask for fifty. —KenichiSan
2007-12-18 15:04:05 Sometimes my food is less than hot (not quite cold, but not piping hot), but everyone has always been friendly. They're just a little absentminded with the sauces. —Kiran
2008-10-22 13:40:30 ummmmm. i hate to say this, but I ordered a Caesar chicken salad...i only ever order that or the chicken nuggets. but this particular time i found a bug in my salad. I dont know if it was a nat. I was so lucky that i eat slowly, right before i was going to put it in my mouth i saw something black and it as a dead bug indeed. I cannot eat there anymore i think that there are like bugs flying around in the back and they leave something that they are making for u open and boom its in there. perhaps not really their fault, but still. its a pity, i enjoyed their chicken nuggets.
2008-11-15 15:27:32 mountain of chicken nuggets ftw —ketan
2009-11-08 21:43:00 we both like the baked potatoes here, oddly enough, but Mrs. really likes the rootbeer floats. i do to but she has a hankering for one alot, i like the food here and like the price. —mrandmrs
2010-06-13 00:05:15 my hope & salvation during desperate starvation. you just can't beat the dollar menu. —binladen
2010-11-24 14:43:02 my experience here was horrible, the burgers were cold and also tasted old and they took forever to make them —hkaeley
2011-05-14 17:33:43 Their new french fries really are much better. I think they are my favorite fast food fries. —rachealgalante
2011-11-16 05:33:28 "The burgers are square because they are made fresh rather than from frozen patties like most other fast food burgers."
Oh THAT'S why the burgers are square! It makes a lot of sense. —Willikers
2011-12-06 10:50:15 @willikers The burgers are actually square because dave thomas was a fiend for efficiency and wanted to maximize the grill space used. The only way to tile a large restaurant grill completely was with square burgers. —koalahamlet
2012-06-26 14:37:20 ...closed? Anyone have info? It's already boarded up and says it's permanent. —KBathory
2012-07-01 20:34:47 no info but it is boarded up
they did okay business, I bet it was an ownership dispute and or embezzled into the ground or something ?? —StevenDaubert
2012-07-01 21:03:10 What's really odd about the closing is that they just recently had people doing some sort of renovation or construction on it. Maybe there's an issue with the building itself. —KBathory
2014-03-05 08:14:41 It's a Carl's Jr now! —Jayson
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