We’re going to be real with you — Jack in the Box is not our favorite fast food restaurant. It’s not Burger King-levels of bad, but in terms of quality, the menu can be a bit lacking. Aside from the curly fries and shakes, nothing in our opinion is really worth a trip to JiB’s drive-thru. Maybe the tacos when you’ve got four shots of vodka sloshing in your belly. So when the brand announced that it would be launching a brand new burger, The American Ribeye Steakhouse Burger, and relaunching its discontinued Mozzarella Sticks with a brand new recipe, we didn’t know how to feel.
On the one hand, we’re always happy when a fast food menu has mozzarella sticks, but Jack in the Box has had three different recipes in the past and there is a good reason why they keep changing them. They’re never that good. Similarly, the American Ribeye Steakhouse burger sounds like a great idea, but JiB doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to burgers (see how we ranked them here). So while we’re always excited to try a new fast food burger, we’d honestly prefer if it weren’t from JiB.
Will they be able to win us over this time? Let’s find out, starting with the Mozzarella sticks!
Mozzarella Sticks
Tasting Notes:
A marker of a good mozzarella stick is the cheese trail, and I’m happy to say that even after a 15-minute drive time between the drive-thru and my apartment, this mozzarella stick delivered on that front. The cheese was melty, stretchy, and adhered to the outer batter nicely. There is nothing worse than a cheese stick that slides out of the fried casing when you bite into it, these don’t have that problem.
On the flavor front, I’m getting a nice salty and creamy mozzarella cheese with a super thick breading that is well-seasoned with Italian herbs. That cheese has a subtle sweetness to it and it pairs nicely with JiB’s marinara sauce.
The Bottom Line:
As a fan of Jack in the Box’s old Mozzarella sticks I have to say, these are probably the best iteration so far.
Bacon All American Ribeye Steakhouse Burger
Tasting Notes:
The All American Ribeye is available both with or without bacon, for this taste test we went with the bacon because… well come on, it’s bacon — how can you go wrong? The burger features 100% ribeye beef, cheddar cheese, aioli, red onion, lettuce, and tomato on a potato bun.
Biting into the burger is a wonderful experience — the meat is incredibly beefy, it’s rich, and almost buttery, I wouldn’t immediately clock this as ribeye, but it’s significantly beefier than every other burger in JiB’s lineup. The tomatoes add a layer of juiciness and savory umami notes into the mix, pairing excellently with the beef.
Going with an aioli over mayo is a nice move, it adds even more savoriness to the mix with a subtle hint of garlic. It lacks the tang that something like straight mayo would provide, and in this case, I think that’s a good thing.
That’s the good, now here is the bad: the cheese is way too thin, I appreciate the use of real cheddar but it doesn’t add much to the overall flavor of the burger. The lettuce is awful, it’s watery and it attempts to drown out the flavor. The bacon suffers from the same issue as the cheese, it’s so thin that it might as well not be there at all.
Then there is a small issue with the marketing — it claims to be a steakhouse burger, and the use of ribeye over your typical meat blend sort of implies that this is going to be a big and substantial burger… it’s not. It’s thicker than the other burgers in JiB’s lineup, but it’s not quite as meaty as the name suggests.
Thankfully none of the bad stuff really brings this burger down, you could always ask for extra cheese or switch out the cheddar for Swiss or American. I’m shocked to say this but, JiB has completely won me over, these are the two best new menu items to come to Jack in the Box in a while!
The Bottom Line:
Skip the bacon. The All American Ribeye is easily JiB’s best burger, it’s beefy, rich, and super savory. Definitely worth a trip to the drive-thru, especially if you pair it with an order of mozzarella sticks.
Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.