Back in February I wrote that American Airlines would trial sliders as a first class pre-order meal out of Chicago, accompanied by French fries. This proved popular, and in March they announced a nationwide rollout. But the offering is being pulled May 14.
I finally had a chance to try them. They were good, not great, but I like having them as an option. And it’s a much better choice than what’s available on my hub-to-hub lunch flight next week. They’re also tastier than the pre-pandemic American Airlines burger that was offered in domestic first class and better than United’s burger.
I really liked the pretzel bun. I’ve seen complaints that it turns a bit spongy when reheated but that wasn’t my experience.
Others complain that it gets delivered way too hot. If it’s reheated too long, sure. Not my experience!
What I don’t see are criticisms of the meat. It’s not the highest quality burger you’ve ever had, but the meat and cheese are reasonably tasty.
Two things that do ring true here, though, are that the fries come out either wonderfully crispy or totally limp (mine were the latter, sadly) and that condiments are rarely offered.
Slider trays were delivered to me and to the woman seated behind me, and both lacked condiments. I asked the flight attendant about this, and she shrugged that this is how it’s loaded. I asked if she might check in the utensil drawer? She came back with condiments for me and for the woman behind me. And her mind was blown that:
- there were condiments
- she’s been delivering these for some time and never knew this
- but I knew where to tell her to look
I was very humble in the way that I asked, so she didn’t mind a bit, she even seemed to appreciate it – genuinely marveling at how a passenger would know something about galley setup that she didn’t. (Clearly she didn’t read the memos on this, I didn’t explain that I did).
Now, the tray setup is the tray setup. I find pita bread an odd accompaniment to burgers. And the bundt cake is so cheap and sad. When first introduced, the airline promoted how woke it is not how good it is.
I have to give Alaska Airlines credit for both their burger and their dessert efforts.
Alaska Airlines Burger
Alaska Airlines Dessert
At the end of the day a great burger starts with quality beef and you need to cook it properly, ideally grilling it. You should get a nice char on the outside, while leaving the meat rare-to-medium rare on the inside.
It should have processed cheese that melts well. And it should be inside of a potato bun. Brioche and ciabatta are not well-matched to a burger. The bun is the delivery vehicle for the burger, big enough to contain it but not so large that it overwhelms the contents. Everything you put on the burger needs to fit inside so it doesn’t fall apart when you eat it. You want to balance the flavors inside, getting a combination of everything with each bite.
And how good is this? Although in The Menu Elsa says that perfection is aging their meat for 152 days, but aging it for 153 means that the bacteria in the meat would kill anyone that ate it – so surely Margot’s burger was made with 153 day aged meat and unshown is the after-effects?
United first served a cheeseburger in first class back in 2001, shortly before 9/11. It was controversial then, even though it was genuinely a gourmet burger with high quality meat. It was still such a downgrade from the standard of first class fare at the time. Now it’s exciting compared to what the airlines serve.
Honestly I think the best American Airlines domestic meal choice has been the enchiladas which are quite tasty. It’s hard to do a good burger, reheated in an airplane galley, but offered as a pre-order item no one has to preorder it-and I’m disappointed to see it go.
Just had the Short Ribs & Mac n Cheese on my flight from TPA to LGA. I will have to say it was quite tasty (I’ve had it before). Airline food will probably never match the food served from the lower galleys in the 70’s 80’s & 90’s.
My UA flight to EWR was delayed almost six hours, switched to AA to LGA only about a :20 late arrival.
Just had the Short Ribs & Mac n Cheese on my flight from TPA to LGA. I will have to say it was quite tasty (I’ve had it before). Airline food will probably never match the food served from the lower galleys in the 70’s 80’s & 90’s.
My UA flight to EWR was delayed almost six hours, switched to AA to LGA only about a :20 late arrival.
“good, not great”… Gary, you had the opportunity to say ‘not great, not terrible…’ then to rate them 3.6 roentgens. Please, someone, tell me you got the reference.
Looks good, Gary! Glad you got to try them before they went away. Clutch on the condiments too, very nice.
@1990 — Chernobyl! I came in clutch before my flight takes off (no free wifi yet, bah!)
The sliders are ok. Reminds of White Castle where as teenagers we’d go to chow down after drinking beer all night. The Alaska burger looks far better but if you’re looking for good food you won’t find it in domestic first at American.
Few things are more flatulence producing at altitude than cheese burgers and fries.
@1990 – reference received and appreciated
@L737 — You got it! (and safe travels!) You know, “safety first.. always.”
@Jack — You know it! “He’s in shock, get him outta here..”
Probably not the healthiest meal on American
@ 1990 — I’ve been to. Chenobyl!
@Gene — For real? “I wasn’t even there.” Where were you? “The toilet.” (Sorry, it’s from the miniseries.)
@1990 — For real, real. Toured Pripyat and drove by the reactor with the dudes who did the silly Chernoby Diaries thing. It was a very memorable experience. I give it a glowing review.
@Gene — Sounds like a rad time. Did you See my friend Vert?
We have a new cuckoo to rival Tim Dunn: “1990”.
Good grief.
I had the sliders last night on a hub to hub flight.
They were horrible. I didn’t see any toppings on them at all. No cheese was on the sliders, but rather congealed under the french fries in the bottom of the dish. Wasn’t served with the pita and dip but rather a very sickly-sweet tasting sweet potato (maybe?) salad with some sort of seeds and a few sprigs of green.
Then again, the F/A was awful. She put all the heated meals on a cart and rolled up and down the aisle in First (A321) several times, kept looking at her phone and acting confused as to which seat each pre-order went to, then seemingly just went front to back doling whatever the default choice was. Didn’t take orders, just handed whatever was next on her cart.
But at least she tried. Better than the F/A who sat across from me when I was in 11F in the A321 exit row last week who put in her bright red air pods in her ears for take-off and watched something on a personal phone she was holding in a horizontal orientation to see (with the clearly AA phone in AA case stuck under her thigh). Classy and safe, AA.
Not really sure why anyone would want a hamburger in first class. Due to the obvious airborne catering liminations, there is zero chance it’s going to be better than a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese, and if can’t even reach that fast food level, why bother? I have recently had a few of the buy-on-board burgers that UA sells in coach (as a 1K they’re freebies for me) and I order them because there’s not usually a plausible hot alternative. They always suffer from the usual burger-on-board problems. I honestly don’t think these on-board burger problems will ever be solved.
Agree those desserts are terrible. When is AA getting rid of DEI so we might get cookies back?
If “tasty” is all you have, that’s really bad.
The AAmerican wAAy would be to start with cheap meat, add pink sludge, lots of salt, and artificial flavors. Maybe some artificial color too.
It’s still, literally, junk food of the cheapest kind of restaurants out there. Certainly not first class food.
@Gary “It should have processed cheese that melts well”. Or, how about real quality cheese instead?????