Wendy’s just made a small change to its sandwiches, but customers are saying it’s a big mistake.
The fast food chain quietly replaced its signature flat-leaf romaine lettuce with shredded iceberg lettuce, and the internet has been in full revolt ever since.
“The shredded lettuce era at Wendy’s has begun,” one Reddit post declared earlier this month, and not in celebration. Photos of chicken sandwiches and burgers with the new topping spread fast, with thousands of comments complaining that the switch “ruins the sandwiches.”
“It gets soggy and slimy,” one user wrote. “I miss the crunch of their whole leaf lettuce.” Another called it “absurd how much worse it makes it,” while a third said it made their burger “taste like a cafeteria sandwich.”
For context, Wendy’s had been one of the few major fast-food chains that used full romaine leaves, the kind that hold up under heat and sauce without turning mushy. McDonald’s and Burger King both use iceberg, but Burger King keeps the whole leaf intact, while McDonald’s shreds it.
Now, Wendy’s is joining the shredded side.
A company spokesperson told Allrecipes that the change was part of “exploring ways to deliver a high-quality experience” and updating “product builds.” Its website now shows shredded lettuce across all sandwiches, wraps, and burgers that used to feature romaine.
But for many customers, it feels like a downgrade disguised as innovation.
The timing doesn’t help. Interim CEO and CFO Ken Cook admitted earlier this year that Wendy’s “was not happy with [its] sales performance” in Q2. Loyal customers had already been skeptical after talk of AI drive-thrus and “dynamic pricing” made headlines.
In other words, the brand didn’t need another reason for fans to feel disconnected.
It’s just lettuce, sure, but for a lot of Wendy’s regulars, it’s also a symbol of what made their favorite burger taste different from everyone else’s.
And right now, that difference seems to be sadly disappearing, one shredded piece at a time.