Review: Taco Bell - Classic Margarita Frutista Freeze

Don't get too excited, Taco Bell's new Margarita drinks don't have any alcohol in them. Though, if you have some tequila lying around, just pour some into a Margarita Frutista Freeze and you'll have yourself a bona-fide margarita. The Margarita Frutista Freeze is also available topped with real strawberries in syrup instead of a wedge of lime.

News: Del Taco - New Big Fat Crispy Chicken Taco

Del Taco recently unveiled the latest in its Big Fat Taco series with the Big Fat Crispy Chicken Taco which features a deep-fried crispy chicken patty, freshly grated Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce on a flatbread tortilla with your choice of ancho chile or cool ranch sauce. The price is a cool $2.19 each.

News: Jack in the Box Promoting New Raspberry Trio

At Jack in the Box, the beginning of summer means raspberries this year.  Jack in the Box has added a new Raspberry Smoothie and Raspberry Shake to team up with their current Raspberry Tea to form a Raspberry Trio.

They've also announced that Jack in the Box is using a new brand of tea, Gold Leaf featuring 100 percent real Ceylon tea leaves.

Jack in the Box Smoothies are made with a blend of fruit juice and nonfat frozen yogurt and carry suggested prices of $2.99 and $3.99 for 16-ounce and 24-ounce cups respectively.

Jack in the Box Shakes are made with real ice cream and are retail-priced at $2.49 and $2.99 for 16-ounce and 24-ounce cups respectively.

News: Sonic Replaces Soft Serve with Real Ice Cream

In a move to improve the quality of their frozen desserts, Sonic has replaced their existing soft serve (and soft serve based desserts) with a creamier, richer version dubbed "Real Ice Cream" (to call a frozen dairy food "ice cream," it has to have at least 10% milk fat).

In addition to the introduction of Real Ice Cream, Sonic has also improved many of its dessert toppings by, among other things, reducing or removing high fructose corn syrup with more natural ingredients.

To promote Real Ice Cream, Sonic is running a "buy one, get one free anytime" offer on their shakes until June 27th, 2010. Basically, you can buy any shake and get one free shake right there and then, or get a coupon for a free shake to use later.

Sonic will also be promoting 99-cent one-topping sundaes after 8pm from Memorial Day until Labor Day (i.e. most of summer).

Details on the shake promotion: "Buy One, Get One Free Anytime offer ends June 27th, 2010. Buy one shake at regular price (plus tax) and get one free shake of equal or lesser value now or receive a coupon for a free shake on a future visit. Coupon expires July 15, 2010. Includes Cream Pie shakes and malts where available."

Review: Taco Bell - Mini Quesadilla

With the two "new" additions to Taco Bell's "Why Pay More" value menu, I worry that Taco Bell might be running out of ideas with the Mini-Quesadilla for $0.89 (The other item is the equally mundane Cheesy Nachos).

Review: Taco Bell - Cheesy Nachos

One of two new additions to Taco Bell's "Why Pay More" value menu, Cheesy Nachos did not require much (if any) wracking of the culinary minds at Taco Bell in name or substance. In fact, it is only new in that it comes in a different container than Taco Bell's plain Nachos. With Cheesy Nachos, the nacho cheese is just put on top of the tortilla chips instead of on the side.

Sunday Funny: McDonald's - "Baby"

The best of the latest batch of McDonald's "I'm Lovin' it" commercials that try to bring a different vibe to the campaign. Since the nephew is 8 months old, I totally get this now.

Review: Yoshinoya - Beef Bowl

Yoshinoya is a Japan-based fast food chain started in 1899 that made it's way to the States in 1979 with locations mostly in California. Their main dish is the "gyudon" or "beef bowl" and indeed their logo features a bull. In addition to beef bowls, they also have chicken teriyaki bowls, grilled shrimp bowls, and recently added Korean-style BBQ meats to their menu.

Local Review: Porto's Bakery - Apple Strudel

Porto Bakery's Apple Strudel is priced at a reasonable 80 cents and looks a bit different from your typical strudel. It's shaped similar to their Guava Strudel but dusted with powdered sugar.

News: Jack in the Box Testing Oven Toasted Croissants

Looks like Jack in the Box is testing Oven Toasted Croissants out in Austin, Texas.  Oven Toasted Croissant come in two varieties: a Chick-fil-A-like Spicy Chicken and a Grilled-Sandwich-like Turkey & Swiss.

The Spicy Chicken looks like it features a deep-fried spicy chicken patty with pickles and maybe a sauce.  The Turkey & Swiss appears to contain sliced turkey, Swiss cheese, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, and what might be the same sun-dried tomato sauce used in the Turkey, Bacon & Cheddar Grilled Sandwich.

Both are served on a toasted croissant.  The toasting seems like a good idea if they do it right; there's nothing like an oven-warmed croissant and none of the major fast food chains serve a croissant sandwich.  Hopefully, they turn out a better croissant than Burger King uses for breakfast.

Review: Starbucks - Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino

So I've figured out why Starbucks' Frappuccinos taste so watery, the default milk in a Frappuccino is 2% and not whole milk.  I actually discovered this by taste when I ordered a Frappuccino and specified "whole milk" to my barista; the resultant drink was much creamier by far, and better for it.  Unfortunately, I didn't know this before I ordered my Strawberries & Creme (you know because it's so much fancier than "cream") Frappuccino during Starbucks' Frappuccino Happy Hour.

Seattle's Best: Starbucks' Answer to McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts?

It looks like Seattle's Best is poised to become the Toyota to Starbucks' Lexus. With competitors like McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts serving up espresso-based drinks, Starbucks recently announced the relaunch of Seattle's Best with a new simpler look, a publicity push, and new growth strategy.

With contracts in place with AMC Theaters (beginning in July), Burger King (beginning in September), and Subway (currently serving), Seattle's Best is now poised as Starbucks' mainstream/value brand with plans to increase distribution with more value-oriented locations such as conveniences stores, vending machines, and fast food eateries as well as bookstores, and common carriers (airlines, cruise lines, and the like).

The new look is meant to be simpler and incorporates universal coffee symbols with the cup and the drop. If you ask me, it looks a bit generic but that might be what they're going for. It reminds me a bit of the look of Target's generic store branding for some household items.