News: Taco Bell Giving Free Coupon for New Limeade Sparklers

Taco Bell is promoting its new Limeade Sparklers by giving away free printable coupons for a Limeade Sparkler on their website (click here for coupon link).  No purchase necessary to redeem the coupon which will be given away until 500,000 are redeemed or until 7/11/2010, whichever comes first.  One free online coupon per customer.

The Asia Trip: McDonald's Hong Kong - McPepper Sandwich

A limited-time item while I was in Hong Kong, McDonald's McPepper Sandwich takes a base of a plain McDonald's Hamburger patty, bun, and onions and tailors it to more Hong Kong tastes by adding a black pepper gravy of the kind used in some Chinese dishes.

News: Subway - New Orchard Chicken Salad Sub

Okay, I've seen Subway carry this sub before, so I'm thinking it might have previously been a regional item because they're currently announcing it nationally as a limited-time summertime sub. So yes, it's chicken salad summer at Subway (available until July 4). I know, my alliteration skills are awesome.  (Update: Check out my review of the Orchard Chicken Salad Sub)

The Orchard Chicken Salad Sub features chunks of chicken, celery, red apples, golden raisins, cranberries, a light creamy mayo and your choice of veggies, on Subway's fresh-baked bread. As a bonus, the Orchard Chicken Salad Sub is part of the $5 Footlong Value menu as well as a part of the Subway Fresh Fit Menu if you only eat half of the foot-long.

Nutritional Info after the jump.

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.