News: Starbucks - New French Roast Via

Joining the already available Colombian and Italian Roast Via instant coffees, Starbucks is introducing new French Roast Via tomorrow, January 4, in all their stores in the U.S. and Canada (but it is already available today on their online store).

French Roast is Starbucks best selling coffee and its flavor profile is described as smoky, dark and bold with surprisingly low acidity and light body. The suggested price is $9.95 for a pack of 12 individual servings.

Review: Burger King - French Fries

Burger King French Fries are of the crisp and battered variety. They were $1.29 for a small order.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Mixed Grill Plate

El Pollo Loco's Mixed Grill Plate offers carne asada alongside your choice of a chicken leg or thigh served with Spanish rice, pinto beans, warm tortillas (corn or flour), fresh salsa, diced onions, shredded lettuce, and chopped cilantro (for taco making). A Mixed Grill Plate will run you $6.49.

It's a fair bit of food and enough for two of me, but maybe only one of you if you're a big eater.

Brand Eating: A Year in Reviews - 2010

Happy 2011! It's been quite a year here at Brand Eating. Looking back at January, I started to update the blog regularly and had a little over 9,000 page views that month. Fast forward to last month and we have regular daily updates and over 100,000 page views a month which is a little crazy to me but I'm not complaining. Thank you everyone for visiting and commenting!

So to celebrate a great year, let's take a look back at the 10 most viewed reviews of 2010 (which is really a look at the some of the most popular fast food items of 2010), starting with number 10...

10. Pizza Hut Big Italy

The return of the Big Foot? Not really, and not really good either.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - Two New Wake-Up Wraps

Dunkin' Donuts is in the mood to help you with your New Year's resolutions (that is... if your New Year's resolutions included eating better) with two new Wake-Up Wraps: Egg White Turkey Sausage and Egg White Veggie.

Dunkin' Donuts' Egg White Turkey Sausage Wake-Up Wrap features a five-inch round tortilla folded around a filling of egg whites, turkey sausage, spinach, and reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, while the Egg White Veggie Wake-Up Wrap features the same five-inch round tortilla but filled with egg whites, peppers, onions, mushrooms and reduced-fat Cheddar cheese instead. Both breakfast items contain only 150 calories each and make a cheap, light breakfast carrying a suggested price tag of $1.29.

News: Wienerschnitzel - 99 Cent Chili Dogs

Der Wienerschnitzel is kicking off the New Year and their 50th Anniversary by offering their signature Chili Dog for 99 cents for a limited time starting today, January 1, 2011.

The offer is only good at participating locations in select markets for a limited time only. If you're hankering for some cheese on your dog, it'll cost you extra.

Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Buffalo Chicken Strips

Hungry-Man's Buffalo Chicken Strips feature Buffalo-seasoned and breaded ground chicken strips paired with their standard sizes of sweet corn, mashed potatoes, and a brownie. Priced regularly at around $3.69, it's not unusual to find it a buck or two cheaper.

News: Doritos - Taco Flavor Back for a Limited Time

A "throwback" flavor of the Doritos of old, responding to feedback from customers, Frito Lay has brought back the original Doritos Taco for a limited time only (Not to be confused with their regular "Tacos at Midnight" flavor).

The limited edition flavor (which is almost as old as Doritos itself) comes in a retro Doritos bag and will only be available through the Super Bowl (Sunday, February 6th) so if you're a fan, you better get it while it's hot!

It's not available everywhere but you can check with Frito Lay's Snack Locator before you make a trip. They should make an app so that road trippers can locate just the snack they want no matter where ever they are.

Update: Rejoice Taco Flavor fans! Due to popular demand, Doritos Taco Flavor is back permanently (not all stores will have them though so be sure to check first).

Review: Disneyland - Chieftain Chicken Skewer

Skewered grilled meats and vegetables can be found in Disneyland at Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland just across the way from the Jungle Cruise entrance. I tried a Chieftain Chicken Skewer there for $3.79. I almost got the Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus but it didn't feel Disney enough so I went with the chicken.

News: Carl's Jr./Hardee's - Smartphone Loyalty App

Carl's Jr and sister chain Hardee's have launched a location-based loyalty app for iPhone and Android phone users dubbed "Happy Star Rewards."

Basically, you can "check-in" every time you visit a Carl's Jr. or Hardee's and for the first and every fourth time you visit, you can spin the "Wheel of Awesome" for a chance to win discounted and free menu items, branded gift cards, prizes and merchandise from participating partners (Current prizes include Sony electronics and tickets to see the Green Hornet movie).

On the check-ins where you don't get to spin the wheel, you get a coupon for a currently featured menu item, such as "$1 off an order of Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders." The more you check-in, the better your prizes and coupons you can win off of the Wheel of Awesome.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Famous Star

Similar to Jack's Jumbo Jack and Burger King's Whopper, the Famous Star is signature burger of Carl's Jr. It comes as a combination of charbroiled beef, leafed lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, dill pickles, special sauce (a ketchup variant with sweet relish), and mayo on a toasted sesame bun.

I remember when it used to carry a promotional price of 99 cents (it has since been replaced by the Big Burger for 99 cents) but these days it costs $2.69 for one Famous Star. Fortunately, I snagged two of them for $3 under a promotion that my local Carl's Jr. is participating in. It is also available with a slice of American cheese for an extra charge.

News: Sonic - New BLT and Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast

Sonic's latest limited-time offers for January to February 2011 are the BLT sandwich and the Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast.

The Sonic BLT features bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo on thick Texas toast while the Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast consists of red velvet cake batter ice cream blended with cheesecake pieces and topped with whipped topping and more cheesecake pieces.

To sweeten the pot, Sonic is offering the BLT with an order of medium Tots for $2.99.