News: Panda Express - Free Firecracker Chicken for Chinese New Year 2011

Panda Express has brought back their Firecracker Chicken for a limited-time to celebrate this upcoming Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year entrée features strips of marinated chicken breast, red, green and yellow bell peppers, sliced onions and red chili peppers tossed in a wok with Panda Express’s original firecracker sauce. Needless to say, it's labelled as a "spicy" dish.

Panda Express will be offering a coupon for a free single-sized portion of Firecracker Chicken to Facebook fans, valid to redeem for one day only on February 3rd, 2011, the first day of the 15 day-long Chinese New Year celebration.

You can get the coupon on Panda Express Facebook page here.

Review: McDonald's - McSkillet Burrito with Sausage

McDonald's McSkillet Burrito with Sausage is the big brother to the Dollar Menu Sausage Burrito and features scrambled eggs, potatoes, onions, roasted green peppers and red peppers, a sausage patty, shredded Cheddar and Jack cheese, a slice of American cheese, and a spicy salsa roja (red salsa) wrapped in a flour tortilla.

At a little more than 8 ounces, it's the largest single breakfast item on McDonald's morning menu and costs $2.79.

Review: Kyochon - Garlic Soy Chicken Wings

Kyochon is a one of the largest Korean fried chicken chains in South Korea. In recent years, it has made some inroads into the U.S. with a couple locations in the southern California market (as well as New York). Their Korean-style fried chicken differs from American-style (or Southern-style) fried chicken in that instead of crispy battered or breaded fried layer, the skin itself is fried to crispness which results in a smoother rather than craggy, textured surface we usually expect here. The chicken is also smaller without all that batter to plump it up.

Review: Disneyland - Smoked Turkey Leg

I didn't even know Disneyland sold Smoked Turkey Legs until my most recent visit. Normally found at county fairs and barbecue joints, There are several carts throughout the park (and is also at California Adventure).

They're a signature food item at Disneyland and over 1.5 million are sold per year. They come from turkeys that range from 40 to 50 pounds.

News: Pei Wei - Free Korean BBQ Dish

P.F. Chang offshoot, Pei Wei Asian Diner, is offering a free order of their new Korean BBQ to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

News: Starbucks - New Veggie, Egg and Monterey Jack Artisan Breakfast Sandwich

There aren't any new or seasonal drinks at Starbucks in the new year so far but there is a new breakfast sandwich: the Veggie, Egg, and Monterey Jack Artisan Breakfast Sandwich.

The sandwich features a Parmesan cheese, fire roasted green and red peppers, and diced onion egg omelet topped with a slice of melted Monterey Jack cheese served on a hand-scored, oven-toasted Artisan roll.

News: El Pollo Loco Nixing Steak

Going, going, soon to be gone.

According to the OC Register, El Pollo Loco is getting rid of steak (carne asada) from their menu by spring of this year. So if you want steak from El Pollo Loco, you'll want to get it while you can.

The move to add steak to the menu always puzzled me; when you call yourself "The Crazy Chicken," people kinda expect chicken and not steak. It would be as if KFC started serving country-fried beef steak. Or, if Burger King served pizza. It just doesn't vibe with the message the name sends out.

Frozen Friday: Jose Ole - Chicken Monterey Burrito

Jose Ole's Chicken Monterey Burrito is find in the frozen food aisle and consists of a flour tortilla burrito filled with a mix of chicken breast and thigh meat, green chile peppers, Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, rice, and various seasoning and spices.

It regularly goes for $1.49 but it's not unusual to find it for less than $1.

Review: Wendy's - Yogi Bear Cheeseburger Kids' Meal

Wendy's Kids' Meal is unique among the major fast food chains in that in addition to the standard entree, side, and drink (it used to be burger, fries, and drink but now there are healthy options as well such as mandarin oranges and low fat chocolate milk), you also get a Kid's sized Chocolate Frosty.

On this occasion, I got the Cheeseburger Kids' Meal with fries, and fountain drink (plus the Frosty) for $1.99 with a coupon (it's normally $3.59).

News: Starbucks - Mobile Payments Now Available Nationally

Today marks the rollout of mobile payments at Starbucks nationally. If you own an iPhone, an iPod Touch or Blackberry, you can now use a Starbucks Card Mobile app to pay at Starbucks with your phone instead of a card.

If you have an Android, you'll have to wait a bit as they're still working on the Android app but it should be available soon.

The Starbucks Card Mobile app was previously limited to test markets in New York, Seattle, northern California, and Target. That's right. Target. All 1,000 plus Starbucks locations in U.S. Target stores were part of the test.

Review: Pizza Hut - Big Dipper Pizza

Pizza Hut's new limited-time Big Dipper Pizza is a big rectangular pan pizza or two medium rectangular pan pizzas placed inside a large rectangular box, depending on how you look at it. It's also a sauceless pizza or an order of 24 cheesesticks, again, depending on how you look at it.

News: Cold Stone Creamery - Adding New Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt Bars

Cold Stone Creamery is adding a new hat to their repertoire with the addition of the Cold Stone Yogurt Bar to most locations by spring of 2011. Flavors will include vanilla, chocolate, and cake batter as well as the tart and tangy flavors commonly associated with the yogurt shops such as Pinkberry that are popping up all over the place.

Each Yogurt Bar will feature a number of self-serve machines and a fresh topping bar. Locations that don't opt-in to the program will still have hard-packed frozen yogurt for mixing-in on the namesake cold stone.

It seems to me like Cold Stone is jumping on a bandwagon on the verge of tipping over but I suppose customers already walking into a Cold Stone might bite on a healthier option.