News: Starbucks - New Handcrafted and Via Starbucks Refreshers

Starbucks has gone and expanded their line of Starbucks Refreshers to handcrafted versions mixed-to-order in stores and VIA versions to make at home. The drinks offer a natural energy drink alternative to coffee or tea and are made with green coffee beans.

Handcrafted Starbucks Refreshers are available in Very Berry Hibiscus and Cool Lime.

News: Krispy Kreme - 75th Birthday Donuts and 75-Cent Donut Deal

Krispy Kreme is celebrating its 75th birthday this Friday, but starts the celebration early with the release of three varieties of the new Birthday Donut and a special donut deal.

Available through August 19, the Birthday Donut is an Original Glazed donut topped with chocolate, strawberry, or white icing, rainbow sprinkles, and a rosette of Kreme icing (the same stuff used in the Kreme-filled Donuts). I wonder if the icing falls through the donut hole with the heat we're having this summer.

News: El Pollo Loco - New Pork Carnitas

Having featured chicken carnitas in the past, El Pollo Loco is now working the pork and currently serving up new, limited-time Pork Carnitas in three different forms: tacos, wet burritos, and quesadillas.

Carnitas is typically braised or slow-roasted seasoned pork.

Review: Taco Bell - Cantina Bowl

Taco Bell's Cantina Bowl marks an expansion of Taco Bell's menu (with the Cantina Bell menu) and conspicuously resembles the Burrito Bowl at Chipotle. Like Chipotle, you can have it customized however you want it, but it's not assembled in front of you in Subway fashion.

By default, it comes with all-new ingredients including citrus-herb marinated chicken, black beans, guacamole made from Hass avocados, pico de gallo, roasted corn & pepper salsa, romaine lettuce, and a creamy cilantro dressing, and a bed of cilantro rice. It's also available in a veggie configuration or with steak.

News: Jack in the Box - All-American Jack Combo Returns

Jack in the Box's All-American Jack is back this summer for a limited time. First introduced during last year's Super Bowl, the All-American Jack features two beef patties, three melting cheese (two American and one Swiss-style) slices, tomato, shredded lettuce, pickles, mayo-onion sauce, ketchup, and mustard.

It's offered in a combo with smalls fries and a 20-ounce drink for $4.99. I tried the All-American Jack last year and you can read that review here.

To promote the return of the All-American Jack, Jack in the Box hired country singer Brad Paisley for a 30-second TV spot because what's more American than Brad Paisley? Watch below:

News: IHOP - Trio of Summer Pancakes

IHOP has a trio of limited-time summer pancakes to try this summer. Available until September 2 at participating IHOP locations, there's Red Velvet Pancakes, Sweet Strawberry Pancakes, and Whole Wheat Pancakes with Banana.

Red Velvet Pancakes feature chocolaty red velvet pancakes drizzled with cream cheese icing, dusted with powdered sugar, and dolloped with whipped topping. I tried it a while back when they were testing it; you can check out that review here.

News: KFC - New KFC Bites

The Colonel fries up new KFC Bites starting this month. Essentially new chicken nuggets at Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC Bites are chicken breast pieces breaded in the Colonel's Original Recipe and fill the gap between Popcorn Chicken and Chicken Strips.

News: Sonic - Two New Hot Dogs for the Summer

Sonic is serving two new hot dogs for National Hot Dog month this July for a limited time: the Wholly Guacomole Dog and the Chili Cheese Fritos Coney.

The Wholly Guacamole Dog features a grilled premium beef hot dog topped with Wholly Guacamole-brand guacamole, pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and a zesty cheese sauce in a warm, poppy seed bun.

Neat! Coca-Cola in a Coke-Bottle-Shaped Bag

You might not know this, but in some countries, people drink Coca-Cola out of a plastic bag. That's not to say they don't sell bottled coke (not sure why bottles over cans, but I would guess the bottles can be reused like milk bottles back in the day), but rather than put down a deposit on the bottle, people have the bottle poured into a small plastic baggie and drink it with a straw.

Local Review: Dog Haus - Sliders

The Dog Haus is a local chain in my neck of the woods with three locations. They're known for their well-topped and sometimes overloaded hot dogs served on King's Hawaiian rolls, but also serve burgers made with Angus beef.

The burgers are on the large side, but there are also Sliders which are nice and simple.

Around the World: McDonald's Australia - Flavors of the Olympic Games

With the Summer Olympics just around the corner, McDonald's Australia and nearby McDonald's New Zealand celebrate with similar limited-time "Flavours of the Games" menus in honor of the Olympics. The featured items provide an interesting if eyebrow-raising look at what McDonald's has come up with to represent past Olympic games.

Here are the items:

Review: Emerald Breakfast on the Go - Berry Nut Blend

Emerald's Breakfast on the Go Berry Nut Blend is a fairly new addition to the Emerald line up and is basically a small pouch of trail mix for when you don't have time to sit down for a proper breakfast. The Berry Nut Blend comes with roasted peanuts, granola clusters, dried cranberries, yogurt-covered raisins, glazed walnuts, and dried blueberries.

A box comes with five 1.5-ounce bags and retails for $3.59 at my local Albertsons.