News: Starbucks Opens Tea Bar Concept

Starbucks is looking to do for tea what they've done with coffee and have opened a new tea bar concept out in New York City.

Basically a Starbucks but for tea instead of coffee, the new Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar leverages the Teavana tea brand Starbucks acquired about a year ago.

Review: Jollibee - Spaghetti and Fried Chicken

Jolibee is a Filipino fast food chain with international reach including a few locations here in the US. It's menu is basically a Filipino take on American fast food (burgers, fried chicken, fries, and the like). One of their menu staples is spaghetti, which here in the US typically means spaghetti noodles with a tomato-based meat sauce. If you order spaghetti from a Jolibee restaurant, it generally looks the same but it's actually very different.

Jollibee's Spaghetti is described as coming with a "sweet style spaghetti sauce" with ham, sausage, and ground beef topped with cheese. The order I got also came with a fried chicken leg and mushroom gravy for $4.99.

News: El Pollo Loco - New Pollo Bowl Varieties

El Pollo Loco continues to pump out limited-time menu items at a quick clip with their latest offering, three new, limited-time varieties of their Pollo Bowl.

The new Pollo Bowls are available in Chicken Mexican Cobb, Chicken Mole, and Chicken Ranchero. The Ultimate Double Chicken Pollo Bowl is also being featured but is part of the regular menu.

The Chicken Mexican Cobb comes with fire grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, corn, red peppers, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, Spanish  rice, pinto beans, chopped cabbage, and pico de gallo.

News: Shakeaway Milkshake Bar Coming to the U.S.

UK milkshake bar concept ShakeAway plans to make landfall here in the US with its first locations to open late this year and early 2014 in California, Georgia, and New York.

 The idea is you can build-your-own milkshakes, frozen yogurt shakes, and smoothies choosing from a selection of over 180 ingredients.

News: Wienerschnitzel - 50 Cent Corn Dogs on Halloween

Wienerschnitzel recently announced that they will be offering 50 cent corn dogs tomorrow i.e. Halloween.

The deal is good all day tomorrow, October 31, 2013 at participating Wienerschnitzel locations.

There's no limit on how many you can buy and you don't have to wear a costume.

Corn dogs at Wienerschnitzel normally cost $1 or more (varying by location).

Review: Jack in the Box - Loaded Chicken Nuggets

Jack in the Box's Loaded Chicken Nuggets is a late night menu item (only at 9pm) featuring breaded chicken nuggets topped with two types of cheeses, ranch, and bacon.

I picked up an order for $4 (You can also get it as part of a combo with Halfsie fries (a mix of regular and seasoned curly fries), two tacos, and a drink for $6).

Review: Drake's - Yodel Snack Cakes

Drake's Yodel snack cakes feature devil's food cake rolled up with a creme filling and finished in a chocolaty coating.

An 11-ounce box of 10 twin-wrapped (2 to a package) Yodels cakes carries a suggested retail price of $2.99, but I received this box courtesy of Drake's.

News: Papa John's - New Italian Meats & Four Cheese Pizza

Papa John's latest limited-time pizza is the new Italian Meats & Four Cheese Pizza.

The new pizza comes topped with fire-roasted red peppers, Italian salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage plus mozzarella, provolone, Fontina, and Asiago cheeses. It's not too different in name or toppings from the Hearty Italian Meats Pizza offered back in 2011.

News: Popeyes - 5th Annual Crawfish Festival

Popeyes is celebrating their 5th Annual Crawfish Festival, which basically means that they're once again offering the Crawfish Tackle Box for $4.99.

The $4.99 Crawfish Tackle Box includes an order of hand-battered and breaded crawfish, regular Cajun fries (or any other individual side), a biscuit, and Creamy Horseradish Dipping Sauce.

News: P.F. Chang's - 2013 Fall Menu

P.F. Chang's 2013 fall menu looks to capture the flavor of autumn with seasonal ingredients like kale, quinoa, Brussel sprouts, butternut squash, and zucchini.

Savory entrees and appetizers on the menu include:

- Crispy Korean Chicken Wings - served "lollipop-style" (with the bone as the lollipop stick) with a house-made sweet red chili sauce and sprinkled with scallions and sesame seeds. They're priced at $10.95 for an order.

Review: Sonic - Cheesecake Bites

Sonic's Cheesecake Bites are a limited-time dessert that they trot out now and again. Each piece is made with a bite-sized piece of cheesecake rolled in graham cracker crust and deep-fried. Strawberry sauce comes on the side for dipping.

An order of three was $1.99 but I received it courtesy of Sonic.

Around the World: Pizza Hut's Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza Now in Canada

Pizza Hut Canada's latest new pizza is the Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza, which is basically a Cheesy Bites Pizza but with a topping of cornflakes on the Cheesy Bites for added crunch.

If you're unfamiliar with the Cheesy Bites Pizza, it's basically a Stuffed Crust Pizza with the end crust cut into bite-sized pieces and twisted so that the cheese is facing outward.