Review: McDonald's - Asian Salad Returns for the Summer

Returning this summer through early September, McDonald's Asian Salad is one of the more healthy options on the menu and features iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, spring greens, edamame, red pepper strips, carrots, sliced almonds, mandarin oranges, and snow peas.

The salad costs $4.69 with grilled or crispy chicken which is in line with other McDonald's salads. It is also available without chicken.

Review: Starbucks - Mocha Coconut Frappuccino

Starbucks' Mocha Coconut Frappuccino is back for a limited-time at your local Starbucks and features coffee, your choice of milk, bittersweet mocha sauce, coconut syrup and ice, blended together and topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and toasted coconut flakes. A 12-ounce Tall costs $3.95.

News: The Coffee Bean - Free Ice Blended Drink Today, 4-7pm

The Coffee Bean is holding one of their Open Houses today, May 10, 2011, from 4pm to 7pm at participating locations where you can get a free 12-ounce Ice Blended drink of your choice from three flavors: Mocha Mint Chip, Cookies & Cream, and Espresso Cream.

The Coffee Bean describes the taste of each flavor in the following fashion:

"Mocha Mint Chip - Rich complex chocolate with balanced expresso notes and a creamy mint finish.

Cookies & Cream - Sweet & creamy with decadent chocolate cookie and vanilla cream notes.

Expresso Cream - Rich, bold expresso flavor, creamy and smooth, balanced with just the right amount of sweetness."

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Mountain Dew Coolatta

It's Mountain Dew, only frozen. Well, more like slushied.

For a limited time, participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants nationwide are offering new Mountain Dew Coolattas this summer for the suggested retail price of $2.29 for a small, 16-ounce drink.

In conjunction with the new product, Dunkin' is running a rather odd promotion where up to 600 entrants a day get to control an ice blaster to unfreeze a Mountain Dew Coolatta Cup from a real block of ice to win prizes such as a Burton snowboard (isn't it summer?), a DD card, and other stuff. You can check out the details on their Facebook page.

News: Jack in the Box - New Bourbon BBQ Steak Grilled Sandwich

Along with its new Blackberry Shake, Jack in the Box has a new, limited-time sandwich: the Bourbon BBQ Steak Grilled Sandwich. The new sandwich features strips of steak, grilled onions and melting cheese covered with Jack’s new Bourbon BBQ sauce and served on grilled artisan bread.

Strangely the new sandwich is not available at restaurants in Austin, Houston and Kansas City. You can expect a price around the $4 mark (may vary).

Arby's Chicken Salad Taste-Off

I was asked by Arby's to participate in their Chicken Salad Taste-Off to compare Arby's Grilled Chicken & Pecan Salad Sandwich (or wrap) with Subway's popular Orchard Chicken Salad Sub. As part of my participation, I was given a gift card to Arby's and another to Subway to acquire each review item.

In addition, Arby's has graciously earmarked three $5 gift cards to give to three lucky readers (details at the end of this post).

News: Pizza Hut - $10.99 Any Large Lover's Pizza

Pizza Hut's limited-time promotion for May is $10.99 for any large Lover's Pizza which represents a savings of $1.01 off their regular simple price of $12.

Lover's Pizzas include the Ultimate Cheese Lover's Pizza (with Alfredo sauce topped three cheeses), the Pepperoni Lover's Pizza (with extra pepperoni and cheese, enough for every bite), the Meat Lover's Pizza (with pepperoni, ham, beef, bacon and sausage), the Cheese Lover's Plus Pizza (with lots and lots of cheese and your choice of two toppings), and the Veggie Lover's Pizza (with tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, and black olives).

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Gingerman Cookies

Pepperidge Farm's Gingerman cookies are different from the Gingerbread cookies they offer during the Christmas season. They're thinner and crisp rather than crunchy.

A 5-ounce bag retails for around $4.09 with sales prices ranging from $2 to $3.

International Weekend: Forelli - Sugar Topped Puff Pastry

Welcome to International Weekend, a new feature on Brand Eating highlighting vittles imported into the U.S. from other countries. First up are Forelli Sugar Topped Puff Pastry cookies which come from Italy.

I was able to score a 7-ounce package for $1.59.

Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Popcorn Chicken with Spiced Rum BBQ Sauce

A new addition to the Hungry-Man line, Popcorn Chicken with Spiced Rum BBQ Sauce features popcorn-shaped, breaded chicken patties with a spiced rum barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Retail price is about $3.99 while sale price tends to be around $2.50 or less.

Review: McDonald's - New Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich

I walked into my local McDonald's the other day and found out that they had tweaked their line of premium chicken sandwiches with (as the manager explained to me) a new bun and a lower sodium count on the chicken. Intrigued, I ordered a new Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich for $4.29.

The sandwich features a new crispy chicken breast fillet, tomato slice, bacon, natural Swiss cheese, mayo and leaf lettuce on a toasted bakery-style bun.

News: Starbucks - Happy Hour Returns - May 6-15, 3-5pm

Starbucks' Happy Hour event starts anew this year beginning tomorrow, Friday, May 6th, 2011 until Sunday, May 15th, 2011 between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m.

During the event, at participating stores in the U.S. and Canada, you can purchase any Frappuccino drink for half-price.

The event first started last year as Starbucks promoted their However-You-Want-It Frappuccinos which allows customers to choose from a variety of milks, different intensities of coffee, and different combinations of syrups or toppings (with varying costs).

News: Starbucks - Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Returns for the Summer

A permanent fixture on the Starbucks' Hawaii menu, the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino has returned to the mainland for a limited time as summer begins to take off. The Mocha Coconut Frappuccino features Starbucks' signature Frappuccino Roast coffee, your choice of milk, bittersweet mocha sauce, coconut syrup and ice, blended together and topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and toasted coconut flakes.

For a more pure coconut experience, there's also the Coconut Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème which eschews the coffee and bittersweet mocha sauce.

News: Subway - The Orchard Chicken Salad Sub Returns

The Orchard Chicken Salad Sub is back for a limited time at Subway as May's $5 Featured Footlong. The perennial sandwich features a base of chicken chunks, celery, red apples, golden raisins, cranberries, a light mayo and your choice of bread and veggies.

I tried it the last time it came around and you can check out my review of the Orchard Chicken Salad Sub here.

Review: McDonald's - New Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

Looks like McDonald's is rolling out their new Frozen Strawberry Lemonade for the summer if my local McDonald's is any indication. The drink features a lemonade ice slush with a strawberry flavored syrup swirled in.

Prices start at $1.69 for a 16-ounce small to $1.99 for a 20-ounce medium and $2.29 for a 24-ounce large.

News: Jack in the Box - New Blackberry Shake

Jack in the Box is going with blackberry as the temperatures rise with the onset of summer. For a limited-time, Blackberry is being added to Jack's line up of real ice cream milkshakes.

The new Blackberry Shake features real ice cream and blackberry-flavored syrup plus whipped topping and a Maraschino cherry on top.

It is available served in a 16-ounce or 24-ounce cup for $2.69 and $3.19 respectively (may vary).

Nutritional info not yet available.

Review: KFC - Extra Crispy Fried Chicken

In addition to the Colonel's Original Recipe, KFC also offers Extra Crispy Fried Chicken which offers a flavor that more like other fried chicken chains and is tinged with garlic and double dipped before frying to offer a crispy, crunchy texture.

KFC is currently running a promotion where you can get 6 legs and/or thighs for $5 and a Sunday Bucket promotion where you can get 10 mixed pieces for $10.

Review: Arby's - Jr. Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Arby's Jr. new Buffalo Chicken Sandwich is their value Jr. Chicken Sandwich played to the tune of Buffalo; that is with Buffalo sauce instead of mayo. The sandwich is similarly priced at $1.

It's not on the menu on their website, so it's either regional or is being test-marketed.

News: Popeyes - Buy One, Get One Chicken Dinner

Popeyes is offering a "buy one, get one" promotion on their chicken dinners where you get a free 2-piece chicken dinner with the purchase of a 3-piece chicken chicken dinner. Not as sweet as getting a 3-piece dinner with a 3-piece dinner but still pretty good.

A 3-piece chicken dinner comes with 3 pieces of chicken, a regular side and a biscuit while the 2-piece dinner is the same except with two pieces.

The promotion runs until May 29th, 2011 and is good at participating restaurants.

Review: Lay's - Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips

It wasn't too long ago when Frito Lay got into the kettle-cooked potato chips game with Lay's Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips where the chips are cut a little thicker and fried at lower temperatures in small batches to garned a thicker, crunchier chip.

A 8.5-ounce bag retails for $3.49 but it's not unusual to find them on sale south of the $2.00 mark.