Archive
Jun 27, 2014

Frozen Friday: Haagen-Dazs - Peanut Butter Pie Ice Cream

Haagen-Dazs' Peanut Butter Pie ice cream is a limited-edition flavor featuring peanut butter ice cream with a peanut butter swirl and chocolate cookie pieces.

I bought a 14-oz container for $2.99.

News: Starbucks - New Grilled Cheese and Turkey Pesto Panini

Starbucks expands their lunch selection this summer with two new sandwiches: the Turkey Pesto Panini and the Old-Fashioned Grilled Cheese.

The new Turkey Pesto Panini features turkey, provolone cheese, fire-roasted peppers, and basil pesto on focaccia. It joins Starbucks' current sandwich line-up, which includes the Roasted Tomato & Mozzarella, Chicken Santa Fe, and Ham & Swiss.

Around the World: Pizza Hut Korea's Taco Pizza Looks Pretty Good!

Pizza Hut Korea's latest is the new Pork Taco Pizza, which looks and sounds pretty good!

It's a standard hand-tossed pizza topped with shredded pork, grated cheddar cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, and tacos--basically everything you'd expect to find in a crunchy taco.

Jun 26, 2014

The Great Brand Eating Chocolate Shake Shake Off!

By request (from last month's Request a Review voting; don't forget you can still vote for this month's Request a Review!), here's the promised fast food chocolate shake round up AKA "The Great Brand Eating Chocolate Shake Shake Off!"

I ended up getting six shakes in all from the major fast food restaurants near me (in a single afternoon no less; don't worry I didn't finish any of them, but I did bring people to reduce wastage).

Here's how it all shook out (ranked from last to first):

News: Einstein Bros. / Noah's - New, Improved Bagel Dogs

Summer is prime hot dog-eating time, so it's no surprise that Einstein Bros. and Noah's Bagels choose this season to introduce a new and improved version of their Bagel Dogs.

News: Rally's / Checkers - Cheesesteak Philly Sub Returns Plus New Garlic Parm Fries & Stix

The Cheesesteak Philly Sub is back for a limited time at Rally's and Checkers restaurants, and this time around, it's also newly available with chicken in case you don't want steak.

Jun 25, 2014

Review: Rally's - Fry Lover's Burger

Rally's Fry Lover's Burger features a beef patty, seasoned fries, American cheese, pickles, ketchup, mayo, and mustard on a toasted sesame seed bun.

I bought one for $1.

News: Starbucks - Half-Off Any Fizzio Handcrafted Soda, 6/27 to 7/3, 11 am to 2 pm

Starbucks is promoting the recent launch of their new made-to-order sodas, which they call Fizzio, by offering them for half-off starting Friday, June 27, 2014 through Thursday, July 3, 2014, from 11 am to 2pm at participating Starbucks locations.

News: Long John Silver's - Free Fish & Fries on June 28, 11 am to 3 pm

Long John Silver's will be giving away free fish and fries this Saturday, June 28, 2014, from 11 am to 3 pm at participating US locations.

Jun 24, 2014

Review: Jack in the Box - Breakfast Monster Taco

Jack in the Box's new, limited time Breakfast Monster Taco features an extra long deep-fried taco topped with scrambled eggs, two half-slices of cheese, and taco sauce.

I picked one up (in the wee hours of course!) for $1.79.

News: Jack in the Box - New Fruit Coolers

Jack in the Box is offering new Fruit Coolers for a limited time this summer. The new drinks combine fruit juice with soda and are available in two flavors: Mango Mayhem and Twisted Strawberry.

Mango Mayhem features mango juice with lemon-lime soda, while Twisted Strawberry features strawberry juice with lemon-lime soda. They sound pretty similar to Taco Bell's since-discontinued Sparkling Limeades and Sonic's various Limeades.

News: Starbucks Testing Evolution Fresh Yogurt Smoothies

Starbucks is testing new "Evolution Fresh Cold-Pressed Juice Smoothies Inspired by Dannon" (and really long names apparently) featuring Evolution Fresh cold-pressed juice and Dannon's Greek yogurt in nearly 200 Starbucks locations in San Jose, CA and St. Louis, MO.

Jun 23, 2014

Fast Food Premium Chicken Sandwich Comparison

L to R: Wendy's, Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Burger King
With the recent debut of the Carl's Jr. New Big Chicken Fillet Sandwich, they generously agreed to foot the bill for a Brand Eating comparison of five premium chicken sandwiches from some of the biggest fast food burger chains.

Since tasting and evaluating five chicken sandwiches is a lot of eating, I enlisted two cohorts, T and R, to try them and proffer their opinions.

News: Carl's Jr. Testing "Bisnuts" in Southern California

Carl's Jr. is testing new "Bisnuts" at select locations here in Southern California. Spotted by a Brand Eater, a Bisnut is a donut made from Carl's Jr.'s "Made from Scratch" biscuit dough.

Around the World: Lobster Lands on the Menu at Subway Canada

While you can only find tuna or "Seafood Sensation" (in select stores) at Subway here in the US, over in Canada, the sandwich chain is offering Atlantic Canadian lobster all across the country with the national launch of the Lobster Sandwich.

Jun 22, 2014

Review: Turtle Chocolate Chex Mix

Turtle Chocolate Chex Mix features the signature combination of chocolate, caramel, and nuts in a snack mix of rice and wheat Chex cereal, unsalted mini pretzels, candy-coated chocolate-flavored candies (i.e. stand-ins for M&M's), peanuts, and popcorn.

I bought an 8-oz bag for $1.99.

News: Arby's - New King's Hawaiian Roast Beef BLT

Arby's has brought back their King's Hawaiian Roast Beef Sandwiches for a limited time this summer, but in addition to the version Roast Beef version and the Roast Beef & Swiss, this year they're also offering the new King's Hawaiian Roast Beef BLT Sandwich.

News: New Dannon Creamery Dairy Desserts

Dannon looks to carve out a new niche out of the dairy section with new Dannon Creamery Dairy Desserts featuring five cheesecake-inspired Greek yogurts and three puddings.

Jun 21, 2014

Review: Hostess - Hickory Sticks

Hostess' Hickory Sticks are a Canadian product with no relation to the US bakery brand. They're fried potato "sticks" flavored with hickory smoke.

You can buy a 90g bag for $2.98 online but my brother brought me back this snack-sized 65g bag from Canada.

News: Ben & Jerry's - Two New SNL-Inspired Flavors

Ben & Jerry's once again looks to Saturday Night Live for inspiration with the introduction of two new Scoop Shop-exclusive flavors: Lazy Sunday and Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch.