Around the World: Chocolate Banana Frappuccinos Coming to Starbucks Japan

The latest in Starbucks' seemingly never-ending rotation of limited-time flavors in Japan is a chocolate banana Frappuccino that they're calling the "Fresh Banana & Chocolate Cream Frappuccino." There will also be a caramel and banana version. Both are set to arrive on April 16, 2014.

The Fresh Banana & Chocolate Cream Frappuccino blends a whole banana with a chocolate Frappuccino, and tops it off with whipped cream, chocolate brownie crumbles, and chocolate sauce.

News: Jamba Juice - $2.99 Peach Pleasure & Banana Berry Smoothies

Jamba Juice is offering two of their classic smoothies, Peach Pleasure and Banana Berry, at a discounted $2.99 for a small.

News: Fazoli's - New Nutella Cheesecake

Fazoli's is now offering a new, limited-time Nutella Cheesecake. The decadent dessert features cheesecake made with Nutella hazelnut spread topped with a layer of Nutella, on a chocolate graham cracker crust.

Fazoli's Nutella Cheesecake is priced at $2.49 per slice.

Review: KFC - Orange Ginger and Bacon Ranch Dip 'Ems Sauces

Along with the return of KFC Dip 'Ems (i.e. chicken tenders with dipping sauce), came the return of two limited-time sauces at KFC: Orange Ginger and Bacon Ranch. Since I missed them the first time around, I decided to remedy that and try them now.

The sauces are available (in varying amounts) with the purchase of any number of Extra Crispy Chicken Tenders (I bought two Go Cups, which were $2.49 each and came with two sauces in total).

Around the World: McDonald's Singapore Offers Spicy Chicken Sandwiches from Sizzling to Flaming Hot

McDonald's is offering a limited-time line of spicy chicken sandwiches with varying "levels" of heat ranging from mildly spicy to tongue-burning hot with the return of "The Spicy Challenge."

The Spicy Challenge line up consists of four sandwiches in all; three are new with one yet to be revealed.

News: Krispy Kreme - New Pie Donuts

Krispy Kreme attempts to capture the flavor of two classic pies with their new Pie Donuts. Available in Key Lime Pie and Caramel Dutch Apple, the new donuts will stick around through May 18, while supplies last at participating Krispy Kreme locations in the US and Canada.

The Key Lime Pie Donut features a blend of key lime and custard filling inside of a yeast donut, topped with key lime icing and graham cracker crumbles.

News: Del Taco - New Breakfast Tacos

Del Taco adds a new way to enjoy their bacon (or steak), egg, and cheese with new Breakfast Tacos.

Prices start at 75 cents for standard Breakfast Taco, which comes with fresh-grilled eggs and hand-shredded cheddar in a warm, flour tortilla.

News: Baskin-Robbins - April 2014 Flavor of the Month

Baskin-Robbins' Flavor of the Month for April 2014 is new "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" ice cream, named after the upcoming movie.

Besides what I'm assuming is a decent amount of food coloring, the new ice cream features red and blue vanilla ice cream swirled with a dark chocolate-flavored "web" and popping candies (because the featured villain in the new movie is Electro).

Review: Taco Bell - Steak A.M. Crunchwrap

Taco Bell's Steak A.M. Crunchwrap features marinated slices of steak, scrambled eggs, a hash brown patty, shredded cheddar, and creamy jalapeno sauce all folded up in flour tortilla to assume a hexagonal shape before grilled.

I bought one for $2.99, which makes it the highest priced item on the new breakfast menu (unless you count a 12-pack of Cinnabon Delights).

Around the World: Pizza Hut's Latest in Hong Kong is Crust Stuffed with Fish Eggs

Pizza Hut's latest limited-time pizza over in Hong Kong is a seafood lover's dream featuring a crust stuffed with salmon-flavored cream cheese and flying fish roe (i.e. fish eggs). They're calling it the "Flying Fish Roe Salmon Cream Cheese Pizza."

News: Taco Bell Testing New Chicken Flatbread Grillers

Taco Bell is testing new Chicken Flatbread Grillers in at least one location here (where I spotted them) in Southern California. Essentially a grilled chicken wrap, Chicken Flatbread Grillers come in two varieties: Chicken Ranch and Spicy Chicken.

News: Sonic - New Chocolate Jalapeno Shake and Half-Off Milkshake Deal

Sonic introduces the new Chocolate Covered Jalapeno Shake to anchor their upcoming Summer of Shakes promotion beginning April 28, 2014.

The Summer of Shakes is a half-price deal on all Sonic's milkshakes after 8pm all summer long. The shake selection will include three new shakes along with 22 other shake flavors.

News: White Castle - New Belgian Waffle Sandwiches

White Castle will soon offer new, limited-time Belgian Waffle Sandwiches in three varieties to hit both breakfast and the rest of the day. Interesting, rather than making their waffles or sourcing them locally, they're importing the waffles from Belgium for a more authentic taste.

Review: Quiznos - Chicken Pesto Toasty Pasta

Quiznos' Chicken Pesto Toasty Pasta features cavatappi pasta, sliced chicken, diced balsamic tomatoes, and Italian three-cheese blend with a basil pesto sauce.

I tried a bowl for $6.99.

News: Dairy Queen - April 2014 Blizzard of the Month

Dairy Queen's featured Blizzard of the Month for April 2014 is the returning Confetti Cake Blizzard. The flavor features white cake pieces and confetti frosting mixed into vanilla soft serve.

Dairy Queen also continues to promote the fairly recent addition of waffle cones and chocolate-dipped waffle cones as a Blizzard upgrade (over a cup).

News: Dunkin' Donuts - Ice Cream-Flavored Coffee is Back with New Varieties

Dunkin' Donuts is once again partnering up with sister brand Baskin-Robbins for two new, limited-time Baskin-Robbins ice cream-flavored iced coffee drinks this spring.

The new options are Cookie Dough Iced Coffee and Jamoca Almond Fudge Iced Coffee. Also available is returning Butter Pecan Iced Coffee, which was introduced last year.

News: Subway - April 2014 Featured $5 Footlong

Subway's Featured $5 Footlong for April 2014 is the Turkey Breast & Black Forest Ham sub. It's one of their Fresh Fit subs and comes with slices of turkey breast and Black Forest ham plus the standard choice of cheese, veggies, condiments, and bread.

Review: Pizza Hut - Chicken, Bacon, Tomato Garlic Parmesan Pizza

Pizza Hut's Chicken, Bacon, Tomato Garlic Parmesan Pizza features a creamy garlic, Parmesan & Romano sauce, toasted Parmesan crust, and a sprinkling of a Parmesan-parsley blend. It's topped with sliced white meat chicken, bacon pieces, and diced tomatoes.

I picked up a large for $10.

News: Caribou Coffee - New Line of Toasted Sandwiches

Caribou Coffee adds to their lunch selection with three new toasted sandwiches: the Ham & Gruyere Pretzel Roll, Roast Turkey Ciabatta, and Turkey Brie Pepper Jam Baguette. The third phase is planned for later this year.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Peeps Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts heads into spring and Easter with new Peeps Donuts featuring the sugar-coated marshmallow candies. 

The new donuts are shaped like flowers, decorated with pastel pink or green icing, and finished with a yellow or pink Peeps marshmallow chick.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - S'mores Goldfish Grahams

Pepperidge Farm's S'more Goldfish Grahams feature a combination of regular and chocolate-flavored goldfish-shaped graham crackers plus smaller goldfish-shaped marshmallows.

I bought a 6.6-oz package for $1.50 on sale.

Around the World: Krispy Kreme Japan's New Donut Looks Like a Cute Chick

Krispy Kreme Japan's new seasonal donuts exhibit an Easter egg theme and include a caramel-filled donut that looks like a cute baby chick hatching from an egg.

Toasted sliced almonds and a jagged line of white icing serve to represent the shell, while the donut is dipped in yellow icing and decorated with a beak and two eyes.

News: Carl's Jr / Hardee's - Monday BOGOs on Western X-Tra Bacon Thickburgers in April

Carl's Jr. / Hardee's are promoting the new Western X-Tra Bacon Thickburger as well as their Fresh Baked Buns by offering a "buy one, get one free" coupon offer on the Six Dollar / 1/3 lb. Western X-Tra Bacon Thickburger for the next five Mondays heading into April.

They did a similar promotion last year with the introduction of the Fresh Baked Buns. They call it "MondayBunday."

News: Pizza Hut - New Garlic Parmesan Pizzas

Pizza Hut offers up new Garlic Parmesan Pizzas as their latest limited-time menu item. The new pizzas each feature a creamy garlic, Parmesan & Romano sauce and toasted Parmesan crust with a sprinkling of a Parmesan-parsley blend.

Review: Quaker - Strawberry Oat & Yogurt Sandwich Biscuits

Quaker's Strawberry Oat & Yogurt Sandwich Biscuits are a relatively new on-the-go breakfast/snack option that features whole grain oat biscuits/cookies with a strawberry-flavored filling (with some dried yogurt thrown in)

An 8-oz box was $2.50 on sale and came with 12 sandwiches (in packs of two)

News: New Lay's Kettle Cooked Lattice Potato Chips

Lay's is offering new "Lattice Cut" potato chips to their Kettle Cooked line. The new chips come in two flavors: Aged Cheddar and Black Pepper; and Roasted Garlic and Sea Salt.

If they look a bit familiar, you probably recognize the cut more commonly as "waffle-cut" or "criss-cut." While the style is new to Lay's, Cape Cod introduced the same type of chips last year as "waffle cut."

Around the World: Calbee Combines Shrimp Chips and Strawberry for New Snack in Japan

In a very odd pairing, Calbee is producing a limited-edition shrimp-flavored chip covered in strawberry white chocolate. The company is best known here in the States for Shrimp Chips, but the new strawberry white chocolate-covered ones will only be available in Japan and only at Calbee Plus stores.

Frozen Friday: Michael Angelo's - Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs

Michael Angelo's Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs features rigatoni pasta with Italian-style beef meatballs and sausage in a sauce of vine-ripened tomatoes with a sprinkling of (mostly mozzarella) cheese on top.

I picked an 11-oz package up for $1.99 on sale.

News: Panda Express - Free Golden Szechuan Fish with Any Purchase on April 1

Panda Express will be offering servings of their new Golden Szechuan Fish for free with any purchase on Tuesday, April 1, 2014. 

Golden Szechuan Fish is a limited-time item featuring hand-sliced, lightly-battered cod fillets, sugar peas, and red bell peppers, stir-fried in a sweet and tangy Szechuan sauce

News: Menchie's Adds Girl Scout Cookies to Toppings Bar

Along with a new, limited-time frozen yogurt flavor, Girl Scouts Caramel Coconut Cookie Craze, Menchie's is adding Girl Scout Thin Mint and Samoa crumbles to their toppings bar for a limited time only.

News: McDonald's Free Brewed Coffee March 31 Until April 13

For two weeks, McDonald's will be offering free small McCafe brewed coffees during breakfast hours starting this upcoming Monday, March 31st and running through Sunday, April 13th at participating McDonald's restaurants. No purchase is necessary.

The regular price for a small cup of brewed coffee at McDonald's is $1.19 in my area (may vary).

Review: Taco Bell - Sausage Flatbread Melt

Sitting at the cheap end of Taco Bell's new breakfast menu, the Sausage Flatbread Melt features a sausage patty and shredded cheddar folded inside of a flatbread and grilled.

I picked one up for $1.

News: Taco Bell Has Ronald McDonald Reply to Tweets

Banking on the fact that there are quite a few guys named "Ronald McDonald", Taco Bell gathered up a number of them up for a clever commercial pushing their new breakfast menu.

But that's not all... as a personal touch, Taco Bell also had a few (mostly one) of the Ronalds respond with to selected tweets regarding the new ad and menu via short YouTube clips.

News: The Coffee Bean Coffee Now Available in K-Cups

The Coffee Bean now offers their coffee in K-Cups for the Keurig K-Cup Brewing System at participating The Coffee Bean stores and online at Coffeebean.com.

News: Starbucks - New Greek Yogurt Raspberry Lemon Parfait

Starbucks recently added new Greek Yogurt Raspberry Lemon Parfaits to refrigerated displays at participating Starbucks stores. The new flavor joins their current selection of the Berries Greek Yogurt Parfait and Honey Greek Yogurt Parfait.

The flavor features nonfat Greek yogurt layered with raspberry puree and lemon curd, topped with granola.

Review: Taco Bell - Waffle Taco

Taco Bell's Waffle Taco anchors their new breakfast menu and features your choice of either bacon or sausage (or egg and cheese even if it's not listed on the menu) plus scrambled eggs, and shredded cheddar cheese nestled inside a taco-shaped waffle. Syrup comes on the side.

I picked up both bacon and sausage version for $1.99 a piece.

News: Jamba Juice - BOGO on Any Juice or Smoothie Through March 30

Jamba Juice is offering a "buy one, get one free" on any juice or smoothie on their menu through Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Around the World: McDonald's Serves Up New $12 Burger in Switzerland

McDonald's recently introduced a new premium Signature Line over in Switzerland anchored by a $12 celebrity-chef endorsed burger they're calling "The Prime."

Reference: Taco Bell - New Breakfast Menu Details

Since Taco Bell's breakfast menu launches nationally tomorrow, here's a handy reference to what you'll find on the menu along with prices (may vary) and nutritional info.

Waffle Taco - nestled in a taco-shaped waffle, it's available with sausage or bacon (or with no meat at all), and also comes with scrambled eggs and and shredded cheddar. A syrup container comes on the side.

Review: Sonic - Pineapple Upside Down Master Blast

Sonic's Pineapple Upside Down Master Blast features vanilla ice cream mixed with pineapple, salted caramel, and pie crust pieces.

A 10-oz, Mini-sized cup is about $3.39, but I received this one courtesy of Sonic.

News: Papa John's - New Double Pepperoni Bacon Pizza

Papa John's latest new pizza takes their occasionally-offered Double Pepperoni Pizza to the next level by adding bacon and calling it the "Double Pepperoni & Bacon Pizza."

As you may have guessed, the new, limited-time pizza features the standard tomato and cheese pizza topped with a layer of pepperoni plus a layer of oversized deli pepperoni (the stuff you find in Italian sandwiches) as well as pieces of hickory-smoked bacon.

News: New Ritz Bacon Flavored-Crackers

The Ritz Cracker brand joins in on America's love of bacon with new Ritz Bacon-flavored Crackers. The new crackers are naturally flavored with black pepper and artificially flavored with bacon.

Besides eating them by themselves, Nabisco suggests you make them into cracker sandwiches or use them to bread fried pickles (random, I know).

Around the World: Burger King Serves Up World Flavors in Spain

Burger King's latest in Spain is a limited-time "Flavors of the World" menu similar to the ones McDonald's sometimes does. The menu features five items representing Greece, Mexico, Japan, Italy, and the UK.

Review: Starbucks - Egg & Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Starbucks' Egg & Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich features a fried egg and slice of cheddar cheese on multigrain toast.

I picked one up for $2.95.

Neat! Pepsi Pranks Bus Stop Commuters with Giant Robots, Aliens, and Tigers

In support of their current "Unbelievable" marketing campaign for Pepsi Max in the UK, Pepsi had commuters at a London bus stop seeing giant robots, falling meteors, and various other "unbelievable" happenings as they looked out the side of the bus stop.

You can imagine the reactions as this went on (but you don't have to, the video's below).

News: Dip 'Ems Return to KFC with $5 Combo

Dip 'Ems are back at KFC for a limited time and spotlighted in a 20-chicken tenders bucket as well as a $5 combo. Dip' Ems is the packaged term KFC decided to use back in 2012 for their Extra Crispy Chicken Tenders plus sauces for dipping.

News: Popeyes - 8 Pieces of Chicken for $5.99 on March 26th

Popeyes is once again running another Pay Day deal where you can buy 8 pieces of mixed fried chicken for $5.99 at participating locations for one day only.

The deal is only good on this Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - French Toast Goldfish Grahams

Pepperidge Farm's French Toast Goldfish Grahams are a French Toast-flavored graham cracker version of the smiling fish-shaped snacks.

I bought a 6.6-oz package for $1.50 on sale.

News: Five New Flavors of Mikawaya Mochi Ice Cream Including Black Sesame

Mikawaya's Mochi Ice Cream line will soon be adding five new flavors: Black Sesame, Cookies & Cream, Matcha Green Tea, Mint Chip, and Plum Wine.

According to the company's president, Joel Friedman, "Cookies and Cream, and Mint Chip are two of the top six flavors worldwide. And given the truly authentic traditional Asian nature of Plum Wine, Matcha Green Tea and Black Sesame, we felt they were perfect additions to our lineup."

News: New Gluten-Free Freschetta Pizza

The Schwan Food Company has introduced new Freschetta Gluten-Free Pizza in two flavors: 4 Cheese Medley and Signature Pepperoni.

The new crust is described as "light, airy, and crispy." The move comes as even those without gluten allergies are increasing looking to cut the amount of gluten they consume.