News: Sonic - $1 Hot Dogs on July 23, 2014

Sonic is celebrating National Hot Dog Day on July 23rd by offering their All-American Dogs and Chili Cheese Coney Dogs for a discounted $1 each. The hot dogs normally go for around $2.

A Look at Panda Express' New Innovation Kitchen

Panda Express recently opened a new "Innovation Kitchen" here in Southern California as a restaurant where they can test out new concepts and see how a different interior and exterior might work for the Chinese-American food chain. Since it's not too far away, I popped on by to take a look (and try some food of course).

News: Lay's 2014 "Do Us a Flavor" Finalists Arrive in Stores

Lay's 2014 "Do Us A Flavor" contest finalist flavors have been announced.

The four flavors that made the cut and will be subject to nationwide consumer voting to determine the winner of the $1 million grand prize are: Cappuccino (?!), Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese, Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger, and Wavy Mango Salsa.

News: Arby's - Free Jamocha Shakes on July 23, 2014

Arby's will be giving away free 12-oz value-sized Jamocha shakes this Wednesday, July 23, 2014 in celebration of their 50th anniversary at participating locations.

Review: Jollibee - Crunchy Chicken Sandwich

Jollibee's Crunchy Chicken Sandwich is a value-priced chicken strip slider and comes with two crunchy strips of chicken, lettuce, and mayo on a slider bun.

The price was two for $3.

Review: Sonic - Coconut Cream Pie Shake

Sonic's Coconut Cream Pie Shake features vanilla ice cream mixed with the "rich flavor of coconut cream pie," and finished with whipped topping, pie crumbs, and a maraschino cherry.

It was $1.99 for a 12-oz, mini-sized cup.

Frozen Friday: Sam's Choice - Bavarian Style Pretzel Burger

Sam's Choice Bavarian Style Pretzel Burgers can only be found at Walmart (the Sam in question being Walmart founder Sam Walton) and feature a flame-broiled chopped beef steak, slices of smoked ham, stone-ground mustard, and cheese on a pretzel bun.

I picked up a 16.52-oz box of two burger for $5.82 (your votes at work! )

News: The Cheesecake Factory - Half-Price Slices on July 30th and 31st

In an annual tradition, The Cheesecake Factory will be once celebrating National Cheesecake Day by offering any slice of cheesecake for half-price on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 (which is National Cheesecake Day) as well as Thursday, July 31, 2014.

News: Pei Wei Asian Diner Adds Sushi to the Menu

Pei Wei Asian Diner is trying their hand at sushi with two new sushi rolls on the menu: the Mango California Roll and Sriracha Tuna Roll. They've also introduced new small-size entree salads for those looking for a lighter option.

Review: Church's Chicken - Chicken and Biscuit Bites

Church's Chicken's Chicken & Biscuit Bites feature marinated, battered, and deep-fried chicken breast chunks and new bite-sized versions of their signature Honey Butter Biscuits.

It cost me $3.49 for 8 breast chunks and 4 Biscuit Bites.

News: Taco Bell - New Grilled Breakfast Burrito

It's only been a little more than three months, but Taco Bell is already bolstering their breakfast menu with the new Grilled Breakfast Burrito as well as the new Grande Scrambler.

News: Frito Lay Reveals Doritos Jacked Mystery Test Flavors

Frito Lay did a round of mystery flavors for their Doritos Jacked line back in April, which consisted of three "test" flavors in all. The whole idea was for fans to try/buy them and vote for their favorite.

I ended up trying all three flavors and made my best guess(es) as to what they were (as did quite a few of you guys in the comments).

Well, Frito Lay recently revealed which flavors were what.

Review: Pizza Hut - Ultimate Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookie

Pizza Hut's Ultimate Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookie is a giant, fresh-baked 8-inch chocolate chip cookie made with Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I got one for $4.99 with the purchase of a pizza (it's $5.99 otherwise).

Around the World: Starbucks Japan Takes the Strawberry & Creme Frappuccino a Step Further

Starbucks Japan's latest limited-time Frappuccino blows the standard Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino out of the water by throwing in strawberry whipped cream and slices of strawberries that require an extra-wide straw to drink up.

News: Boston Market - New BLT Rotisserie Chicken Burger

Boston Market offers up the new, limited-time BLT Rotisserie Chicken Burger as their entrant into the "better burger" fray (I don't think most would consider it as a burger though).

News: Krispy Kreme - New Carrot Cake and Banana Pudding Donuts

Krispy Kreme unveils a southern theme with two new, limited-time donuts: the Carrot Cake Donut and the Banana Pudding Donut. Collectively, they're calling them the new Southern Summer Classics donuts.

Review: Del Taco - Bun Taco

Del Taco's Bun Taco features seasoned ground beef, hand-grated cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and a slice of tomato on a sesame seed bun (i.e. it's what you'd find in their tacos but between two sides of a hamburger bun). They used to serve it back in the day and have brought it back for a limited time as part of their 50th anniversary celebration.

I picked one up for $2.25.

Around the World: Domino's Australia Offering Fans a Cut to Drive Sales

Domino's Australia is offering a new and interesting proposition to their customers: create your own pizza, share it on social networks, and earn a cut of every sale generated. They're calling the program "Pizza Mogul" and it comes with its own website and app for participants.

News: 7-Eleven - New Exclusive Flavors of Red Bull and Brisk Tea-Lemonade

7-Eleven is stocking a new, exclusive summer flavor of Red Bull as well as a new, exclusive flavor of Brisk Half & Half iced tea-lemonade blend at participating locations.

New Red Bull Summer Edition is an energy drink featuring the flavor of tropical fruits. It's available only at 7-Eleven for a limited time at two 12-oz cans for $5 (must buy two to get the discount).

News: Quiznos Offering $2.99 Italian Sub Deal During July and August

Quiznos is discounting their Classic Italian Sub to $2.99 for a small sub throughout the months of July and August at participating Quiznos locations.

Review: Starbucks - Lemon Ale Fizzio Soda

Starbucks' Lemon Ale Fizzio Soda is described as "lemon juice with a hint of apricot and ginger."

It cost $2.95 for a Grande (16 oz).

News: Pizza Hut - New Ultimate Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookie

Pizza Hut introduces a new giant fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie that they're calling "The Ultimate Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookie."

The 8-inch cookie is cut into 8 slices and features an average of 165 Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips per cookie.

News: White Castle Testing Turkey Sliders

Following the recent news of a Veggie Slider test, it looks like White Castle is also trying out Turkey Sliders. The sliders were spotted by an anonymous Brand Eater out in Minnesota.

News: Domino's - Online-Only Deal for Half-Off Any Pizza

Domino's is doing another one of their online deals for half-off any regularly priced pizzas starting today, Monday, July 14, 2014 through Sunday, July 20, 2014.

Review: Sonic - Mozzarella Sticks

Sonic's Mozzarella Sticks features sticks of mozzarella covered in Italian breadcrumbs and fried until crispy.

They're normally five for $2.99 or two for 99 cents during happy hour.

News: Wienerschnitzel - 61-Cent Hot Dogs on July 20, 2014

Wienerschnitzel will be offering 61-cent Hot Dogs as an anniversary special on Sunday, July 20, 2014. The 61 cents price reflects that founding year of the company: 1961.

The deal is good on the chains' Original Chili Dog, Mustard Dog, and Kraut Dogs only. There's no limit on how many you can buy and it's at participating locations only.

News: General Mills Brings Own Version of Doritos Locos Tacos Home

General Mills' Old El Paso brand offers new Nacho Cheese Taco Shells, an imitation of Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Nacho taco shell, in a taco dinner kit to make at home.

Review: 7-Eleven - Mini Tacos

7-Eleven's Mini Tacos are mini bite-sized crunchy tacos with a shredded beef filling.

They were 4 for $1.

News: Chocolate-Covered Twinkies AKA Chocodiles Return!

Just in time for summer, Hostess has brought back Chocolate-Covered Twinkies AKA Chocodiles.

Apparently, the chocolate-covered, creme-filled golden sponge snack cakes were only available on the West Coast before they were discontinued when the company went bankrupt last year.

News: New Kettle Brand Popcorn

The Kettle Brand is best known for potato chips but they're trying their hand at popcorn with new Kettle Brand Popcorn, made with non-GMO ingredients in all but one variety.

Frozen Friday: Michael Angelo's - Chicken Parmesan

Michael Angelo's Chicken Parmesan features a breaded chicken breast on a bed of spaghetti with marinara topped with melted mozzarella and Pecorino Romano.

A 11-oz box was $1.99.

News: Taco Bell's Cantina Bell "Evolves" Into Power Cantina Menu

Taco Bell is switching it up with their Cantina Bell menu by nixing some ingredients and focusing on the protein aspect with a new name: Power Cantina. Additionally, they've announced that they will test Power Greek Yogurt as well as Power Breakfast Bowls and Burritos.

News: Sonic - New Cheesy Bread Dogs

Sonic is offering new Cheesy Bread Dogs for a limited time in two varieties: Ultimate Cheese & Bacon and Garlic Parmesan. The key features to the new hot dogs is a hot dog bun with cheddar cheese baked onto it.

Review: Dairy Queen - Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard

Dairy Queen's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard features vanilla soft serve with pieces of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and graham pie crust mixed in, topped off with a dollop of whipped cream. It's this month's Blizzard of the Month.

A mini-sized cup was $3.39 at the mall (but they gave me a small cup because they ran out of minis)

Around the World: KFC Australia's New Fun Do Meal Gives You Lots to Dip

KFC Australia's new Fun Do Family Meal is a riff on fondue and offers quite a number of items to dip in the three warm sauces (including a cheese sauce) that come with.

News: Fazoli's - New Stuffed Pasta Selects

Fazoli's introduces new, limited-time Stuffed Pasta Selects featuring sacchetti pasta filled with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and Romano cheeses.

New Stuffed Pasta Selects come in three varieties: Fresco, Supremo, and Robusto.

News: TGI Fridays - New $10 All-You-Can-Eat Appetizers

TGI Fridays is offering all-you-can-eat appetizers all summer long in a promotion that they're calling "Endless Appetizers."

Review: Slater's 50/50 - The 'Merica Burger

Slater's 50/50's The 'Merica burger is their July Burger of the Month and features a third pound (weight after cooking) ground bacon patty, bacon American cheese, sunny side up egg, thick-cut bacon, and bacon island dressing, on a bacon pretzel bun.

It was $11.95 for the burger. If you miss out, it's basically their B' B' B' Bacon, but with a full bacon patty instead of a half-bacon, half-beef (50/50) patty.

Around the World: Pizza Hut Offers New Pizza with Two Stuffed Crusts... in the Dominican Republic

For fans of Pizza Hut's Stuffed Crust Pizza, it's pretty cool to have an outer crust with a layer of melted cheese inside. But what if you could have two crusts with cheese inside? Would it be twice as good?

News: Church's Chicken - New Chicken & Biscuit Bites

Church's Chicken debuts new Chicken & Biscuit Bites as their latest menu item. The dish features marinated, battered, and deep-fried chicken breast chunks ("white meat Tender Crunchers") and new bite-sized versions of their signature Honey Butter Biscuits.

Wendy's New Pretzel Burger Song is Pretty Epic

Last year, Wendy's introduced the their new pretzel bun as part of the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. Accompanying the launch was a silly, offbeat marketing campaign where they hired musical artists to sing some of the best tweets as various love song lyrics in a series of videos, calling it the "Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger Love Songs" collection.

With the return of the pretzel burger and chicken sandwich, the creative folks at Wendy's (or their ad agency) have really outdone themselves. They collected positive tweets regarding the sandwiches and made it into a complete duet pop song. It's pretty awesome:

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Pretzel Twist, Plus Oreo Donuts Return!

Dunkin' Donuts introduces the new Pretzel Twist, which is slightly redundant as it's a traditional soft pretzel twisted in the same matter as a twist donut, sprinkled with salt (granted, pretzels don't have to be twisted, but it's kinda expected.) and served warm.

In addition to the new pretzel, Dunkin' has also brought back the Southwest Steak Burrito and Oreo Donuts.

Review: Rally's - Garlic Parm Fries & Stix

Rally's Garlic Parm Fries & Stix feature their seasoned fries and seasoned Monsterella Stix drizzled with a garlic parmesan butter sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

I bought an order for $2.99.

Around the World: KFC Philippines Offers All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast

KFC doesn't even offer breakfast here in the US, but over in the Philippines, they're offering an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet on every weekend in July at select locations.

News: Chick-fil-A - Dress Like a Cow, Get Free Food on July 11, 2014

It's once again time for Chick-fil-A's annual Cow Appreciation Day, which means you can score some free grub at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country by dressing like a cow on Friday, July 11, 2014.

News: Pizza Hut - Online-Only $7.99 Large, 2-Topping Pizza

For a limited time, Pizza Hut is offering an online-only "digital deal" where you can get a large 2-topping pizza for $7.99.

News: KFC - New $5 Fill Ups Combos

This month, KFC offers new, limited-time $5 combos that they're calling "$5 Fill Ups." There are five meals in all and they each feature an entree, a drink, and a dessert for $5. A few of the choices also include a side and biscuit.

Here are the five $5 Fill Ups meals:

Review: McDonald's - Peaches & Creme Pie

McDonald's Peaches & Creme Pie features a filling of peaches and vanilla-flavored creme, baked side-by-side inside of a sugar-coated pie crust.

It has thus far only been offered in select markets at certain times. They recently appeared in the Los Angeles area so I bought one for 89 cents.

Request-a-Review Voting - July 2014

It's time for the July 2014 Request-a-Review Voting, where you can submit and vote for what item you'd like to see reviewed on Brand Eating!

Last month's Request a Review Voting saw some fancy frozen burgers from Walmart win out, so you can expect that review sometime this month. IHOP was #2, so I'll take it into consideration for future reviews, and I'm not sure if I'll make it to a county fair this summer, but I'll be sure to try lots of food for you guys if I do.

Here's how it works:

News: 7-Eleven - Free Small Slurpees on July 11, 2014

It's almost July 11th again i.e. 7-Eleven Day! To celebrate, the convenience store chain will be offering free small Slurpees on Friday, July 11, 2014, from 11 am to 7 pm.

7-Eleven is also giving away a free food or drink item each day from July 12 through July 19 via their 7-Eleven mobile app (you don't need the app for the free Slurpee this Friday though). Here's the list of freebies this week: