News: Carl's Jr. / Hardee's - New Mile High Bacon Thickburger

New at Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, the Mile High Bacon Thickburger features thick-cut Applewood-smoked bacon, a 1/3- or 1/2-pound charbroiled Black Angus beef patty, American cheese, red onion, tomato, lettuce, and mayo, on a toasted fresh baked bun.

News: TGI Friday's Adds Two New Appetizers to Endless Appetizer Menu

For those of you into their all-you-can-eat appetizer $10 Endless Appetizers promo, you'll be happy to know that TGI Fridays has added two new appetizers to the available selection: Sriracha Chicken Potato Skins and Spicy Chicken Tostadas. They've also added Ahi Tuna Crisps to the promotion.

Review: Popeyes - Beer Can Chicken

Popeyes' new Beer Can Chicken features a white meat chicken breast that's partially cut into tenders and marinated in a blend of "traditional beer can chicken seasonings" including butter, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, and cayenne before being battered, breaded, and deep-fried.

It cost me $3.99 to get the chicken, a side of mashed potatoes and Cajun gravy, a biscuit, and new Creamy Cayenne dipping sauce.

Around the World - Japanese Burger Chain Offers Spaghetti Burger

Over in Japan, popular burger chain Lotteria offers up the new Neapolitan Burger, which is basically a burger topped with spaghetti.

The Neapolitan Burger was created as part of a collaboration between the chain and a local chef, Tatsuya Kawagoe.

News: Burger King - New Mushroom & Swiss Bacon Whopper

Similar to the Big King, Burger King's trademark Whopper gets the mushroom and Swiss treatment for the new Mushroom & Swiss Bacon Whopper.

Along with the standard quarter-pound of flame-grilled beef, iceberg lettuce, and mayo (they've taken out the ketchup) on a toasted sesame seed bun, they've added thick-cut, hardwood-smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, and sauteed mushrooms.

News: White Castle - New Italiano Sliders

White Castle combines classic Italian ingredients with their signature sliders for new Italiano Sliders. The new sliders come in three varieties: the Pizza Slider, the Crispy Chicken Italiano Slider or the Grilled Chicken Italiano Slider.

Review: Del Taco - Southwest Grilled Chicken & Veggie Fresca Bowl

Del Taco's Southwest Grilled Chicken & Veggie Fresca Bowl is one of three new Fresca Bowls being offered by the fast food chain and features grilled chicken, fire-roasted red and green bell peppers, roasted corn, caramelized onions, and poblano peppers on a bed of seasoned black beans and fresca lime rice.

I bought the bowl for $4.

News: TruMoo - New Limited Edition Orange Scream Milk for Halloween

TruMoo goes with an orange and vanilla ice cream bar flavor this Halloween with new Limited Edition TruMoo Orange Scream milk.

News: Bruegger's - 2014 Fall Menu Includes New Bagel Burgers

Bruegger's 2014 Fall Menu introduces new burgers to their menu; Bagel Burgers, that is. There are two in all: the Barnyard Burger and the Bistro Burger.

Also on the fall menu are the ever-trendy pumpkin-themed items including Pumpkin Bagels, Pumpkin Cream Cheese, and Pumpkin Spice Coffee.

Review: Wendy's Smoked Gouda Chicken on Brioche Sandwich

Wendy's Smoked Gouda Chicken on Brioche sandwich (Wendy's needs shorter product names) features double-smoked Gouda cheese, a Dijon aioli, a sweet onion sauce made from pureed caramelized onions, a crispy chicken breast filet, sliced red onions, and spring mix on a toasted brioche.

I paid $5.29 for one.

News: Popeyes - New Beer Can Chicken

Popeyes is offering new Beer Can Chicken, featuring a white meat chicken breast that's partially cut into tenders and marinated in a blend of "traditional beer can chicken seasonings" including butter, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, and cayenne before being battered, breaded, and deep-fried.

News: Olive Garden - Never Ending Pasta Bowl Returns for 19th Year

Olive Garden's all-you-can-eat Never Ending Pasta Bowl deal is back for its 19th year and offering over 150 pasta combinations, plus unlimited soup, garden salad, and garlic breadsticks starting at $9.99.

Review: International Delight - Cold Stone Sweet Cream Iced Coffee

International Delight's Cold Stone Sweet Cream Iced Coffee purports to offer ready-to-drink iced coffee with the added flavor of ice cream.

It was $2.99 for a half-gallon on sale.

News: Totino's Pizza Rolls in New Spicy Taco & BBQ Chicken Flavors

Totino's expands the Bold line of their signature Pizza Rolls with two new flavors: Spicy Taco and BBQ Chicken.

Around the World - This Domino's Pizza is Topped with Flowers

Over in El Salvador, Domino's is offering the new flower-topped Loroco Pizza as well as Loroco Stuffed Cheesy Bread. 

Loroco is a vine with edible flowers that is eaten quite a bit in Guatemala and El Salvador.

Review: Ruffles Cheese-Flavored Crispy Fries

Ruffles Cheese-flavored Crispy Fries are basically potato chips cut like fries and dusted with cheddar cheese-flavored powder.

I bought a 1.7-oz bag for $1.49.

Around the World: McDonald's Romania Steps Up with Mozzarella Pesto Bites

While mozzarella cheesesticks are common enough here in the States, McDonald's has kicked up the flavor over in Romania, where they're currently offering new mozzarella bites with pesto.

News: Hershey's - New Candy Corn Creme Bar

Hershey's is offering the new Candy Corn Creme Bar this year for Halloween. Also available this Halloween are new Caramel Apple Filled Twizzlers.

The new Candy Corn Creme Bar borrows the flavor of the signature Halloween treat and infuses it into a creme bar and throws in candy corn bits for good measure.

Frozen Friday: Dole - Smoothie Shakers

Dole Smoothie Shakers are meant to be a convenient solution to smoothie-making for when you don't have access to a blender. Each container comes with pieces of fruit and tiny balls of yogurt that you'll need to add juice to before you can shake it up for a quick smoothie.

I tried the strawberry banana flavor as well as the wild berry. They retail for $2.19 each (may vary) for a 4-oz canister. I received these courtesy of Dole though.

News: Nestle - New Nesquik Girl Scout Flavors

Nestle has partnered up with the Girl Scouts to offer new limited-edition Nesquik low-fat chocolate milk in two flavors: Girl Scouts Thin Mints and Girl Scouts Caramel Coconut.

News: Jones Soda - 2014 Halloween Flavors

Jones Soda is once again offering a seasonal selection of Halloween-themed 8-oz sodas this year. It's pared down to just two this year though (as opposed to last year's four): Vampire Blood Orange and Zombie Caramel apple.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Hearty Breakfast Platter

Carl's Jr.'s Hearty Breakfast Platter comes with a sausage patty, two strips of bacon, scrambled eggs, a biscuit, and hash rounds.

For whatever reason, they've been offering these for the ridiculously cheap price of $1.99 (which is less than you could buy the same combination frozen from the supermarket or any other fast food chain).

News: Coca-Cola's Mountain Dew AKA Surge is Back

Surge, Coca-Cola's answer to Pepsi's Mountain Dew, returns after a 12-year break, in part, due to a relatively small but passionate group of fans who have been lobbying online for its return.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to get your Surge fix at any supermarket; a limited supply of the drink is exclusively available in 12-packs of 16-oz cans from Amazon.com (also, it's currently sold out).

News: Krispy Kreme Offers New Stay Puft Marshmallow Donuts

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Ghostbuster movie, Krispy Kreme has teamed up with Sony Pictures to offer two new Ghostbusters-themed donuts including the Stay Puft Marshmallow Donut, named after the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The donuts' arrival coincides with the release of a 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release of the movie.

Review: Papa John's - Applepie

Papa John's Applepie is basically their Cinnapie, but topped with an apple filling rather than a cinnamon filling. The rest is the same brown sugar streusel and white icing drizzle on a thin pizza crust.

I picked one up for $4.99.

News: Cinnabon - 2014 Fall Menu Includes New Pumpkin Pie Chillatta

Like a lot of chains this fall, Cinnabon is also offering a seasonal pumpkin-themed menu.

This year there are the new Pumpkin Caramel Classic Roll, MiniBon Roll, and Center of the Roll, as well as the new Pumpkin Pie Chilatta.

News: Jamba Juice - New Energy Bowls

Jamba Juice debuts new Energy Bowls featuring a blend of whole fruit and soymilk and/or Greek yogurt, topped with various dry toppings and fresh fruits.

As part of the introduction, Jamba Juice is offering a half-off coupon good on any of the new bowls via their website. The coupon is good through Monday, September 22, 2014 at participating locations.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Cookie Sundae

Chick-fil-A's Cookie Sundae features broken up pieces of one of their Chocolate Chunk Cookies, topped with their vanilla "Icedream" soft serve, Hershey's chocolate syup, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.

I got one for $1.99.

News: Moe's Southwest Grill - Free Queso & Chips on September 18th Plus New Chili Con Queso

Moe's Southwest Grill will be once again be celebrating Free Queso Day for the fifth year in a row by offering free 6-oz cups of Moe's Queso (cheese dip) with complementary tortilla chips to dip on Thursday, September 18, 2014.

News: Starbucks - Buy One, Get One Free on Fall Drinks Through September 21

To kick off the season, Starbucks is offering a "buy one, get one free" special on this year's fall drinks from 2 pm to 6pm, through Sunday, September 21, 2014.

The drinks included in the deal are the Pumpkin Spice Latte, Teavana Oprah Chai Tea Latte, and Salted Caramel Mocha. The drinks can be had hot, iced, or as a Frappuccino.

Review: Whole Foods - Pulled Pork Sandwich

One of my local Whole Foods has a smoker and does barbecue ribs, briskets, and pulled pork. Along with smoked barbecue meats by the pound, they offer brisket and pulled pork sandwiches.

They were having a special on the day I was there where a Pulled Pork Sandwich was $5.99 instead of the usual $6.99.

News: Panda Express Now Offers Online Ordering; Honey Sesame Chicken Returns

Panda Express now offers new online ordering so you can skip the line and pick up your order directly at the register.

Additionally, the Asian food chain has brought back their Honey Sesame Chicken Breast for a limited time.

News: Checkers / Rally's - $2 Chicken and Shrimp Box

Checkers / Rally's latest deal is for a $2 Chicken & Shrimp & Fries Box.

Each box comes with both crispy chicken and shrimp bites, plus a side of their signature seasoned fries.

Review: Lay's Wavy Mango Salsa Potato Chips

Lay's Wavy Mango Salsa-flavored potato chips are one of this year's "Do Us A Flavor" finalists (there are four in all) and features their wide-ridged (i.e. "wavy") potato chips with a dusting of mango salsa flavoring.

I picked these up at $1.49 for a 2 and 7/8-oz bag.

News: Pepperidge Farm Brings Back Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread

Going with two familiar fall flavors, Pepperidge Farm brings back Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread as this year's limited-edition seasonal items.

Both flavors come in 16-oz bags and are available for a short time this fall.

News: Sierra Mist's New Look Plus Cranberry Splash Returns

This month, the holiday-themed Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash is back in stores. The flavor is a blend of lemon-lime soda with a hint of cranberry. Also, the regular version of Sierra Mist now sports new packaging as well as a new (and supposedly improved) formulation.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Pumpkin Spice Milanos

Pepperidge Farm's Pumpkin Spice Milanos are a new fall offering this year and feature the brand's signature cookie biscuit sandwich with dual layers of chocolate and pumpkin spice filling inside.

I bought a 7-oz bag for $1.99 on sale.

News: Cheetos Throws Some Bones This Halloween

Frito-Lay is offering new limited-edition Cheetos Bag of Bones as a Halloween snack this year.

The snacks feature white cheddar-flavored Cheetos in the shape of skulls, ribcages, bones, and paws, which is basically enough pieces to build your own Cheetos skeleton.

News: Krispy Kreme - Talk Like a Pirate, Get a Free Donut - September 19, 2014

Krispy Kreme is once again celebrating Talk Like A Pirate Day by offering donuts decorated like pirates and a free donut giveaway on Friday, September 19, 2014.

Frozen Friday: Ben & Jerry's - That's My Jam Core Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's That's My Jam Core ice cream features chocolate and raspberry ice creams with fudge chips side-by-side with a core of raspberry jam in the middle.

I bought a pint for $2.50 on sale.

News: McDonald's - Free Coffee, September 16th Through 29th

For the second time this year, McDonald's will be giving away free drip coffee during breakfast hours for about two weeks.

Around the World: Wendy's Philippines Offers Sriracha and Chips in New Burger

Over in the Philippines, Wendy's recently introduced the new Spicy Smackdown Burger.

While the name might suggest a mash-up of competing spicy flavors, the new burger takes a standard Wendy's Single burger and throws in Sriracha sauce and Tostitos tortilla chips.

Review: Sonic - Cheesy Pub Chicken Sandwich

Sonic's Cheesy Pub Chicken Sandwich is a variant of their regular Chicken Sandwich that features a pub-style cheddar cheese sauce, a choice of grilled or crispy white-meat chicken breast, a slice of white cheddar cheese, zesty caramelized onion sauce, lettuce, and tomato, on a whole grain ciabatta bun.

I picked up the crispy version and they were going for $4.39 a pop. I received this one courtesy of Sonic though.

News: Sonic - New Waffle Cone Sundaes

For a limited time, Sonic is giving their sundaes the waffle cone treatment with new Waffle Cone Sundaes.

Like the name states, the new offering features ice cream with various topping combinations in a waffle cone.

News: Red Robin - New Southern Charm Burger and Fall Menu

Red Robin adds to their "Red Robin's Finest" line of burgers with the new Southern Charm Burger. They're also offering a new alcoholic bourbon shake that they're calling the Beam-N-Bacon Boozy Shake.

Review: Arby's - Meat Mountain

Arby's Meat Mountain is a secret menu item featuring every single meat available from Arby's. Between the two buns, you'll find two crispy chicken tenders, 1.5-oz of roast turkey, 1.5-oz of ham, 1 slice of Swiss cheese, 1.5-oz of corned beef, 1.5-oz brisket, 1.5-oz Angus steak, 1 slice of cheddar cheese, 1.5-oz of roast beef, and 3 half-strips of bacon.

The price tag on the Meat Mountain is a hefty $10.

Around the World: Burger King Japan's Latest Burger Comes with Pitch Black Cheese

Because they'd already done black buns, Burger King Japan continues the theme this fall with new black-bunned burgers with slices of pitch black cheese to match.

Offered in two varieties, Burger King designates them the "Kuro (Japanese for "black") Pearl" and "Kuro Diamond."

News: Pumpkin Spice Oreos Coming This Month

The Oreo brand announced via their Twitter that Pumpkin Spice Oreos are set to arrive in stores starting Wednesday, September 24, 2014.

News: Sonic - New Cheesy Pub Chicken Sandwich

Sonic's latest dish is the new Cheesy Pub Chicken Sandwich, so-named because it features a pub-style cheddar cheese sauce.

Taste Test: Taco Bell - Country and California A.M. Crunchwrap

I was invited to try both the upcoming Country and California A.M. Crunchwraps from Taco Bell along with the new Biscuit Tacos on a recent jaunt to Taco Bell Headquarters. I already wrote what I thought of the Biscuit Tacos previously, so let's talk about the Country and California A.M. Crunchwraps.