For Here or To Go: California's Sales Tax for Food Products Demystified

You should always get your food "to go" in California.

I found out back in undergrad that if you order a "cold" sandwich at Subway, you didn't have to pay sales tax. The owner of said Subway posted a flyer next to the cash register stating that all cold (non-heated) sandwiches would be sold "to go" unless otherwise requested and explained that no sales tax would be assessed on those sandwiches. I figured that to mean that as long as a sandwich was not "cooked" at the store and the order was not made to be eaten on the premise, there would be no sales tax. In that sense, the effect would be the same as if you bought a sandwich from a supermarket pre-wrapped.

Review: Taco Bell - Big Bell Box Meal

So I tried Taco Bell's Big Bell Box Meal for $4.99 billed as "the meal that's made for men."

Review: Wendy's - Chicken Go Wraps

Following on the heels of McDonald's Snack Wraps ($1.39) and KFC's Toasted Wraps ($1.29), Wendy's Go Wraps ($1.49) feature half of a chicken patty (grilled, homestyle, or grilled) usuallly found in Wendy's chicken sandwiches, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and a zesty ranch sauce, all wrapped up in a flour tortilla.

News: White Castle Offers 27 Cent Burgers in Honor of National Hamburger Month

Apparently, it's National Burger Month and White Castle, as the official sponsor of National Burger Month, is celebrating by offering its slider burgers (dubbed "Slyders") for 27 cents on May 27th from 2:00 pm - 3:27 pm. I'm not sure what the significance of the number 27 is for National Burger Month but there it is.

News: Carl's Jr.'s New "Fake Restaurant" Ad Campaign Punks Customers

I thought this was interesting... Carl's Jr.'s (or Hardee's depending on where you live) new campaign, called "Fake Restaurant," catches on hidden camera customers who believed they were eating super-expensive burgers at a fancy pants restaurant only to find out they were really enjoying Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Burgers.

They set up a restaurant called Grade A Restaurant, was created for the experiment in Malibu, CA and went all out, even including a website http://www.grade-a-restaurant.com/.

Like the MTV show Punk'd, guests were brought to the set by an "accomplice," a friend who was in on the ruse, to experience a fine meal of specialty hamburgers from a top-notch chef. The charbroiled, Angus beef burgers listed on the menu, which were actually Carl's Jr. burgers., ranged in price from $14 to $20. It wasn't until after the guests had paid the checks that the truth was revealed to them.

The commercials also serve to promote the Carl's Jr. Prime Rib Six Dollar Burger which comes out in June.

You can check out the commercials and extended footage at http://www.fakerestaurant.com/.

Review: Pizza Hut - Tuscani Pasta - Creamy Chicken Alfredo

Pizza Hut has started to offer pasta in addition to its main fare of pizza and its Wing Street concept for hot wings. Pizza Hut actually did an April Fool's Day joke where it gave a press release announcing that it was changing its name to Pasta Hut.

Review: McDonald's - Regular Premium Roast Iced Coffee

McDonald's regular Premium Roast Iced Coffee features brewed coffee from Arabica beans, cream, and liquid sugar.

A 22-ounce medium cup sells for $1.99.

Homemade Recipe: French Toast

I made French Toast according to this recipe from Alton Brown of Good Eats fame. It's pretty tasty. I deviated from the recipe a bit in using French Toast bread from Ralph's supermarket. Yes, it was actually labeled "California Enriched French Toast Bread" which was pretty lucky on my part because it was the only thick-sliced bread that Ralph's carried. You want a thick-sliced bread because it holds up better in the batter and is less soggy when you cook it.

You can see the toast is a bit shiny... that's not grease... it's sugar! I prefer to caramelize some sugar on one side of the toast rather than eating it sprinkled with powdered sugar or with syrup. It's pretty simple to do: after one side of the bread is toasted, just sprinkle some granulated or brown sugar on one side and sear that side for 20-30 seconds on high heat to burn the sugar a little. It forms a nice shiny crust as it cools.

Review: McDonald's - Southern Style Chicken Biscuit

I've always liked the idea of a chicken biscuit... I mean how can you go wrong? It only has two components! The chicken and the biscuit! That being said, I wasn't too impressed with the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit, McDonald's first-ever chicken breakfast offering.

Why? It was a bit dry; I'm sure your mileage may vary but when I had it, it was slightly too dry. The chicken breast filet, while battered, seasoned, and breaded the same as the the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, was smaller to fit the biscuit, and therefore, easier to overcook.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Chicken Sandwich

According to Wikipedia, Chick-fil-A's founder, S. Truett Cathy, is credited with creating and inventing the chicken sandwich. A seasoned, breaded chicken breast is served simply on a toasted, buttered bun with two dill pickle slices. Story has it that it's served with only pickles as a condiment because it was the only condiment Cathy had on hand when he made the sandwich. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Sandwich is a direct response to Chick-fil-A's Chicken Sandwich via a nearly two year effort by The Greater Atlanta's McDonald's Operators Association.

Review: McDonald's - Southern Style Chicken Sandwich

I popped into McDonald's one night and saw something new on the menu, the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich for $2.89. Since I already tried Arby's lackluster Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, I decided to give the McDonald's version a try. As you can see above, the sandwich comes in a Big Mac-style clam shell made of recycled paper.

News: Dunkin Donut's Free Iced Coffee Day

Doesn't really apply to me since there are still no Dunkin' Donuts in California, but for those of you that have access to a Dunkin' Donuts, on Thursday, May 15, 2008, Dunkin' Donuts is having its second annual Free Iced Coffee Day. From 10am to 10pm, you can go to any participating location and get a free small 16oz. cup of Dunkin' Donut's original or flavored iced coffee.

Free Iced Coffee Day
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 10am - 10pm
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News: Free McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Biscuit or Southern Style Chicken Sandwich with Drink Purchase

In order to promote its new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Chicken Sandwich, on Thursday, May 15, at all participating McDonald's locations, you can get a Southern Style Chicken Biscuit for free from 7am to 10:30am with the purchase of any medium drink. From 10:30am to 7pm, you can get the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich for free with the purchase of a medium or large drink.

The fine print says that its limit one per customer/per drink order. I'm think that means you can only get one with each drink you buy but I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't say per visit... Anyway, you'll want to check your local McDonald's to see if they're participating. I'm pretty sure all the ones in southern California are offering the promotion.

Thursday, May 15, 2008
7am to 10:30pm - Free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit with the purchase of a medium or large drink.
10:30pm to 7pm - Free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich with the purchase of a medium or large drink.
Restaurant Locator

Homemade Recipe: Brazilian Lemonade

An anonymous commenter recently asked me to post Peach House's recipe for Brazilian Lemonade which, having never worked there, I didn't know. So I did the next best thing... I made a recipe up based on some online research! It's actually a limeade so the name is a bit of a misnomer.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Queso Crunch Burrito

The Queso Crunch Burrito ($4.99) at El Pollo Loco is a limited time new item that I had a "buy one, get one free" coupon for. According to their text, it contains "flame-grill chicken breast, Jack cheese & poblano queso and crispy tortilla strips." I know "queso" means "cheese" and looked up that poblano is a mild chile pepper, so a chili pepper cheese.

News: Baskin Robbin's - 31 Cent Scoop Night on April 30, 2008

Not to be outdone, or only slightly to be outdone, by Ben & Jerry''s Free Cone Day, Baskin Robbins will be having its second annual 31 Cent Scoop Night on April 30, 2008 from 5pm to 10pm at all 2,700 stores nationwide. In conjunction with the promotion, Baskin Robbins will be donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. You can get up to 10 ice cream cones for 31 cents each, basically meaning you can try a little less than a third of Baskin Robbins' 31 flavors for a little more than $3. Of course, you might go into a diabetic coma afterwards.

31 Cent Scoop Night
April 30, 2008, 5pm - 10pm
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News: Ben & Jerry's - Free Cone Day on April 29, 2008

Every year around late April, early May, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream has its Free Cone Day. This year in commemoration of its 30th birthday, the company is celebrating with Free Cone Day on April 29, 2008. Save the date for free ice cream!

I'll try and post a reminder on the day of if I remember...

Use their handy shop locator to find the closest participating store near you.

Free Cone Day
April 29, 2008
Shop Locator

Review: McDonald's - Vanilla Iced Coffee

McDonald's recently started sending coupons to my house and in their most recent flyer was a coupon for a free Iced Coffee which I promptly clipped and stored in my car. Sure enough, after a late night of classes, I stopped by a local McDonald's to get me some free 24oz. Vanilla Iced Coffee.

Review: Ten Ren - Beef Stew Noodle and Eight Treasures Tea

Ten Ren is a Taiwan-based company that specializes in tea and ginseng products. It has over 100 retail locations worldwide (in seven different countries according to their website), with over 20 sites in the U.S. (in California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Texas). Some, but not all, of its locations are called "Ten Ren Tea Stations", while others just say "Ten Ren" and sometimes "Ten Ren Tea Time". I don't know why they do that.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Flame-Grilled Chicken

The spread: 10 flame-grilled legs & thighs, 4 corn tortillas, cilantro, spicy avocado salsa, medium pico de gallo, lemons slices, mild original salsa, and onions. Their current promo price is $9.99 or roughly $1 per leg or thigh which isn't really much of a deal when you can get a leg off their value menu for $1.