This one was just okay. I much rather prefer the Strawberry Frutista Freeze. It's basically a lemon-flavored slush drink with some strawberry and strawberry syrup. The lemonade flavor isn't that tart, it might be that the machine was off but consistency counts! My slush seemed a little bit on the dry side i.e. not that much juice.
As you can see, it doesn't look as good either. They even skimped on the strawberries!
A cheap snack off of El Pollo Loco's Loco Value Menu, the Cheese Quesadilla features a blend of jack and cheddar cheese folded in a grilled flour tortilla. The Cheese Quesadilla is grilled with a bit of char which is quite nice. The flour tortilla is still soft but has a slight crust. They cut it up into thirds for you. You can get it spicy or regular.
Another cheap snack or small meal from Taco Bell's "Why Pay More" Value Menu. Honestly, when I'm not that hungry, I can be pretty satisfied with just one Cheesy Beefy Burrito. But usually my eyes are bigger than my stomach and the menu is just so cheap that I order at least three items. At 89 cents, it's cheaper than a bean burrito and less stinky later on to boot!
Taco Bell's Cheesy Beefy Burrito is simplicity in itself; Just a double helping of seasoned beef and nacho cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla. If you like nacho cheese and Taco Bell seasoned ground beef, you'll like the Cheesy Beefy Burrito.
On Sunday, 11/8/09, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants are hosting their 11th Annual Veterans Appreciation Event. Veterans will be able to choose a free entree from a special menu. Selections include Cashew-crusted Tilapia, Grilled Atlantic Salmon, Seafood Fettuccini Alfredo, and Cedar-planked Salmon. 
A value option sandwich at KFC, the KFC Snacker sells for 99 cents. It is basically a KFC Chicken Strip, shredded lettuce, and pepper mayo sandwiched inside a sesame dinner roll.
For those who missed out on the free Halloween giveaway of Taco Bell's Black Jack Taco, I decided to give the gimmicky taco a go myself. At first blush, the Black Jack Taco is the basic Taco Bell Crunchy Taco but with a black taco shell (otherwise it would just be the Jack Taco and Jack in the Box would get free advertising...). Upon closer inspection, the Black Jack Taco also contains some shredded Pepper Jack and mozzarella cheese in addition to the normal cheddar and a healthy and somewhat pungent Pepper Jack sauce.
On Veteran's Day, Wednesday, 11/11/09, Applebee's is offering a free meal to all U.S. Veterans as well as current active duty military personnel. Proof of military service is required and can be show by the following:
Texas-based burger chain Whataburger is offering a free Whataburger to fans decked out "from head to toe" in the chain's signature orange for dine-in service on Tuesday, 11/10/09 from 5pm to 8pm. Whataburger has dubbed the night "Orange Night Out." The chain is privately-held so it should be valid at all 700 plus locations.
El Pollo Loco's Churro off of their Loco Value Menu places a distance third to the churros at Baja Fresh and Costco. For $1, you get two churros.
El Pollo Loco's churros are only a little bit better than the churros you can buy frozen at the supermarket (for all I know, they might be the same churros you buy at the supermarket). They are just warm and kind of chewy. It does have the requisite coating of sugar and cinnamon. But all in all, El Pollo Loco's Churro is pretty disappointing though not bad at two for $1. Then again, you can get two deep-fried apple pies for $1 as well.
Sometimes I get a hankering for cheese sticks that stems from back in my undergrad days when a local pizzeria would deliver to the dorms. Fortunately, some pizza chains now stock cheese sticks as a menu item including Papa John's, where they're sold at $4.99 for a 10-inch order and $5.99 for a 12-inch order.
Boston Market is offering a great deal via coupon on their website here. The coupon is for a "$1 Real Chicken Meal" which you can print out. According to the coupon a $1 Real Chicken Meal contains your choice of a quarter white or three pieces of dark meat chicken along with mashed potatoes and cornbread. The coupon expires on 11/01/2009 and is valid for one meal per customer per visit along with the other standard legalese.
Taco Bell's Cheesy Roll Up is a part of Taco Bell's "Why Pay More?" Value Menu. It's pretty much a quesadilla rolled up.
That's about it. It actually does not taste as good as a quesadilla which usually has a slight crispness where it's pressed or grilled. The Cheesy Roll-Up is more like a steamed quesadilla that's slighly folded up, making it soft with more cheese in each bite.
From 6pm to Midnight on October 31, 2009, Halloween, Taco Bell is offering a free Black Jack Taco to all customers who stop by. You are not required to dress up, do a little dance, or anything like that. The Black Jack Taco is like Taco Bell's regular crunchy taco except the shell is black, there are a blend of three cheeses (mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar) instead of just cheddar, and it has a squeeze of zesty pepper jack sauce). Normal legalese applies (at participating locations, one per customer, yadda yadda yadda...).
The KFC Chicken Little Sandwich is a relic of the KFC of old when fried chicken, sides, and biscuits were the only thing on the menu.
Billed as Arby's answer to the common hamburger, the Roastburger is more or less like a hamburger except with seasoned thin-sliced roast beef instead of a hamburger patty. It still tastes like a sandwich though. I tried the Bacon Cheddar Roastburger. The seasoning gives the meat a bit more "oomph" but part of a hamburger's flavor comes from the coarse texture of the patty itself and roast beef can't replicate that. Also hamburgers don't tend to be that seasoned anyway; a lot of the flavor is plain old hamburger fat.
The Arby's Bacon Cheddar Roastburger makes for a nice sandwich though. It has a slice of cheddar cheese, peppered bacon (an upgrade from the thin slices of mini-bacon most fast food chains sport), crisp lettuce, onions, and a slice of fresh tomato; the usual stuff you find in a traditional hamburger... as well as a sandwich.
I don't know how much healthier eating a Arby's Roastburger is than eating a greasy hamburger though. Compared to say a Burger King Whopper, it has about roughly half the fat but almost twice the sodium. Choices, choices... It does taste better than a Whopper though, sandwich and all.
Burger King's version of the chicken nugget is called the Chicken Tender. I tried it recently off of Burger King's value menu at four pieces for $1. The tenders are breaded and lightly seasoned rather than battered like McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. While the chicken tender comes in a interesting crown shape, the meat itself is quite thin and, as a result, was dried out from the deep frying.
I tried Carl's Jr.'s Bacon Ranch Cheeseburger because it was 99 cents and a limited-time item. I have to say it was very blah. It features a charbroiled beef patty, two slices of bacon, a slice of swiss cheese, an onion ring, and ranch dressing. It was pretty bland.
