News: Wendy's Testing New Premium Salads

Wendy's is currently testing a line of four Premium Salads at participating locations in the following markets: Columbus, OH; Nashville, TN; Salt Lake City, UT; Richmond, VA.  The four salads are: the Apple Pecan Chicken Salad, the BLT Cobb, the Baja Salad, and the Spicy Chicken Caesar.

The Apple Pecan Chicken Salad features tender grilled chicken and real blue cheese crumbles mixed with fresh, hand-picked apples and sweet, dried cranberries.  It also appears to have walnuts or pecans.

Review: Panda Express - Orange Chicken

Panda Express' Orange Chicken is my favorite dish at the largest Chinese fast food restaurant chain in the U.S.  The dish features battered boneless chicken pieces stir-fried in a wok with a sweet and tart orange sauce.  I usually get a 2-entrée platter for $5.99 and choose Orange Chicken for both entrées!  You can also buy it a la carte in a single size for $3.00 or a family-sized large for $9.00.

News: Starbucks Reveals "Plenta" and "Micra" Drink Sizes

Starbucks announced on their company blog today that in response to customer requests, they are introducing two new and groundbreaking drink sizes in the fall: the 2-ounce Micra and 128-ounce Plenta.  The new sizes are the result of a year's worth of research and direct customer feedback through MyStarbucksIdea.com.

Okay, not really... Starbucks is getting in on April Fool's this year and perhaps mocking their Trenta test a bit.

News: KFC Double Down Sandwich Coming April 12th?

As we all know, today is April Fool's Day so it's with a bit of skepticism that a visit to KFC's homepage revealed a mysterious countdown timer with the words: "Countdown to Double Down."

Clicking on the timer revealed, KFC's Double Down Sandwich, a grotesque monstrosity of two original recipe (or grilled) chicken breasts sandwiching two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese, and (the dubiously named) Colonel's Sauce.

Review: Jack in the Box - Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit

Jack in the Box's Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit is exactly as described.  They are currently running a promotion where you can get two for $3.  Jack in the Box serves breakfast all day for us late sleepers.

News: Pretzel Time - Free Soft Pretzel on April 26, 2010

Pretzelmaker/Pretzel Time is once again hosting it's day-long National Pretzel Day Pretzel Giveaway on April 26, 2010

When: Monday, April, 26, 2010, all day.

Where: Participating Pretzelmaker/Pretzel Time locations. Store Locator

How: "Sing for your snack" i.e. sing a line from any song or just mention "National Pretzel Day" and get a free original soft pretzel.

Why?: It's a free pretzel! Everyone loves pretzels! They are soft, warm, and if there's too much salt you can just dust it off.

News: Dairy Queen - New Mini Size for Blizzards in August 2010

Starting this August, Dairy Queen will nationally rollout a new, smaller size of their Blizzard blended ice cream dessert: the Mini Blizzard. The Mini Blizzard will weigh (fill?) in at about 6 ounces or approximately half the size of a "small" 12-ounce Blizzard.

Pricing for the Mini Blizzard will range from $1.99 to $2.49 at most locations. Other sizes that Dairy Queen currently offers include the 12-ounce small, the 16-ounce medium, and the 21-ounce large.

Hooray for portion control and ice cream snacking!

The Asia Trip: Dunkin Donuts Taiwan

Dunkin Donuts in Taiwan is definitely tailored to more Asian tastes.  For one, they use less sugar and the dough ingredients seem to vary.  Some of the more locally-tailored offerings include kiwi-filled jelly donuts, sweet potato donuts, and pineapple donuts.  They range in price from 25 to 30 NT each (about 75 cents to $1).

News: Corner Bakery Offers Free Two Free Coffees via Facebook

From March 29th to April 26, 2010, fast casual chain, Corner Bakery Cafe is offering two free cups of their hand-roasted coffee to Facebook Fans who use their "Connect at the Corner" app to schedule a meet up with a friend (or family, random stranger, frenemy, etc.) at Corner Bakery.

It's a promotion encouraging people to actually meet up in person rather than online, via texting, phone, etc. Having been to Corner Bakery, it's actually a pretty nice place to meet up, as least, at the location near me anyway.

Review: Pizza Hut - Cajun Wings

Pizza Hut's Wing Street Cajun Wings are described as being "peppered with Cajun flavors from Louisiana." What the heck does that mean?  According to Wikipedia, "characteristic seasonings include parsley, bay leaf, "green onions" or scallions, and dried cayenne pepper."  They really didn't taste like any of that.

News: Burger King - New Breakfast Bowl and English Muffin

Burger King today announced two additions to their breakfast menu: the BK Breakfast Bowl and BK Breakfast Muffin.

The BK Breakfast Bowl features roasted southwestern potatoes, grilled onions and peppers, scrambled eggs and sausage topped with a blend of three cheeses and a smoky cheese sauce and has a suggested price of $2.79.

The BK Breakfast Muffin is a BK Breakfast Value Menu item priced at $1 and features a sausage patty, egg, and a slice of melted American cheese sandwiched between two halves of a freshly-baked English muffin.

Review: McDonald's - Hamburger

The burger that spawned the house that Ray built, McDonald's Hamburger is a simple grilled hamburger patty seasoned with salt and pepper sandwiched in a plain soft, toasted bun with ketchup, mustard, a sprinkling diced onions, and a couple of pickle slices for 89 cents. Back in 1955, you could buy a McDonald's hamburger from Mr. Kroc himself for 15 cents.

What's on the Menu: McDonald's Switzerland

This edition of What's on the Menu takes us to the land of neutrality, precision time pieces, and most importantly, chocolate!  Welcome to McDonald's Switzerland!

News: Subway Serves Breakfast Starting April 5, 2010

Subway Sandwiches formally throws its hat into the fast food breakfast arena starting April 5, 2010 when it begins serving breakfast at over 25,000 locations in North America.

Review: Jack in the Box - Chicken Sandwich

Jack in the Box's value menu Chicken Sandwich features a breaded chicken patty, lettuce and mayo onion sauce on a regular Jack in the Box bun for $1.

Review: El Pollo Loco - Grilled Chicken Nachos

El Pollo Loco's Grilled Chicken Nachos features chopped boneless chicken breast, refried beans, a Jack & poblano queso sauce, pico de gallo salsa, real guacamole, sour cream, shredded Jack and Cheddar cheese, sliced jalapeno peppers over a bed of tortilla chips for $5.29.

News: Carl's Jr. Introduces New Banana Chocolate Chip Shake

The latest additions to Carl's Jr.'s merry-go-round of limited-time shakes, and a mouthful to say, are the new Banana Chocolate Chip Hand-Scooped Ice Cream Shakes and Malts.

The shakes feature hand-scooped ice cream, milk, banana cream syrup, and chocolate flakes, blended together and topped with whipped topping.  The malts add malt powder to the mix.

Both items have a suggested retail price of $2.89 for a 16-ounce serving and are served in a clear plastic cup with a matching clear plastic domed lid.

News: Whataburger Gives Free Milk with Cookies

Milk and Cookies!  Texas-based fast food chain Whataburger is promoting their new Chocolate Chunk and Sugar cookies by offering free milk when you buy one of the aforementioned cookies.

When?: March 30 & 31 from 11am to 8pm

Where?: All Whataburgers. Whataburger Store Locator

Why?: You are the Cookie Monster and you like milk and cookies! Nom Nom Nom!  Or, you just happen to be at Whataburger that day.  The cookies are 79 cents each (price may vary).

The Asia Trip: KFC Taiwan - Latte

Yes, while in Taiwan, I didn't go to Starbucks for coffee but I did pick up a latte at KFC Taiwan for 54 NT ($1.70).  That's right just like McDonald's, KFC in Taiwan sells premium coffee beverages dispensed out of a superautomatic espresso machine.

News: Carl's Jr. Brings Back the Big Country Burrito

Carl's Jr announced today the return of the Big Country Burrito which was originally introduced in October 2008.  The Big Country Burrito features basically your entire American-style breakfast wrapped up burrito-style in a flour tortilla. That means eggs, crumbled bacon and sausage, diced ham, shredded cheddar cheese, hash rounds and a lots of sausage gravy.