Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Buffalo Chicken Strips

Hungry-Man's Buffalo Chicken Strips feature Buffalo-seasoned and breaded ground chicken strips paired with their standard sizes of sweet corn, mashed potatoes, and a brownie. Priced regularly at around $3.69, it's not unusual to find it a buck or two cheaper.

News: Doritos - Taco Flavor Back for a Limited Time

A "throwback" flavor of the Doritos of old, responding to feedback from customers, Frito Lay has brought back the original Doritos Taco for a limited time only (Not to be confused with their regular "Tacos at Midnight" flavor).

The limited edition flavor (which is almost as old as Doritos itself) comes in a retro Doritos bag and will only be available through the Super Bowl (Sunday, February 6th) so if you're a fan, you better get it while it's hot!

It's not available everywhere but you can check with Frito Lay's Snack Locator before you make a trip. They should make an app so that road trippers can locate just the snack they want no matter where ever they are.

Update: Rejoice Taco Flavor fans! Due to popular demand, Doritos Taco Flavor is back permanently (not all stores will have them though so be sure to check first).

Review: Disneyland - Chieftain Chicken Skewer

Skewered grilled meats and vegetables can be found in Disneyland at Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland just across the way from the Jungle Cruise entrance. I tried a Chieftain Chicken Skewer there for $3.79. I almost got the Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus but it didn't feel Disney enough so I went with the chicken.

News: Carl's Jr./Hardee's - Smartphone Loyalty App

Carl's Jr and sister chain Hardee's have launched a location-based loyalty app for iPhone and Android phone users dubbed "Happy Star Rewards."

Basically, you can "check-in" every time you visit a Carl's Jr. or Hardee's and for the first and every fourth time you visit, you can spin the "Wheel of Awesome" for a chance to win discounted and free menu items, branded gift cards, prizes and merchandise from participating partners (Current prizes include Sony electronics and tickets to see the Green Hornet movie).

On the check-ins where you don't get to spin the wheel, you get a coupon for a currently featured menu item, such as "$1 off an order of Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders." The more you check-in, the better your prizes and coupons you can win off of the Wheel of Awesome.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Famous Star

Similar to Jack's Jumbo Jack and Burger King's Whopper, the Famous Star is signature burger of Carl's Jr. It comes as a combination of charbroiled beef, leafed lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, dill pickles, special sauce (a ketchup variant with sweet relish), and mayo on a toasted sesame bun.

I remember when it used to carry a promotional price of 99 cents (it has since been replaced by the Big Burger for 99 cents) but these days it costs $2.69 for one Famous Star. Fortunately, I snagged two of them for $3 under a promotion that my local Carl's Jr. is participating in. It is also available with a slice of American cheese for an extra charge.

News: Sonic - New BLT and Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast

Sonic's latest limited-time offers for January to February 2011 are the BLT sandwich and the Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast.

The Sonic BLT features bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo on thick Texas toast while the Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast consists of red velvet cake batter ice cream blended with cheesecake pieces and topped with whipped topping and more cheesecake pieces.

To sweeten the pot, Sonic is offering the BLT with an order of medium Tots for $2.99.

News: Papa John's - Any Large for $10 Till Super Bowl XLV

For all you football fans out there, with the run up to Super Bowl XLV, Papa John's is pushing their pizza in offering any Large Pizza for $10 until Super Bowl Sunday (i.e. February 6, 2011).

The deal includes any of Papa John's large specialty pizzas including The Works, John's Favorite, and Garden Fresh.

Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest pizza day of the year so you can expect a good pizza deal from most of the pizza chains to encourage you to make them your pizza choice for watching the game.

Review: McDonald's - Fruit & Maple Oatmeal

McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal launched nationwide about a week ago but it's been a fairly quiet launch so far with very limited promotion and marketing. McDonald's had been testing the product in several markets for a while and has come up with a concoction of 100% natural whole grain oats, brown sugar, and cream topped mixed with diced fresh apples, dried cranberries, and regular and golden raisins.

A good-sized cup (9.2-ounces) costs $1.99 (once again undercutting Starbucks) and is available all day.

News: The Coffee Bean - Free Latte on Jan 4th, 2011

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is ushering in the New Year and Winter 2011 on January 4th, 2011 with a free 12-ounce cup of their new Scottish Breakfast Tea Latte, English Breakfast Tea Latte, or their classic Vanilla Latte. The Vanilla Latte is available with a No Sugar Added Vanilla Powder.

The promotion is for one day only (next Tuesday) and only from the hours of 4pm to 7pm (i.e. just in time for you to stop by on your drive home).

When: Tuesday, January 4th, 2011, from 4pm to 7pm.
Where: Participating Coffee Bean locations
Why: Free 12-ounce Scottish Breakfast Tea Latte, English Breakfast Tea Latte, or Vanilla Latte (One per person).

Review: Taco Bell - Beefy Crunch Burrito

Taco Bell's limited-time, generically named Beefy Crunch Burrito really should be called the Flamin' Fritos Burrito. Regardless, it clocks in at a cheap 99 cents and features a flour tortilla folded around a filling of Flamin' Hot Fritos corn chips, seasoned ground beef, seasoned rice, reduced-fat sour cream, and nacho cheese sauce.

News: Subway - New Turkey BLT

It's almost the new year and in the spirit of New Year's resolutions that rarely last longer than a month (which is probably the length of the promotion) Subway is promoting its turkey subs: the Turkey Melt and the new Turkey BLT. The tagline is "New Takes on Turkey."

The new Turkey BLT sub features turkey, crispy, lettuce and tomato on your choice of freshly baked bread. Even with bacon, it manages to come in at 7 grams of fat which qualifies as a Subway Fresh Fit sub.

News: Jack in the Box - $3.99 Jumbo Deal

Jack in the Box's latest value-price meal deal, the $3.99 Jumbo Deal features a combo meal with a Jumbo Jack burger, two of Jack's Tacos, a small order of fries, and a small fountain drink (20-ounces) for $3.99.

The Jumbo Jack is Jack in the Box's trademark burger and is most like Burger King's Whopper and McDonald's Big and Tasty featuring a jumbo beef patty topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, chopped onions, mayo-onion sauce and ketchup on a sesame seed bun.

The promotion is not valid in the following markets: Beaumont/Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Bend, Portland, Eugene, Medford, Waco, San Diego, Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City/St. George and Kansas City.

Check out the TV ad after the jump.

News: Pizza Hut - $10 Stuffed Crust Pizza Promotion

Pizza Hut has a new promotion, once again typifying their simplified pizza structure: for a limited time, one-topping Stuffed Crust Pizzas are $10 each instead of the regular $10.99 price.

Pizza Hut's Stuffed Crust Pizza features their hand-tossed pizza but with the outermost edge wrapped around a roll of mozzarella cheese forming the stuffed crust.

News: Church's Chicken - New Mini Sandwich

It's the return of the Chicken Little! Okay, not really, but it's close, albeit at a different chain. Church's Chicken has a new mini-sandwich they're aptly calling the Mini.

Each Mini features an all white meat chicken breast filet, fresh lettuce and a crispy pickle served on a toasted, slightly sweet mini-bun with your choice of regular or spicy mayo.

One Mini will cost you 89 cents while two go for $1.49.

News: Little Caesars - Buy One, Get One Hot-N-Ready Pizza - Two Days Only!

Little Caesars' Hot-N-Ready Pizzas are already the cheapest of the major pizza chains at $5 a pop but until tomorrow, you can go to their website and print out a "buy one, get one free" coupon! That is a ridiculously cheap $5 for two large pizzas. There is a limit of one coupon per order per visit so if you're having a huge football party it won't help as much.

The promotion coincides with the Little Caesar Pizza Bowl in Detroit tonight at 8:30pm EST on ESPN and runs until tomorrow, Tuesday, December 28, 2010.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Chicken Biscuit

Chick-fil-A's Chicken Biscuit Sandwich is probably the most prominent of its kind (even prompting a McDonald's knock-off) and features a simple equation of deep-fried chicken breast piece plus buttery biscuit. It is only available for breakfast until 10:30 am and carries a price tag of $2.19.

Sunday Funny: New Oreo Heads or Tails Cookies

Featuring the DSRL (Double Stuf Racing League), relatively new Oreo Heads or Tails cookies (they came out in September) feature a regular chocolate-flavored Oreo half and a vanilla-flavored Golden Oreo half so that, in addition to just eating or dunking them, you can also use them to settle a coin flip. Let the games begin!

A 15.25-ounce (didn't it used to be 16-ounces?) package of Oreo Heads or Tails normally costs around $3.99 at the supermarket.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Entertaining Cookie Collection

Merry Christmas and time for guests! That means Pepperidge Farm's Entertainment Cookie Collection around the holiday season for me. Mostly because they tend to go on sale a lot around this time of the year. The Entertainment Cookie Collection is a something-for-everyone set with 9 different varieties of the Pepperidge Farm classic cookies. They're pretty much the cookies I've always associated with Pepperidge Farm. The collection usually goes for anywhere from $6 to $8 at retail.

Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Roasted Carved Turkey Dinner

The turkey frozen dinner has been around for as long as I can remember and Hungry-Man's Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey dinner stays true to the classic formula with slices of turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and an apple cranberry dessert. Retail price on this one is $3.69.

News: NBC to Debut America's Next Great Restaurant

So NBC is debuting "America's Next Great Restaurant," a new reality show/contest on March 16th where the contestants pitch their restaurant concept in hopes of winning (and having the judges invest in) their very own restaurant chain based on their concept.

Review: Subway - Chipotle Chicken and Cheese Melt

Subway's new Chipotle Chicken and Cheese Melt is part of their current "Amazin' Melts" sandwich push. The main ingredients of the sandwich are your choice of bread, cheese, veggies, strips of grilled chicken, and Subway's Chipotle southwest sauce.

It normally costs $6 for a footlong and $4 for a 6-inch but Subway has a promotion where you can get any regular footlong (which is anything but the "premium" sandwiches) for $5 after 4pm (all day on Sundays) as long as you buy two or more so I ended getting one of these and a Subway Club for The Sister (she wanted a Cold Cut Trio but I upsold her!).

Review: Disneyland - Dole Whip Float

I was super excited to try this one because I was told that Disneyland is the only place you can get a Dole Whip outside of Hawaii. A Dole Whip Float is a swirled mass of Dole Pineapple soft serve floating atop a half cup of pineapple juice. You can get a Dole Whip sans Float for $3.29 or go for the whole shebang at $4.79.

Review: Fatburger - Homemade Onion Rings

California-based fast casual burger chain Fatburger makes one of the best renditions of the mighty onion ring that I have ever had the pleasure of plopping in my mouth. They call them Homemade Onion Rings and they cost a respectable $3.49 for a fresh made order served with a side of Ranch.

News: Taco Bell - New Volcano $5 Buck Box

After a brief hiatus, the $5 Buck Box is back at Taco Bell returning with the new Volcano Touchdown $5 Buck Box, a football-themed cardboard box filled with a Volcano Taco, Volcano Double Beef Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, and an order of Cinnamon Twists. A medium fountain drink is also included in the $5 price.

Not to be left out, Taco Bell's newest menu item, the Beefy Crunch Burrito also gets it own TouchDown $5 Buck Box, the Beefy Crunch Box, which contains the eponymous menu item, a Crunchwrap Supreme, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists and a medium fountain drink for $5.

For additional fun, each Touchdown $5 Buck Box can be converted into a finger flick football field (you can fold one of the wrappers into a triangle for the ball). Picture after the jump.

News: Taco Bell - New Beefy Crunch Burrito

Like most new Taco Bell items, the Beefy Crunch Burrito features a combination of typical Taco Bell ingredients with a slight twist. This time around the twist is Flamin' Hot Fritos corn chips. The regular players are a flour tortilla, seasoned beef, seasoned rice, reduced-fat sour cream, and nacho cheese sauce.

The price is an easy 99 cents.

Review: Burger King - Cookie Dough Pie

Burger King's Cookie Dough Pie is a limited-time item of sliced cream pie goodness with pieces of cookie dough thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure if it's available at all locations but I picked up my slice for $1.49 at my local BK.

News: Dairy Queen Offering Free Blizzards to Reindeer?

In a rather odd promotion, Dairy Queen are luring fans to bring "a real, living, breathing reindeer" to any participating Dairy Queen location nationwide to receive a free Reindeer Bites Blizzard from 1pm to 3pm on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24th.

Considering that reindeer aren't really commonly kept as pets and are only semi-domesticated in one state (Alaska) and this clearly becomes a promotion that few can participate in. In addition, you can't really bring pets into a restaurant unless they're service animals and I don't believe reindeer qualify.

I'd think this was a hoax or a call for DQ fans to dress up as reindeer but there's a press release and its subheading is "Free Reindeer Bites Blizzard® Treat for Those Who Bring an Actual Reindeer to Their Local DQ® Store" So, yes, it's a very strange but rather interesting promotion. Maybe you can trick them with a moose or deer?

Hardee's - New Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Wrappers

The BBQ version

Following similar options from McDonald's and Wendy's, Hardee's has arrived with new Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Wrappers.

Each Wrapper features a small (6-inch) flour tortilla with a Hand-Bread Chicken Tender, your choice of sauce (Buttermilk Ranch, Honey Mustard, or Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ), shredded lettuce, and shredded cheese.

They're available individually for $1.49, in a small combo for $3.49, or in a 2-wrap combo for $4.99 (prices may vary).

Perhaps we'll see them here on the West Coast at sister chain Carl's Jr. in the near term?

Review: Pick Up Stix - Orange Peel Chicken Dragon Deal

Pick Up Stix is a "woked"-to-order Chinese fast casual joint that has over 70 locations in California. It's like slightly fancier, slightly more expensive Panda Express with slightly healthier options but mostly made fresh when you order.

They have a "Dragon Deals Value Menu" which feature several dishes and bowls for $4.99 from which I tried the Orange Peel Chicken Special which features an individual order of Orange Peel Chicken, steamed rice, salad, and an obligatory fortune cookie. You can shell out an extra $1.50 for white meat chicken.

Review: Oreo - Mint Fudge Cremes

Oreo seems to be expanding its brand line a lot lately (I guess a little bit late in the day considering that Oreos have been around since 1912). The latest addition is the Oreo Mint Fudge Creme
which is basically a thin Oreo cookie with a mint flavored Oreo "creme" and a candy fudge coating. A 8.5-ounce box of 21 cookies costs about $3.79.

News: Coca-Cola Christmas Orb Bottles Available at Walmart Only

If you're looking for those nifty Christmas ornament-shaped Coke bottles that come around this time of year, they're only available at Walmart this year.

The bottles, officially known as Orb Bottles, feature a spherical plastic bottle with a wrapped Santa Claus design on one half (I was going to type "side" but spheres only have one side) and the Coca Cola logo on the other. They cost $1 per 13.5-ounce bottle.

I assume they'll be shipping until Christmas, after which you'll be chasing after a dwindling supply.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Chocolate Cookie Collection

Pepperidge Farm's Chocolate Cookie Collection features seven varieties of Pepperidge Farm cookies dipped in or sandwiching dark chocolate. They're mostly meant for sharing or when you have guests over but that hasn't stopped me from eating them out of a cookie jar. They're normally around $8 for a box but I scored this particular box on sale for $5.

Frozen Friday: Marie Callender's - Penne Chicken Piccata

Marie Callender's Penne Chicken Piccata uses a nifty double container to steam the pasta and chicken while the sauce cooks separately which I assume keeps the pasta from getting too soggy. It features a frozen meal of penne pasta, a white wine lemon butter sauce, strips of white meat chicken, spinach, Parmesan cheese, and capers. These retail for about $3.40.

They're also called "Pasta Al Dente" meals though apparently not on the package that I got.

News: Limited-Time Rold Gold and Cheetos for Holidays

Frito Lay is offering limited-time varieties of Rold Gold and Cheetos Puffs this holiday season.

Rold Gold is sporting three limited-time fudge-dipped pretzels this month. Featuring a blend of sweet and salty, you can choose from Classic Dipped Tiny Twists, White Dipped Honey Wheat Braided Twists and Dark Dipped Bavarian Twists. They're only available in select markets.

Review: Sonic - Jumbo Popcorn Chicken

Sonic's Jumbo Popcorn Chicken are much larger than KFC's Popcorn Chicken but slightly smaller than your standard chicken nugget. They're of the battered variety and come in a large 6-ounce order for $4.39. That's more expensive than your standard chicken nugget, but they are made of bite-sized pieces of white meat chicken rather than the ground stuff which tends to cost more.

Review: Disneyland - Corn Dog

Peer to your right as you wander to the end of Main Street USA at Disneyland upon arrival and you'll find an old fashioned corn dog stand. The Little Red Wagon serves up fresh hand-dipped Corn Dogs for $5.99 with your choice of a small bag of chips or apple slices.

Food on the Go: Disneyland

I recently visited Disneyland with my little brother compliments of my friend who works for Disney. While the trip was mostly for his benefit, I was determined to sample as many Disney food items as my stomach could handle as we toured around the park. For the theme park enthusiasts, all the items I ate can be eaten happily (get it? because it's Disneyland!) while waiting in line.

I'll have a post for each item each week so be sure to check back on this post for updates!

- Corn Dog - $5.99
- Dole Whip Float - $4.79
- Chieftain Chicken Skewer - $3.79
- Tiger Tails Breadsticks - $3.69
- Steak Gumbo - $8.99
- Turkey Leg - $8.00

Stuff I was tempted to get but didn't:
- The super long Churros of my youth
- The Monte Cristo sandwich

Review: Wendy's Ultimate Chicken Grill

I'm pretty sure it used to be called the Grilled Chicken Sandwich or the like, but nowadays is called the Ultimate Chicken Grill (sounding more like an appliance than a sandwich) and is Wendy's standard grilled chicken sandwich falling into a premium slot at $3.99 a pop which is comparable to grilled chicken sandwiches elsewhere such as Burger King.

Review: McDonald's - Cinnamon Melts

Cinnamon Melts are McDonald's take on the cinnamon roll without actually bothering to roll anything. They resemble monkey bread in form, are topped with a cream cheese icing, and are priced at $1.69 (may vary).

Review: Burger King - Original Chicken Sandwich

Burger King's Original Chicken Sandwich is Burger King's basic chicken sandwich consisting of a chicken patty on a bun with shredded iceberg lettuce and mayo. Burger King throws it up just a tad by making it a sub-style sandwich instead of a burger shape. It'll run you $3.99 but Burger King is currently running a promotion where it's buy one, get one for free.

Around the World - McDonald's Challenges KFC's Christmas Supremacy in Japan

Through some sort of marketing magic, back in the '70s, KFC managed to convince the Japanese that Christmas means chicken (because turkey is hard to find in Japan). KFC chicken to be precise. Fast forward 40 years later and many a Japanese family pre-orders their Christmas dinners at KFC and wait in line on Christmas Day to pick it up.

But this year, there is a challenger for KFC's Christmas supremacy. McDonald's is hawking their own Christmas-themed chicken dinner this year in the iCon'BOX (that's how they're spelling it) for 1780 yen (~$21.16) undercutting KFC and vying to get their own claws (so to speak) in Japan's Christmas celebration.

News: Jamba Juice - Testing Froyo

Jamba Juice is again looking to expand its menu, and jump in on a trend, with a test of frozen yogurt at select locations in the northern California market according to NRN.

Besides the typical flavors (original tart, chocolate, vanilla, etc.) and toppings, Jamba Juice is offering the option of blending in your choice of fresh fruits much like their smoothies. They're calling it "Whirl'ns" frozen yogurt.

They're looking to expand the testing to other markets in 2011. If the tests goes well, look for Jamba Juice to expand Whirl'ns nationally. Suggested pricing is $3.50 for a 6-ounce small with one topping and $5.50 for a 10-ounce large with one topping.

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Oatmeal Cookies

New to Pepperidge Farm's delectable cookie collection, Oatmeal cookies are touted as "sweet & simple homestyle cookies." Actually, in Pepperidge Farm fashion they're just simply labeled "oatmeal" in all big, lowercase letters. They're part of Pepperidge Farm's Homestyle Cookies which feature classic cookies made with just a few ingredients. A 5.25-ounce bag of 15 cookies retails for around $4 but are found on sale for about $2.

Frozen Friday: Claim Jumper - Lasagna with Meat Sauce

Claim Jumper's Lasagna with Meat Sauce frozen dinner features over a pound of the Italian staple (and Garfield favorite) and is a convenient alternative to spending the time to bake a lasagna, especially if you don't have a family to feed. It retails for around $3.99 but goes on sale now and again for around $2.

Review: Jack in the Box - Seasoned Curly Fries

Jack in the Box's Seasoned Curly Fries are curly cut French fries seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, and "spices" (which probably includes paprika). They cost a little bit more than Jack's regular fries at $1.79 for a small order (compared to $1.39) in my locale.

Review: Five Guys - Fries

Five Guys Fries are what Wendy's would call "natural cut" AKA skin-on fries. Unlike Wendy's new fries (which are shipped frozen to each restaurant), Five Guys' Fries are cut fresh in house before frying in In-N-Out fashion.

$3.99 buys you a large order enough to share with four friends or maybe just one friend if you're a big eater. I wouldn't recommend eating an entire large order by yourself for two reasons: one, it's over a pound of fries; and two, it's nearly 1,500 calories worth of fried potatoes.

Review: Sonic - Sonic Cheeseburger

The Sonic Cheeseburger is Sonics' (it would be strange otherwise) version of the standard fast food cheeseburger. While it doesn't look like it on the menu, I was surprised to find that the Sonic Cheeseburger is about the size of a Whopper and features American cheese, crinkle-cut pickles, chopped onions, shredded lettuce, and sliced tomatoes on a beef patty with your choice of mustard, mayo or ketchup. It's a bit cheaper than the Whopper at $3.29 (or $2.79 without cheese).

News: Reserve Your Free Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Biscuit

Chick-fil-A is offering free Spicy Chicken Biscuits to their customers from January 3 to January 8, 2011 but like their free Spicy Chicken Sandwich promotion back in May, you have to go online and reserve your free Spicy Chicken Biscuit. It's a little more legwork, but at least you know they won't run out when you get there right?

Only a limited number of free Spicy Chicken Biscuits are being made available so make your reservations early starting Monday, December 27, 2010 at www.GetSpicyChicken.com to choose your preferred Chick-fil-A location and time.

The Spicy Chicken Biscuit officially comes to the Chick-fil-A menu on January 10, 2011.

Review: Wendy's - Guacamole Bacon Cheeseburger

Wendy's new Guacamole Bacon Cheeseburger is a premium fast food burger being tested in the southern California area and features a quarter pound beef patty, bacon, Swiss cheese, guacamole, onions, tomatoes, and mayo on a Kaiser bun. The price is about average for a premium fast food offering at $4.29.

News: Subway Testing New Oven Crisp Chicken Sandwich

Looks like Subway is testing the Oven Crisp Chicken sandwich exclusively in the Western Michigan Market for a limited time only.

The main feature of the sandwich is its namesake chicken which promises the taste and flavor of fried chicken without the actual frying and greasiness. The Oven Crisp Chicken sandwich is served with a sweet honey mustard sauce by default and your choice of veggies.

News: Burger King - BOGO Original Chicken Sandwich

Burger King is running a national buy one, get one free promotion for the Original Chicken Sandwich for a limited time only.

It looks like the promotion replaces last month's Free Coffee Fridays on the BK website. Perhaps this portends to Burger King running a different value promotion every month? (Update 12/14: The promotion is running through January 16, 2011)

The Original Chicken Sandwich was Burger King's longer, thinner analog to the McChicken back when the McChicken was McDonald's flagship chicken sandwich before McDonald's value-sized (and value-priced) it. An Original Chicken Sandwich costs $3.99(!) in the Los Angeles area.