My Top Five New Fast Food Items of 2016

Another year, another parade of new fast food items eaten. Here's my top five for 2016, in no particular order:

- Arby's Smokehouse Pork Belly Sandwich - I can't recall any other fast food chain ever doing pork belly before and I've never encountered smoked pork belly at a barbecue joint so I was pleasantly surprised. It looks to return in 2017 so I'll be looking forward to it.

- Taco Bell's Double Stacked Tacos - At $1, these were my favorite value item for 2016 (especially since most places have done away with the $1 menu). While the Nacho Crunch one was just a tad too familiar on its own, some creamy jalapeno sauce gussied it up quite nicely.

- McDonald's Maple Bacon Dijon Burger - This was my favorite out of McDonald's Signature Crafted line that won out over the "Create Your Taste" platform and slated to go national this year. The quality was a step up over their regular stuff and they hit the right balance with the maple and Dijon.

- Popeyes' Magnolia Blossom Chicken - Popeyes' limited-time menu items have a tendency to taste mostly the same but once or twice a year, they put out something that is both new, different, and, most importantly, tasty. Magnolia Blossom Chicken was that item last year. It offered the flavor of orange but without the typical heavy sweet and sour notes.

- KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken - KFC did a really nice job with their mainstream rendition of a currently trendy dish.

Other items that stuck out in my mind from 2016 and deserve a mention include:

- Starbucks' Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
- Subway's Carved Turkey (the heftiest meat I've seen from the chain)
- Little Caesars' Stuffed Crust Deep Deep Dish Pizza
- Burger King's Jalapeno Chicken Fries

Do you think I left something out? Feel free to share your own top five in the comments below!