Frozen Friday: Marie Callender's - Pot Roast

Marie Callender's is a restaurant chain probably best known for their pies but I'm probably most familiar with their line of frozen meals made by super giant food manufacturer ConAgraFoods. Actually, I don't believe I've ever eaten at a Marie Callender's, so their frozen food is actually all I know them by. Normally the dinners are around $3.99 at supermarkets around here, but they often go on sale for two for $4 or inexplicably $1.88 each.

Review: Popeyes - Spicy Chicken

Popeyes has had a nice little deal going on in my neck of the woods for a while now, where you can get a leg and a thigh for just 99 cents on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It used to be only on Tuesdays, but I guess with the economy in the crapper and people looking to stretch a buck, they expanded the deal to Thursdays as well.  I bought 10 leg and thigh pieces of Popeyes Spicy Chicken for about $5.

News: Peet's $2 Medium Freddo Fridays in July

Peet's Coffee and Tea is offering a summer promo for $2 Medium (16-ounces) Freddos during every Friday in July. Freddos are Peet's version of ice-blended coffee and tea drinks; basically, it's Peet's analogue to Starbucks' Frappuccino. Like Frappuccinos, Freddos are also customizable with your choice of milk, decaf, additional espresso shots, syrups, etc.

They normally retail around $4, so it's a pretty good deal if you like ice-blended coffee and tea drinks.

At participating Peet's locations only. Excludes airports, supermarket, BART, and other licensed locations.

Peet's Store Locations

The Asia Trip: Random Ramen at Shinjuku Station

Life in metropolitan Japan is largely centered around train stations which, I was told, are privately owned by the same companies that build department stores on and in them. There are a great deal of little shops and restaurants in most busy train stations. While passing through Shinjuku station, we stopped and ate at this random ramen-ya (ramen restaurant).

Review: KFC - Grilled Doublicious Sandwich

Upon inspection, KFC's Grilled Doublicious sandwich is the healthier of the two new Doublicious sandwiches; it contains a grilled chicken breast instead of deep-fried Original Recipe and forgos bacon. Instead, the Grilled Doublicious replaces bacon with a smattering of shredded lettuce and the Colonel's Sauce with honey mustard BBQ sauce. The super soft, sweet Hawaiian bun and mild slice of Monterey Jack remain the same.

Review: Sonic - Footlong Quarter Pound Coney

The first thing I thought when the carhop at Sonic brought me my Footlong Quarter Pound Coney was "holy crap! That's a long hot dog!" I didn't know they made hot dog buns that big.

Fortunately, it's served in a tray and you can lift it up and bend it to eat it without trying to balance it in your hands. It's currently at a promotional price of $2.99 which is pretty good considering you can go halves on it and still be satiated.

Brand Eating Giveaway: Sonic Gift Cards!

Happy 4th of July! In celebration of fireworks, hot dogs, and baseball, Brand Eating is having its very first giveaway drawing ever, courtesy of the kind folks at Sonic Drive-In. The prizes are:

- One Grand Prize: four (4) tickets to a local MLB/AAA baseball game (transportation not included) and a $25 MySonic Gift Card

- Two Second Prizes: A $25 MySonic Gift Card for two readers to visit their local Sonic Drive-In

To enter: simply comment on this post with your favorite hot dog topping(s) to enjoy at the ballpark. Please be sure to include a valid email address in the proper field when you post as that is how I will be contacting the winners for where to send the prizes. I will pick the winners via the virtual hat i.e. a random number generator. Only one entry per person please.

The giveaway will close on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. I will announce the results shortly thereafter. Winners will have three days to respond to my email, after which time I will pick another winner.

I think that covers everything. Good luck and Happy 4th! Oh! And I go for chili and cheese with onions or just plain with no toppings. Haha, it's all or nothing for me!

Drawing is now closed to new entries. Look for the results in a post soon! Good luck to all who entered!

Sunday Funny: Burger King - Tendercrisp Mayo Commercial

A couple years back, Burger King had an office worker theme to their commercials that were fairly entertaining. This particular one is both funny and unexpected:

Review: KFC - Doublicious Sandwich

KFC's follow up to the infamous Double Down is the curiously named Doublicious sandwich. The Doublicious is basically a Double Down, minus Original Recipe breast filet, sandwiched in between a sweet Hawaiian bread bun.

 It is available in a promotional combo with an individual order of Potato Wedges and a medium drink for $5. You can also buy it a la carte for $4.29 in my area. There's also a grilled variant (that replaces bacon with lettuce?!) that I'll take on later.

Review: Chipotle - Secret Menu - Chicken Nachos

An off-the-menu item at Chipotle, Nachos are available with your choice of meat, beans, salsa, etc. I tried the Chicken Nachos and found that it is charged as a Burrito Bowl plus an order of chips which came out to 5.70 for the Burrito Bowl and 90 cents for the chips for a total of $6.60.

News: Sonic Kicks Off National Hot Dog Month with Footlong Quarter Pound Coney

July is National Hot Dog Month and Sonic is celebrating with the menu addition of the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney for $2.99.

The Footlong Quarter Pound Coney features a footlong quarter pound hot dog (obviously!) made from a blend of beef and pork topped with warm chili and melted cheese.  If the picture is any indication, it looks quite big.

Nutritional information available after the jump.

News: Chick-fil-A Celebrates Cow Appreciation Day (Free Food!) - July 9, 2010

It's that time of the year again: Cow Appreciation Day! Where the cows behind Chick-fil-A celebrate your cow-friendly choice to eat chicken by giving out free food to their fellow cows or humans in cow's clothing.

On Friday, July 9, 2010, if you're particularly industrious, or happen to have a cow costume around from Halloween or something, dress fully as a cow to receive a free meal (entrée of your choice, side, and drink) at any Chick-fil-A location.

If that's too much work, you can sport some piece of cow attire, such as a spotted hat or scarf, and still get an entrée of your choice.

For more details as well as help with your costume, visit the Cow Appreciation Day website.

News: Arby's - Free Jr. Deluxe with Drink Purchase on July 5th

Arby's is previewing their latest Value Menu addition, the Jr. Deluxe, on July 5th, 2010 by offering a free Jr. Deluxe with the purchase of any drink (excluding coffee and value-sized drinks).

The Jr. Deluxe is basically a Jr. Roast Beef sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo.  Pricing hasn't been announced but it's a safe bet that it'll be priced at $1.

The Jr. Deluxe will be officially available a week after the promotion.

Review: The Coffee Bean - Ultimate Dark Chocolate Ice Blended

The Coffee Bean's Ultimate Dark Chocolate Ice Blended is a dark chocolate powder blended with coffee extract, ice, milk, and chocolate-covered espresso beans.

A regular 16-ounce is $3.95.

The Asia Trip: Seasonal Curry Soup at Studio Ghibli

Since I'm out of fast food posts from the Asia Trip, I hope you guys won't mind making due with "regular" food, as some readers exhibited some interest and it would be a shame to let all the pictures I took go to waste. First up, a warm, curry soup with autumn vegetables that I ate at the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.

News: Jack in the Box - New Really Big Chicken Sandwich

Jack in the Box's newest menu promotional item is the descriptively-named, Really Big Chicken Sandwich, which features two crispy chicken patties topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo onion sauce on a toasted bun.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Fire Red Chicken Sandwich

A variant to Chick-fil-A's regular Spicy Chicken Sandwich made by yours truly, the Chick-fil-A Fire Red Chicken Sandwich is simple awesomeness, but just a wee bit on the messy side.

Review: KFC - Extra Crispy Strips

KFC's new Extra Crispy Strips are, as far as I can remember, mostly the same as the old Crispy Chicken Strips before they discontinued them in lieu of the Original Recipe Strips (which, in turn, have been discontinued in favor of the new Extra Crispy Chicken Strips. What's old is new again, huh?). I purchased them in a $5 Big Crunch Box which includes three Extra Crispy Strips, Potato Wedges (substitutable for whatever side you like), a KFC Biscuit, and a medium drink.

Sunday Funny: Wendy's - 4-Alarm Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Apparently, this is a proposed Wendy's commercial back in '07 that never made the cut for one reason or another. I think it's pretty funny though it seems more like something BK or Carl's Jr. would run.

You can check out the ad they ended up going with after the jump.

News: The Coffee Bean - Free Iced Drink on June 29th

The Coffee Bean is giving away complimentary 12-ounce Iced Americanos, Iced Coffees, or Iced Teas to visitors on June 29th.

When: Tuesday, June 29th, 4-7pm
Where: Participating Coffee Bean locations
Why: Your choice of a free 12-ounce Iced Americano, Iced Coffee, or Iced Tea.

Details: "Only valid at participating The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® store locations in CA, AZ & NV. Excludes San Diego county, Texas, Hawaii, Ralphs stores, casinos, campus or airport locations. Valid only on June 29th, 2010, from 4pm to 7pm. Offer applies to 12oz. Iced Americano, Iced Coffee or Iced Tea beverage only. No substitutions. Limit one complimentary drink per customer. Check your local store for details."