News: Hardee's - New Texas Toast Bacon Cheese Thickburger

Hardee's latest menu addition comes complete with a new spokesperson. The Texas-inspired Texas Toast Bacon Cheese Thickburger features a charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef patty, bacon, American cheese, red onions, tomato, lettuce and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce served between two slices of thick, grilled Texas Toast. Pricing starts at a suggested retail of $2.79 for the 1/4 lb. size (It is also available in 1/3 lb. and 1/2 lb. sizes).

As usual, Hardee's has an online coupon for $1 off a Texas Toast Bacon Cheese Thickburger small combo. (Expires 11/20/2010)

As for the new spokesperson, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and native Texan, Julie Henderson has been tapped for the role and appears in a commercial with the Texas Toast Bacon Cheese Thickburger:

Nutritional info after the jump.

Review: Burger King - French Toast Sticks

Part of Burger King's BK Breakfast Value Menu, French Toast Sticks feature three sticks of bread covered in a sweet fried batter for $1. They're served with a side of maple-flavored syrup to cater to your sweet tooth.

News: Starbucks, Peets to Raise Prices

You can enjoy the coffee in the front for
the same price, but the ones in the back will
cost you a bit more than they used to.

Citing 13-year highs in prices of green (unroasted) Arabica beans, coffee chains Starbucks and Peet's are posed to raise drink and bean prices. Prices for the beans have risen approximately 35% since the beginning of the year.

Starbucks announced that prices will increase on "larger, labor-intensive" drinks (i.e. Frappuccinos) while maintaining or cutting prices of its most popular products, including certain espresso-based drinks and its $1.50 Tall brewed coffee.

Starting September 29, 2010, most Peet's drinks will increase by 10 to 15 cents in price, while beans sold in store will increase by an average of 8% in price.

On the plus side, if McDonald's coffee is your caffeine of choice, the fast food powerhouse with a bigger portfolio of food items, is better poised to absorb the costs increases and will continue business as usual.

Relief might come at the tail end of the year, when Columbian harvests are expected to "reduce supply bottlenecks." Whether or not, this will spell any relief at the check stand remains to be seen.

Review: Chipotle - Crispy Chicken Tacos

A favorite of the Sister, Chipotle's Chicken Tacos are of the hard shell or soft flour tortilla variety most commonly associated with Taco Bell. They're available in a set of three, starting from $5.70 (up to $5.90), with your choice of meat (braised carnitas or barbacoa, adobo-marinated and grilled chicken or steak), salsa, cheese, sour cream and romaine lettuce.

Review: Jack in the Box - Onion Rings

Jack in the Box Onion Rings are of the breaded and fried variety. An order of Onion Rings will cost you $1.79.

Around the World: McDonald's Australia - "Bacon"

Here's an ad by McDonald's Australia that I can really get behind. Mmmmmm... bacon... they call McDonald's "Maccas" and serve, among other items, a "Bakehouse Brekkie Roll" with slices of back bacon (which is more like ham than what we typically call "bacon"), egg, cheese, a hash brown (they call it a "Potato Rosti"), and onion relish on a sourdough roll. It's one of their fancier "M Selections" items. It's one of the sandwiches being made in the ad.

Local Review: Porto's Bakery - Potato Ball

Porto's Bakery's Potato Ball is one of their most popular items. It features a slightly-bigger-than-golf-ball-sized mashed potato ball with a meat filling and a fried crust of fine breading. One Potato Ball will run you about 85 cents.

Frozen Friday: Totino's Pizza Rolls

Totino's Pizza Rolls are mini bite-sized pizza crust rolls with pizza filling inside. They come in a variety of flavors but the ones I usually see are: Cheese, Pepperoni, and Combination (sausage and pepperoni). A 7.5-ounce box goes for $2.99 at my local Alberton's but go on sale from anywhere between $1 and $2. For a buck more at $3.99, they also sell a 19.8-ounce bag which is a much better value.

Review: Starbucks - Pumpkin Spice Latte

A perennial fall drink at Starbucks, the Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte is billed as "espresso, pumpkin, fall spices and milk over ice with sweetened whipped cream." The price for a 12-ounce "tall" is $3.75 (about a $1.10 premium over a regular latte!). It is also available hot for cold fall nights and as a Frappuccino... for hot fall days?

Update 10/4/10: I tried the regular hot Pumpkin Spice Latte this morning since it actually bore some resemblance to fall with a light drizzle and cloudy skies. Interestingly, it was colder inside the Starbucks than it was outside (it was around mid 60s outside). I have to say, I much prefer the hot version, it fits the season better and I could taste the pumpkin flavor better. It feels more like autumn... it's also very orange, which helps.

Review: Jack in the Box - Pastrami Grilled Sandwich

Jack in the Box's latest artisan grilled sandwich is the limited time Pastrami Grilled Sandwich for $3.99. The Pastrami Grilled Sandwich keeps it fairly simple with pastrami, melted Swiss-style cheese, pickle strips, and a deli style mustard.

News: Panda Express - Free Kobari Beef Day on September 29

Panda Express is introducing its newest menu item, Kobari Beef tomorrow, September 22th.

The new dish with a made up name features sliced marinated beef tossed in a wok with mushrooms, leeks, onions, red bell peppers, and Panda Express' Kobari sauce which is purportedly inspired by Korean BBQ. I would guess that to mean some blend of soy sauce, sugar, maybe apple or pear, and sesame oil as a base.

To promote the new dish, Panda Express is hosting a Free Kobari Beef Day on Wednesday, September 29, 2010. Starting tomorrow, you can visit the Panda Express Facebook page to print out a coupon for a free single serving of Kobari Beef on the 29th.

Nutritional info after the jump.

Review: Jack In The Box - Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jack in the Box's Grilled Cheese sandwich features two slices of melted American cheese between two rounded pieces of grilled sourdough bread. It's for late night munchies and when you're feeling too lazy to take the minute or so to make your own. Fortunately, it's a very affordable $1.29.

Review: Sonic - Hazelnut Java Chiller

Sonic's Hazelnut Java Chiller features a shot of espresso and hazelnut syrup blended into vanilla ice cream. A regular costs $2.49.

Around the World: KFC Phillipines - California Maki Twister

KFC Philippines offers something called a California Maki Twister. I guess the "maki" is as in sushi? I've never heard of sushi with mayo, but I guess that explains the cucumbers. Like a California roll I suppose.

The California Maki Twister features a crispy-fried chicken filet with bits of mango, cucumber spears, and Japanese mayo dressing, wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Here's a video of it in action:

Review: Subway - Subway Club

The Subway Club sandwich features slices of turkey breast, roast beef, and Black Forest ham as a base with your choice of vegetables, condiments, and bread. It's falls into Subways Select Sub and goes for about $6.75 in my neighborhood.

Depending on how you build it and if you eat a 6-inch or a Footlong in one sitting, it is one of Subway's Fresh Fit subs with under 6 grams of fat.

Frozen Friday: Claim Jumper - Chicken Marsala

Claim Jumper's Chicken Marsala frozen dinner features roasted white meat chicken in a marsala sauce over rigatoni pasta with baby bell mushrooms. It's normally around $4 but I usually get them on sale for somewhere between $1.50 and $2.

Review: Burger King - Seattle's Best Iced Mocha Coffee

Burger King's Seattle's Best Iced Mocha Coffee is part of their new breakfast menu. It's brewed Seattle's Best coffee with a flavor shot of chocolate syrup over ice. The suggested retail is $1.89, but my local Burger King was charging $2.49 for a regular (They also charge 30 cents extra for an extra flavor shot and for whip cream) which comes in a narrow but tall cup.

Review: Burger King - BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter

The new BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter from Burger King is analogous to McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast but with a little more hyperbole. The BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter comes complete with scrambled eggs, hash browns, a sausage patty, a biscuit, and three pancakes with syrup for $4.29.

Review: Burger King - BK Breakfast Ciabatta Club Sandwich

The parade of new items on the Burger King breakfast menu into my mouth continues with the BK Breakfast Ciabatta Club Sandwich. The BK Breakfast Ciabatta Club features a whole grain Ciabatta bun filled with thin-sliced ham, bacon, tomatoes, melted cheese, an plain egg omelet, and a smoky tomato sauce" It costs $2.89.

Review: Burger King - Mini Blueberry Biscuits

New to Burger King's breakfast value menu and part of Burger King's new breakfast expansion/push, Mini Blueberry Biscuits are slightly bigger than bite-sized biscuits with blueberries baked in. They're served in a set of four with a side of icing and retail for $1.