News: El Pollo Loco - New Plates

Not exactly a new dish, but more like a new combo, El Pollo Loco is offering three "new" plates for a limited time on their menu. Each plate features Spanish rice, pinto beans, and fresh salsa and your choice of Carne Asada, Mixed Grill (carne asada and a chicken thigh or leg), or Tamales (covered with Colorado sauce). The Carne Asada and Mixed Grill Plates also include tortillas (your choice of corn or flour).

Prices are $5.99 for the Tamales Plate, $6.49 for the Mixed Grill Plate, and $6.99 for the Carne Asada Plate.

To promote the new plates, El Pollo Loco is offering a printable coupon on their site for a free individual-sized chocolate bundt cake with any Plate purchase (expires November 11, 2010).

News: Papa John's - New Zesty Jalapeno Pizza for $11

Not to be outdone by Domino's, Papa John's has also recently introduced a new pizza today: the Zesty Jalapeno & Meats Pizza. The new Zesty Jalapeno & Meats Pizza features pepperoni, spicy Italian sausage, jalapeño peppers, and a blend of three cheeses (Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano).

It is currently available at a limited-time promotional price of $11 for a large. As a non-spicy alternative, Papa John is also making their Tuscan Six Cheese Pizza available for the same $11.

The Tuscan Six Cheese Pizza features Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, provolone and Fontana cheeses with Italian herb seasonings.

Review: Jack in the Box: Supreme Croissant

The other half of Jack in the Box's 2 for $3 Breakfast Croissants, the Supreme Croissant features a fried egg, Jack's new hickory-smoked bacon, ham, and American cheese on a buttery croissant. What makes it "supreme" you ask? It's that thin slice of ham, because otherwise it would just be the "Bacon Croissant" or the "Bacon, Egg & Cheese Croissant." See how much difference a slice of ham makes? The normal price for a Supreme Croissant is $2.19.

Brand Eating Giveaway: Sonic Gift Cards and Tailgate Blanket

Free Sonic Tailgate Blanket! Well, for two lucky readers anyway. In fire red no less! Perfect for keeping you warm during that overnight tailgate or while you wait in line for some coveted tickets.

Courtesy of Sonic Drive-In and their limited-time Loaded Burgers, two readers will win a Sonic Tailgate Blanket as well as a Sonic gift card so you can grab some tailgate eats before the game:

- One Grand Prize: A tailgate package of a Sonic Tailgate Blanket and a $100 Sonic Gift Card.

- One Runner-Up Prize: a Sonic Tailgate Blanket and a $25 Sonic Gift Card.

The Tailgate Blanket is a 54" x 84", extra-soft machine washable "sweatshirt blanket." It's 80% cotton, 20% polyester and feels like your favorite hoodie.

To enter: simply comment on this post with what limited-time food items you're looking forward to this fall/winter season. 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 drawing will close on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. I will draw the winners shortly thereafter. Winners will have three days to respond to my email, after which time I will pick another winner.

Good Luck!

Review: Jack in the Box - Breakfast Pita

Jack in the Box's new Breakfast Pita doesn't offer something new beyond a whole wheat pita to the breakfast sandwich mix, but it offers enough differences to merit consideration. Jack's Breakfast Pita features your normal breakfast accouterments (bacon, scrambled eggs, ham, American cheese) stuffed inside a whole wheat pita. The price on it is $2.79 or just a little more than Jack's other breakfast sandwiches.

Review: Jack in the Box - Egg Nog Ice Cream Shake

An annual event at Jack in the Box, the Egg Nog Ice Cream Shake comes once a year around the holiday season. It features real vanilla ice cream blended with egg nog flavoring and topped with whipped topping and a maraschino cherry. Prices at my local Jack in the Box was $2.69 for a 16-ounce regular and $3.19 for a 24-ounce large. I opted for the regular.

News: A&W - Free $3 Big Taste Meal for Facebook "Like"

A&W Restaurants (the lesser known burger branch of the Yum! Brands family) is promoting their new $3 Big Taste Meals by offering an online coupon for a "free" $3 Big Taste Meal (with 32-ounce drink purchase) to fans who "like" them on Facebook.

The $3 Big Taste Meals are a permanent value addition to the A&W menu and feature fries with your choice of one of four regular menu items: the BBQ Bacon Crunch Burger, Cheddar Onion Crunch Burger, Coney Cheese Dog, or Deluxe Cheeseburger.

While the meals don't come with a drink, it does free you up to buy a classic root beer float to go with.

News: White Castle - Slider-Scented Candles are Back!

Whether you missed out on the 10,000 burger-scented candles sold (they sold out in less than 48 hours) back in May (National Hamburger Month), really love the smell of White Castle, have a loved one that really loves the smell of White Castle (or conversely, have a frenemy that really hates the smell of White Castle) or want to help support Autism Speaks, White Castle is here to oblige you.

Starting on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, you can buy your very own burger-and-onion scented White Castle Slider-Scented Candle for $13 at White Castle's online store: www.houseofcrave.com.

The candles are packaged in a ceramic holder that apes the signature cardboard sleeve of White Castle hamburger boxes. Net proceeds from sales of the candles will benefit Autism Speaks.

News: Popeyes - Crawfish Festival Returns with Free Samples

Crawfish makes its annual return to Popeyes' menu starting today in an event dubbed the "2nd Annual Crawfish Festival" which will run through November 28, 2010. To celebrate, Popeyes is offering four limited-time crawfish dishes and a free sampling day on November 3, 2010 where you can get a taste of their crawfish for free.

The four limited-time dishes are:

· $4.99 Crawfish Tackle Box - 8 crawfish piled high (probably more than 8, I find that Popeyes tends to just pile it on without counting) with a regular side (Cajun Fries by default, but you can choose something else), and a biscuit.
· Crawfish Po’Boy - served on a warm baguette with lettuce, pickles and horseradish sauce.
· Crawfish Traveler - like Popeyes' Lousiana Travelers, an order of Crawfish in specified numbers.
· Crawfish Etouffee - seasoned rice smothered with a rich sauce of crawfish, veggies and spices. Available as a 16oz Big Easy Bowl, or as a regular side.

Popeyes' crawfish is seasoned, battered, and then deep-fried and complemented by a creamy horseradish sauce.

News: Hardee's - New Caramel Crumb Biscuit

It looks absolutely decadent, no? No, Hardee's
on the West Coast though. *Sigh*

Just in time for Halloween, Hardee's had added the new Caramel Crumb Biscuit to their menu. The Caramel Crumb Biscuit takes one of Hardee's "Made from Scratch" Biscuits and covers it in caramel, a drizzle of icing, and a sweet crumb.

Suggested prices are 99 cents for one, $1.69 for two, or $3.99 for six.

The commercial, similar to the one for Hardee's/Carl's Jr.'s Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, plays up the "made fresh in-house vs. frozen" angle. Carl's Jr. doesn't make biscuits though (sad, I know). You can check out the commercial after the jump.

Review: Jack in the Box - Sausage Croissant

One of Jack in the Box's current value promotions is 2 for $3 Breakfast Croissants, not being one to pass up a deal, I tried the Sausage Croissant which features a pork sausage patty, a fried egg, and a slice of American cheese in a croissant. It's normally priced at $2.19 in my neighborhood.

Around the World: Pizza Hut - The Many Forms of Cheesy Bites

Back in 2007, Pizza Hut tried to woo the American public with the limited-time Cheesy Bites Pizza which was similar to a Stuffed Crust Pizza but with individual cheese-filled rolls for the crust and featured a commercial with Jessica Simpson:

But the U.S. wasn't the only place that received the Cheesy Bites Pizza...

News: Carl's Jr. - New Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders

Carl's Jr recently announced their new freshly prepared Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders. These appear to be slightly different, but mostly the same as the Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders that have been selling at sibling-chain Hardee's since about June.

My own local Carl's Jr has been carrying them for about a month. It is unclear if "freshly prepared" means made-to-order or just made in-house throughout the day and left to warm. Probably the former since it does take some time to cook breaded chicken.

The selling point on these chicken tenders is that they are hand-dipped in buttermilk and lightly breaded in-house daily rather than shipped frozen and pre-cooked to each restaurant before a final dunk in the deep fryer.

Retail pricing stands at $2.99 for a 3-piece order or $4.49 for a 5-piece order which compares quite well to other fast food chains as well as the fried chicken chains. They are also available as part of a combo or kid's meal. Sauces are available in honey mustard, buttermilk ranch, and barbecue.

Review: Chick-fil-A - Cookies & Cream Milkshake

Chick-fil-A's Cookies & Cream Milkshake features Chick-fil-A vanilla Icedream (soft-serve) handspun with bits of Oreo cookies, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. A large costs $3.45.

News: Pinkberry - New Seasonal Pumpkin Flavor

A bit late to the fall pumpkin party, Pinkberry today introduced its new seasonal Pumpkin flavored frozen yogurt which features real pumpkin puree, notfat milk, and nonfat frozen yogurt.

The new flavor is recommended with featured paired toppings of honey graham crackers, new Pinkberry Swirly Whip (whipped cream made fresh daily), and a dusting of cinnamon for that holiday pumpkin pie flavor.

Pinkberry's Pumpkin flavor will be available through the end of the year.

Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Boneless Fried Chicken

The Hungry-Man Boneless Fried Chicken frozen meal features a pound of fried chicken patties, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and chocolate brownie for $3.69.

Review: The Coffee Bean - Cinnamon French Toast Ice Blended

The Coffee Bean's Cinnamon French Toast Ice Blended is a fall-themed limited-time drink that is sold as being "creamy and sweet with hints of maple and nut, this smooth cinnamon French toast beverage will remind you of Sunday morning breakfast as a kid." Pricing on the Ice Blended version (it's also available as a latte) is $4.30 for a 16-ounce regular and $5.20 for a 22-ounce large.

News: Papa John's - New "My Papa Points" Reward Program

Included in the revamp of their online ordering system (no doubt to catch up to Domino's and Pizza Hut's online ordering overhauls), Papa John's has instituted a rewards point system for online ordering and dubbed it "My Papa Points."

The basics of the program is for every $5 (including tax and delivery) you spend through online ordering you get a point. So, if you spend $10 you get two points. However, if you only spend $9, you only get one point because points are awarded in $5 increments only.

When (or if) you collect 25 points (basically spend $125), you can redeem your points for a free large, 3-topping pizza.

Domino's had a similar (but more extensive) program when they rolled out their revamped online ordering system, but has since discontinued it. The program is basically meant to incentivize customers to order online rather than over the phone.

The program is set to run until June 30, 2011.

News: Starbucks Launches Starbucks Digital Network

As an added perk for Starbucks' customers, Starbucks has launched the Starbucks Digital Network, a digital hub of assorted premium content for users of Starbuck's free Wifi created in partnership with Yahoo.


The service is accessible for free via Wifi-enabled computers, tablets, or smartphones and features free access to a bevy of selected video, textual, and audio content (i.e. selected books, videos, games, magazines, and music).

Highlights include: free access to the subscription editions of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today; exclusive iTune downloads; and free, unlimited access to Zagat restaurant reviews and ratings.

With all the added perks, the Starbucks Digital Network definitely encourages customers to come in and pull up a chair, whether any chairs will be available is the question, especially in high-traffic stores. I know that other popular coffee houses already have problems with too many people occupying seats to use free WiFi. My own local Starbucks stores are already pretty crowded, seating-wise.

Review: Taco Bell - Tostada

Taco Bell's Tostada is not listed on their online menu so it might not be available at all Taco Bell restaurants. It features a meatless concoction of a tostada shell (basically a flattened taco shell) spread with a layer of refried beans and then topped with red sauce, shredded cheese, and lettuce. It costs $1.29 for one.