Review: Del Taco - Regular Taco

Del Taco's Regular Taco is similar to Taco Bell's Crunchy Taco except not as liberally seasoned, and it's 30 cents cheaper! The Regular Taco features a hard taco shell with seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, and grated Cheddar cheese inside. It's only 59 cents a taco and on Tuesday nights (i.e. Taco Tuesdays), you can get three Regular Tacos for $1.09 (it used to be only 99 cents but, you know, inflation and all).

Review: Baskin-Robbins - Cappuccino Blast

To me, Baskin-Robbins' Cappuccino Blast is the original ice-blended coffee drink, dating back to summers spent at my cousin's in Oregon. I would walk over to the local Baskin-Robbins and enjoy one many-a-time on a hot day. Currently (at least in the Los Angeles area), Baskin-Robbins is running a summer promotion where you can get a "small" Cappuccino Blast for $2.99 (16 oz), a "medium" for $3.99 (24 oz), or a "large" for $4.99 (32 oz!).

Review: Domino's Thin Crust Pizza

Domino's Thin Crust Pizza is very thin. I don't know why but they choose to cut it in a grid rather than the typical relatively uniform pizza slices. It's one of several crust choices at Domino's and probably my favorite out of them. The Domino's in my area was running a carryout promotion where a large 2-topping pizza was only $5.99.

They're still running almost the same promotion but pared down the toppings to one in somewhat ghetto fashion; the Domino's I've driven past just taped over the "2" with a written "1."

The Asia Trip: Skewers Galore! Tempura and Yakitori Paradise

While I was in Yokohama, I stepped into a fairly sizable (for Japan anyway) supermarket and saw a whole display of tempura (breaded and deep-fried food) and yakitori (grilled chicken parts skewers). If I hadn't felt so sick from eating too much MSG-laced ramen, I would have eaten up a storm of skewered foods.

Some Interesting McDonald's Sales Numbers from 2010

Apparently, McDonald's McCafe sales aren't doing so hot according to an article from Crain's Chicago Business (which is no longer available as of 12/9/2023).

Review: Sonic - Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster

Sonic's Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster features hickory BBQ sauce, a hamburger patty, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, an onion ring, onions, and cheese on two slices of Texas toast. This kitchen sink sandwich will run you about $3.99 for the sandwich or $6.29 for a medium combo.

Review: Jack In The Box - Really Big Chicken Sandwich

Jack in the Box's Really Big Chicken Sandwich takes their value-priced Chicken Sandwich as a base, double ups on the chicken patties, and adds two slices of cheese, a slice of tomato, and two strips of bacon. It's available in a value-priced combo with curly fries and a small drink for $3.99.

Sunday Funny: McDonald's - "Fishing"

This is definitely not an American commercial since I'm pretty sure "Every time a good time" has never been used as a McDonald's tag here. It's probably German or Austrian; they've both used the tag at one point. Not the best ad for selling fast food, but it's entertaining.

Review: Capriotti's - The Bobbie Sandwich

Capriotti's best known sandwich is known simply as "the Bobbie." I don't pretend to know why it's called the Bobbie, but basically, it's a Thanksgiving leftovers turkey sandwich. The sub sandwich features made-in-house shredded turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mayo. Pricing starts at $6.50 for a 9-inch "small" and up to $12.00 for a 20-inch "large."

Frozen Friday: Stouffer's - Roast Turkey Breast

Another frozen dinner staple, the turkey dinner is one of my favorites. Mostly because it reminds me of Thanksgiving when I used to eat copious amount of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Stouffer's does a fairly quality (relatively speaking) rendition of the good ole turkey and gravy, labeling it the Roast Turkey Breast. It's usually priced over $4 in my neighborhood but often goes on sale for around $2.

News: Carl's Jr. - New Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Salad

Continuing their Hawaiian theme this summer, Carl's Jr recently introduced their new Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Salad. The Hawaiian Grilled Chicken salad features grilled chicken, pineapple slices, cucumber and red onions on a bed of spring salad mix. It's served topped with wonton strips and Asian dressing and retails for $4.99.

The Carl's Jr website has a printable coupon for a free small diet Coke with the purchase of the Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Salad here.

The salad, without dressing, weighs in (no, not literally) at a slim and trim 260 calories despite a hefty 428g of food.

More nutritional info after the jump.

Review: Sonic - Tots

Potato Tots remind me of elementary school when they were often served as a side for lunch. Now that I think about it, school cafeteria food is like eating fast food everyday, no?

Anyway, Sonic is the only fast food restaurant that I've been to that serves Tots as a normal side and not as a breakfast item. Tots are available in small, medium, and large sizes for the same price as fries: $1.00, $1.59, and $2.19 respectively. I bought a large to share.

The Asia Trip: Japan - Taiyaki

Taiyaki (literally meaning "baked sea bream") is a Japanese dessert baked in the shape of a fish with various fillings inside, usually sweet red bean paste. The fish-shaped cake is made of a waffle- or pancake-like batter and cooked somewhat in waffle fashion pressed between two metal molds.

Review: Jack in the Box - Self-Service Kiosk

A nifty device at some Jack in the Box locations, is the Self-Service Kiosk which allows you to order and pay for your order via touchscreen. To encourage its use (and encourage buying in general), there's often a promotional free value item (I've seen free tacos and churros so far) with the purchase of a combo via the machine.

Review: In-N-Out - Secret Menu - Animal Style

Probably the most popular burger variation at In-N-Out is the vaunted "Animal Style" which is a burger of your choice with hand-leafed lettuce, tomatoes slices, a beef patty (or two or three) with mustard seared in during grilling, pickles, extra spread (thousand island), and grilled onions. Pictured above is a In-N-Out Hamburger Animal Style which comes in at a reasonable $1.75.

Sunday Funny: McDonald's Greece - "McShrimp"

Okay, this one's not really funny and I have no idea what they're saying, but look! It's a McShrimp! The patty is lots of shrimp stuck together!

Review: Cinnabon - Cupcakes

As you may know, Cinnabon added cupcakes to their ovens not too long ago. I was able to try the 24-Carrot Cake and Chocolate Passion cupcakes courtesy of the Sister-in-law, who found out you can buy them at the end of the day for only $1 each. They are normally $2.50 each.

Frozen Friday: Stouffer's - Meatloaf Dinner

Stouffer's Meatloaf Dinner is a full pound of food, enough to feed two light eaters really, and contains two ketchup-glazed meatloaves in gravy with a side of whipped mashed potatoes. Despite being frozen food, it contains no artificial flavors or preservatives according to the box. It's usually priced at $3.99 at my local supermarket but I usually don't get it unless it's on sale for less than $2.

News: KFC - Free Doublicious to Two-Timing Employees

Looks like KFC is working the grindstone trying to build up buzz for the new Doublicious sandwich. In an interesting promotion, they are offering a free Doublicious sandwich to the first ten competitor employees who visit their local KFC on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, wearing their work uniforms of course.

Of course, if said employees happen to lose their jobs, they can alway apply for Sandwich Amnesty (i.e. a job at KFC).

Review: Domino's - Cinna Stix

Domino's Cinna Stix are basically cut strips of baked pizza dough dusted with cinnamon and sugar. They're served with sugary sweet icing for dipping in case you want even more sugar. The price for a serving, which is roughly half of a small pizza and is cut into eight strips is $3.99.