Review: KFC - Original Recipe Bites

KFC's Original Recipe Bites finally brings a chicken nugget to the KFC menu. KFC Bites are pieces of breast meat chicken breaded with the Colonel's Original Recipe.

KFC currently has them at a promotional price of $3.99 for a 6-piece, side, and drink. My local KFC restaurant had a 6-piece going for $3.49 so I opted to pay 50 cents extra for the combo (good call right?).

News: Panda Express Returns Peppercorn Shrimp

Panda Express returns Peppercorn Shrimp to the menu and promotes Surf and Turf Plates this summer.

Introduced for a limited time earlier this year, Peppercorn Shrimp features marinated shrimp, asparagus, chopped yellow onions, and red bell peppers wok-tossed with a signature sauce made from Thai green peppercorns and Asian spices.

The Surf and Turf Plates are not really a new addition to the menu per se (as far as I can tell, it's just Panda's two-entree plate), it seems to be more of a promotion that highlights various beef and shrimp combinations (Beijing Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Broccoli Beef, Crispy Shrimp, Peppercorn Shrimp, or Shanghai Angus Steak) from the Panda Express menu.

News: Starbucks - Free Starbucks Refreshers This Friday!

Starbucks is out with new handcrafted Refreshers in their cafes. To encourage you to try them, they're offering a free Tall (12-ounce) handcrafted Refresher of your choice from 12pm - 3 pm tomorrow, Friday, July 13 at participating locations.

Refreshers are available in Very Berry Hibiscus and Cool Lime.

No purchase is necessary and it's limit one per person.

Review: Jack in the Box - Waffle Breakfast Sandwich

Jack in the Box's new, limited-time Waffle Breakfast Sandwich is a lightly-sweetened waffle sandwich filled with a fried egg, a slice of American cheese, and a new country-grilled sausage patty.

I got it for dinner at my local Jack in the Box for $2.79 (because they serve breakfast all day!).

News: Wendy's - New Son of Baconator

Wendy's new Son of Baconator is a slightly smaller version of the Baconator, a beefy burger for the meat and cheese set.

Where the Baconator features two quarter-pound beef patties, six strips of thick, applewood-smoked bacon, two slices of American cheese, ketchup, and mayo on a buttered and toasted bun, its Son tones it down a bit with two 2.25-ounce beef patties (junior hamburger patties), and four strips of bacon.

Neat! Fast Food Workers Tell You What Not to Eat

One Reddit user, 4ScienceandReason, asked the Reddit community at large: "Fast food workers of Reddit, what is the one menu option at your employment that you would recommend people never eat? (Because of cooking safety, cleanliness, unhealthy, etc)"

The response he/she got was overwhelming and yielded quite a few gems of knowledge, some general guidelines, and some interesting stories (please note that workers at the same chains still had different experiences at different locations and these are anecdotal accounts):

News: Starbucks - New Handcrafted and Via Starbucks Refreshers

Starbucks has gone and expanded their line of Starbucks Refreshers to handcrafted versions mixed-to-order in stores and VIA versions to make at home. The drinks offer a natural energy drink alternative to coffee or tea and are made with green coffee beans.

Handcrafted Starbucks Refreshers are available in Very Berry Hibiscus and Cool Lime.

News: Krispy Kreme - 75th Birthday Donuts and 75-Cent Donut Deal

Krispy Kreme is celebrating its 75th birthday this Friday, but starts the celebration early with the release of three varieties of the new Birthday Donut and a special donut deal.

Available through August 19, the Birthday Donut is an Original Glazed donut topped with chocolate, strawberry, or white icing, rainbow sprinkles, and a rosette of Kreme icing (the same stuff used in the Kreme-filled Donuts). I wonder if the icing falls through the donut hole with the heat we're having this summer.

News: El Pollo Loco - New Pork Carnitas

Having featured chicken carnitas in the past, El Pollo Loco is now working the pork and currently serving up new, limited-time Pork Carnitas in three different forms: tacos, wet burritos, and quesadillas.

Carnitas is typically braised or slow-roasted seasoned pork.

Review: Taco Bell - Cantina Bowl

Taco Bell's Cantina Bowl marks an expansion of Taco Bell's menu (with the Cantina Bell menu) and conspicuously resembles the Burrito Bowl at Chipotle. Like Chipotle, you can have it customized however you want it, but it's not assembled in front of you in Subway fashion.

By default, it comes with all-new ingredients including citrus-herb marinated chicken, black beans, guacamole made from Hass avocados, pico de gallo, roasted corn & pepper salsa, romaine lettuce, and a creamy cilantro dressing, and a bed of cilantro rice. It's also available in a veggie configuration or with steak.

News: Jack in the Box - All-American Jack Combo Returns

Jack in the Box's All-American Jack is back this summer for a limited time. First introduced during last year's Super Bowl, the All-American Jack features two beef patties, three melting cheese (two American and one Swiss-style) slices, tomato, shredded lettuce, pickles, mayo-onion sauce, ketchup, and mustard.

It's offered in a combo with smalls fries and a 20-ounce drink for $4.99. I tried the All-American Jack last year and you can read that review here.

To promote the return of the All-American Jack, Jack in the Box hired country singer Brad Paisley for a 30-second TV spot because what's more American than Brad Paisley? Watch below:

News: IHOP - Trio of Summer Pancakes

IHOP has a trio of limited-time summer pancakes to try this summer. Available until September 2 at participating IHOP locations, there's Red Velvet Pancakes, Sweet Strawberry Pancakes, and Whole Wheat Pancakes with Banana.

Red Velvet Pancakes feature chocolaty red velvet pancakes drizzled with cream cheese icing, dusted with powdered sugar, and dolloped with whipped topping. I tried it a while back when they were testing it; you can check out that review here.

News: KFC - New KFC Bites

The Colonel fries up new KFC Bites starting this month. Essentially new chicken nuggets at Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC Bites are chicken breast pieces breaded in the Colonel's Original Recipe and fill the gap between Popcorn Chicken and Chicken Strips.

News: Sonic - Two New Hot Dogs for the Summer

Sonic is serving two new hot dogs for National Hot Dog month this July for a limited time: the Wholly Guacomole Dog and the Chili Cheese Fritos Coney.

The Wholly Guacamole Dog features a grilled premium beef hot dog topped with Wholly Guacamole-brand guacamole, pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and a zesty cheese sauce in a warm, poppy seed bun.

Neat! Coca-Cola in a Coke-Bottle-Shaped Bag

You might not know this, but in some countries, people drink Coca-Cola out of a plastic bag. That's not to say they don't sell bottled coke (not sure why bottles over cans, but I would guess the bottles can be reused like milk bottles back in the day), but rather than put down a deposit on the bottle, people have the bottle poured into a small plastic baggie and drink it with a straw.

Local Review: Dog Haus - Sliders

The Dog Haus is a local chain in my neck of the woods with three locations. They're known for their well-topped and sometimes overloaded hot dogs served on King's Hawaiian rolls, but also serve burgers made with Angus beef.

The burgers are on the large side, but there are also Sliders which are nice and simple.

Around the World: McDonald's Australia - Flavors of the Olympic Games

With the Summer Olympics just around the corner, McDonald's Australia and nearby McDonald's New Zealand celebrate with similar limited-time "Flavours of the Games" menus in honor of the Olympics. The featured items provide an interesting if eyebrow-raising look at what McDonald's has come up with to represent past Olympic games.

Here are the items:

Review: Emerald Breakfast on the Go - Berry Nut Blend

Emerald's Breakfast on the Go Berry Nut Blend is a fairly new addition to the Emerald line up and is basically a small pouch of trail mix for when you don't have time to sit down for a proper breakfast. The Berry Nut Blend comes with roasted peanuts, granola clusters, dried cranberries, yogurt-covered raisins, glazed walnuts, and dried blueberries.

A box comes with five 1.5-ounce bags and retails for $3.59 at my local Albertsons.

News: Frito Lay - Two New Tostitos Artisan Recipe Flavors

Frito Lay has gone and expanded their line of Tostitos Artisan Recipe chips with two new flavors: Baked Three Cheese Queso, and Toasted Southwestern Spices.

It should be pointed out that "queso" literally translates to "cheese" in Spanish, and therefore "three cheese queso" is "three cheese cheese." Perhaps they should have just called it "Cheese Cheese Queso" and be done with it.

The Tostitos Artisan Recipe line features tortilla chips made with a 9-grain blend that straddles the line between a Tostitos and a Sun Chip. The chips are layered with ingredients for a more nuanced flavor that borrows from various ethnic cuisines, but without the more pronounced (i.e. beat-you-over-the-head) flavor of Doritos.

News: Frito Lay - New Reduced Fat Kettle-Cooked Lay's Potato Chips

The folks at Frito Lay have come up with two new flavors of Kettle-Cooked Lay's Potato Chips that contain  less fat than the regular ones. Available in Applewood Smoked BBQ and Sun-Dried Tomato and Parmesan, the new kettle-cooked chips boast 40% less fat than regular potato chips.

Applewood Smoked BBQ is described as "barbecue seasonings accented with a smoky twist," while Sun-Dried Tomato and Parmesan features "slightly tangy, sun-dried tomatoes paired with creamy Parmesan cheese."