Hot trends: Fast Food Feedbag

Hold the tomatoes!!!

The only thing keeping most fast food burgers even remotely healthy is off the menu at least for now. Tomatoes are being pulled from menus nationwide as officials trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has hospitalized at least 23 people so far.

I've confirmed that my local Chipotle, Arby's, and Culver's have all taken tomatoes off the menu. Hopefully this won't last long...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080609/mcdonald_s_tomatoes.html

Review: Steakhouse Burger

If you've watched any TV in the last couple of months you've probably seen the commercials for Burger King's steakhouse burger. I put off trying one for my arteries' sake, but eventually gave in to provide my millions of fast-foodie fans with a review of the big-name burger!

There are two versions of this burger: loaded and non-loaded. The non-loaded versions has an Angus beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, crispy onion strips, and A1 Steak Sauce. The loaded version ditches the lettuce and tomato and adds bacon and a "baked potato topping."

I was not impressed with the Angus beef patty. It has a unique flavor, but I think I prefer the taste of Burger King's standard beef patty. In addition, it was completely the wrong size for the bun, making the eating experience messy. It was rectangular shaped and hung out too far on each side of the burger.



The fried onions didn't do much for me either. They were greasy and lacked flavor. The only thing remarkable about this burger was the A1 steak sauce. But, if you really need to eat a burger with A1 steak sauce, I'd recommend just getting a Whopper and adding your own.

Recommended: Skip it. There are better limited-time burgers out there.
Taste: 5/10
Quality: 4/10
Value: 4/10

Review: Arby's Philly Beef Flatbread Melt

Flatbread Melts are the latest addition to Arby's ever-changing menu. Each consists of a soft flatened bread wrapping a mound of roast beef, grilled onions and peppers. The Philly Beef version then gets melted swiss cheese and a parmesan peppercorn sauce, while the Fajtia Beef version gets pepper-jack cheese and a jalepeno ranch sauce. For this review I tried the Philly Beef.

This is probably on of the best items I've at Arby's in a long time. They did a lot of things right with this one.

First: the construction. Quite often I find fast food items that try to incorporate some kind of sauce, cheese or otherwise, to be messy. The Mushroom Swiss Grillburger I reviewed a while back is a good example of how messy sauces can kill an experience. With this item, all sauces and cheese was applied to the flat bread -- underneath the roast beef. Constructing the item in this method was a good decision for, while some visual appeal is lost by not having the sauce be applied on top of the roast beef, it is much easier to eat without making a mess of yourself.

The grilled onions, peppers, cheese and sauce was great as well. Everything was very flavorful. The onions and peppers were perfectly carmelized with little brown morsels of sauteed goodness.

The size of the melt was a pleasant suprise as well. I think it had something on the order of double the meat of a traditional roast beef sandwhich. It was much larger than I was expecting. Add fries and a drink and you have a very filling meal.

The value on this one is great for Arby's. This is going for $5.00 for a meal with a medium fries and drink. This is Arby's response to Subway's succesful $5 footlong campaign.

Recommended: Highly.
Taste: 8/10
Quality: 7/10
Value: 9/10

Arby's / Wendy's Merger Deal Signed

Is a Roast Beef Baconator on the way?

Triarc, the owner of the Arby's chain of restaurants, announced the acquisition of Wendy's on Thursday. Hopefully this doesn't result in an actual combined chain. Both of these chains have enough identity problems as it is.

Press Release

Fat Profits

Here's a good read on Carl's Jr. and other burger chains' recent slew of mega-burgers, and how they have helped the chains' bottom lines.

Personally, I haven't been to a Wendy's since they replaced my usual Big Bacon Classic with "The Baconator." I also haven't been to a Carl's Jr. / Hardees in probably 5 years, after one too many batches of french fries tasting like the fish sandwiches also being served.

Portfolio.com

Review: Taco Bell on the cheap

There aren't many fast food places that I walk out of these days routinely spending under $5. Taco Bell is one of the few remaining. I don't try order the cheap items, its just hard to spend a lot of money there.

For this trip I decided to deviate from my usual choices and try some items off the value menu to see how good a really cheap taco bell meal can be.

The first item I tried was the 1/2 pound Beef Combo Burrito for $1.29. This is essentially a Bean Burrito with taco meat added. It contains ground beef, beans, cheese, onions, and enchilada sauce.

I didn't have a scale with to verify the 1/2 pound claim, but the burrito was fairly hefty. The onions were crunchy, the enchilada sauce tangy. For $1.29 this was pretty good. Personally I prefer something with sour cream like a Burrito Supreme or 7-Layer Burrito, but if you are a fan of TB's Bean Burritos you will like this.

Recommendation: A good burrito for the price, but there are better on the menu if you're willing to spend more.
Taste: 6/10
Quality: 6/10
Value: 9/10


The second item I tried was a Spicy Chicken Burrito, also for $1.29.

This burrito was noticeably smaller. It contained shredded chicken, onions, tomatoes, rice, and a spicy cream sauce.

The flavor was decent, though not what I would consider "spicy" even with the requisite 2 packets of hot sauce (which are purple now???). Aside from the misleading name, the burrito had a good balance of flavor and creaminess. If you are hungry, though, you might want to avoid this one. It is small compared to other burritos at a similar price point -- presumably because of the use of chicken.

Recommendation: Good flavor, but get 3.
Taste: 8/10
Quality: 6/10
Value: 6/10

Chick-fil-A offering free spicy chicken sandwiches in Jacksonville, Florida

On March 12th, 19th, and 26th Chick-fil-A is giving away its new spicy chicken sandwiches in its Jacksonville, Florida locations. The sandwich is being tested for a national release.

If you live in Jacksonville and have the chance to try one of these out please post your impressions in the comments!

Burger King Sued Over Value Menu

Apparently its hard to make the $18,000 / month Manhattan rent selling hamburgers for a buck each.

Review: Panera's Italian Combo Sandwich

Next up is the Italian Combo sandwich at Panera. The sandwich consists of slices of roast beef, turkey, ham, salami, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, peperoncini, and a "special sauce." It's available either as a whole sandwich or as a half sandwich paired with a soup or salad. In my case, I opted for the half sandwich with a bowl of French onion soup.

Overall the experience was quite good. The French onion soup was topped with sharp Parmesan cheese and fresh-made croûtons that were crunchy, but not dry. The soup itself might be a bit salty for some tastes, but not for this reviewer.

Fans of Italian sandwiches might be disappointed with this offering, however. If it weren't for the peperoncini the sandwich would have been very bland -- and therein lies the problem. The single whole peperoncini on the sandwich was small compared to the overall sandwich, so it was difficult to get even a bit of it in most bites. The bites that did had an amazing balance of zest, but they were infrequent.

The final component of the meal was a portion of French baguette. It was a decent size and hearty. If you are not full by this point in the meal the baguette should clinch it. To be honest, there is probably enough food in these meals without it. At $7.10 for this meal without a drink, they probably should have left the baguette off for a cheaper price.

So is the Italian Combo sandwich worth your time and money? It's something worth trying at some point, but I'd sample some of Panera's other sandwiches first.

Recommendation: Not a must-eat, but worth a shot sometime.
Taste: 6/10
Quality: 8/10
Value: 5/10

Pizza Hut unveils stimulus plan to thwart impending recession.

In what reads like an Onion article, Pizza Hut has announced $5 1-topping Pizza Mia pizzas when you order 3 or more "to ease the financial strain faced by Americans." The announcement suggests single taxpayers use their upcoming rebate checks to buy 3 pizzas every Friday for 40 weeks.

I would love to see video of a press conference announcing this. Absolutely hilarious!

Pei Wei manager tests new recipe on Maricopa sheriff's deputies.

Unfortunately for him, he's served his last coconut curry.

azfamily.com

Burger King to test Kraft-branded Mac and Cheese.

In an attempt to counter McDonald's successful snack wraps, Burger King has announced plans to introduce a Kraft-branded macaroni and cheese product in several test markets. No word on when or where this new product will be available.

chicagotribune.com

Slowdown in chain restaurant growth

A new report shows chain restaurant growth slowing over last year -- showing signs of recession. Despite a tough environment some chains showed impressive growth: Panera Bread up 18%, Qdoba up 42.9%, Chipotle up 26%, Jimmy Johns up 33%.

forbes.com

Robbed at Spork-point

Peter Albert of Anchorage, Alaska has found a new use for those late-night Taco Bell runs.

Review: Mushroom Swiss Grillburger

Today I'm reviewing DQ Grill and Chill's Mushroom Swiss Grillburger. The burger consists of a 1/4 pound hamburger patty in a toasted seedless bun. It's topped with a slice of swiss cheese, mushrooms, and garlic mayo.

The first impressions of this burger were rather disappointing.



I was looking forward to a mound of juicy sauteed mushrooms but was greeted with a sloppy mushroom gravy and an excessive amount of mayo. The construction of the burger left a lot to be desired.

The taste was not much better. The swiss cheese had little flavor and the hamburger patty was noticeably inferior to many of DQ's competing chains' burgers. The mushroom gravy did have a bit of the strong mushroom flavor I was looking for, but not enough to compensate for the sloppy eating experience it created.

At $6.08 for a basket with fries and a drink this burger fails on the value side of things as well.

Recommended: Not at all.
Taste: 5/10
Quality: 3/10
Value: 3/10