NEWS: Subway Testing a Falafel Sandwich That Makes The Veggie Delite Even Less Appealing

/ / Fast Food News / 7 Comments

Eat Fresh

Subway sandwiches are a healthier fast food alternative to burgers and fries, but the problem I have with them is that, if you put on the same toppings, they aren’t very different than each other in flavor, and their Footlongs make me feel inadequate as a man.

However, in Chicago, Subway has been testing a falafel sandwich.

Some of you might be asking, “What’s a falafel?” While others might be wondering, “Does falafel rhyme with waffle?” A falafel is a deep fried patty (or a ball) made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans, and it’s served in some kind of flatbread. And, yes, it rhyme with waffle.

The Subway version comes with whatever vegetables a patron wants and a creamy cucumber sauce. The falafel sandwich is slightly more authentic with Subway’s flatbread, but it can also be made with any other type of bread. Because falafels don’t have any meat products, the sandwich is appealing to vegetarians and makes the Subway Veggie Delite look like rabbit food in a bun.

Complete nutrition facts aren’t available, but according to the Subway Falafel Sandwich website, it has no cholesterol or saturated fat.

Currently, it’s only available in Chicago at participating locations.

Source: Subway Falafel Sandwich Facebook Fan Page

Image via flickr user paris_corrupted / CC BY ND 2.0

NEWS: Mountain Dew To, FINALLY, Bring Back Grape-Flavored Pitch Black

/ / Coming Soon / 23 Comments

Pitch black, or not

Over the past five years, McDonald’s has brought back the McRib four times in the United States. During those same five years, not once did Pepsi bring back what I think is the best Mountain Dew flavor of all time — Pitch Black.

The grape Mountain Dew flavor was introduced in Fall 2004 and it was also re-released in 2005, although it was reformulated and not as good as the original.

However, after years of whining and testing my patience, I’m happy to say Mountain Dew Pitch Black, one of my favorite ways to consume high fructose corn syrup, is returning for a limited time as part of their “Back By Popular DEW-mand” promotion. I don’t know which version they’ll be bringing back or if they have a new version of the soda that will probably be called Pitch Black 3, but I’m just glad Pepsi decided to bring it back, period.

Mountain Dew Pitch Black will be available for eight weeks, beginning in May 2011. I just hope they bring it back Next year, and the year after that.

REVIEW: Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Burger

/ / Reviews / 16 Comments

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse

Children have such innocent minds, and those minds ask silly, but innocent questions, like:

Does chocolate milk come from a brown cow?

Why is the word “dictionary” in the dictionary?

Does daddy like to drive a car with no top because daddy has no top on his head?

Another silly question a child might ask a parent is: To make the new Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse burger, do they make the cows eat jalapenos and cheese?

If a child asks a parent that, it’s the responsibility of the parent to set them straight and tell them that pieces of jalapenos and small chunks of cheddar cheese are added later to the ground beef. However, if a child turns the question into a statement, he or she might be eating glue.

Stuffing a burger patty with ingredients that are usually on top of it isn’t something Burger King came up with first, although they are the first of the fast food giants to do so.

Almost exactly two years ago, Burger King released the Angry Whopper for a limited time. When I reviewed it back then, I was disappointed to discover it wasn’t as angry as I hoped. I would consider it having a level of anger that could easily be controlled with taking a timeout or deep breathing exercises.

However, the Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse is definitely angrier than the Angry Whopper, but not drunk Mel Gibson talking on the phone to his girlfriend angry. It’s angry enough that I think it might need to take anger management classes or a low dose of prescription drugs.

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Patty

The jalapeno pieces in the burger patty aren’t the only ingredients that make the Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse spicy hot; it’s also the creamy poblano sauce, which tastes like a spicy thousand island salad dressing. These spicy ingredients not only brought the heat, but they also gave it a flavor that I think makes it tastier than any other BK Steakhouse burger I’ve tried. Although, in my eyes, that’s not hard to do, since I think other Steakhouse burgers are quite bland.

Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Split

The Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse has the same lettuce, tomatoes and bun as the regular Steakhouse, so I’ll only spend these 26 words on them. Surprisingly, the thick burger patty didn’t turn out as dry as I thought it would be. Perhaps my slightly juicy burger turned out the way it did because of the liquid from the jalapenos, or maybe the Burger King I went to has a flame-broiling master.

As for the cheddar stuffed in the ground beef, it does add to the flavor of the burger, but the spicy ingredients are definitely the screaming children trying to gain your attention. I’m just glad they didn’t go all Pizza Hut on this burger and stuff the cheese into the bun.

Oh great, I probably gave Burger King another idea. I hope if Burger King does come up with a Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse with a stuffed bun, it’s as good as the regular Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 burger – 590 calories, 34 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,240 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar and 26 grams of protein.)

Item: Burger King Jalapeno & Cheddar BK Stuffed Steakhouse Burger
Price: $3.99
Size: 1 sandwich
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Nice heat from jalapeno and poblano sauce. Tastiest of the Steakhouse burgers. Poblano sauce tastes like a spicy thousand island dressing. Stuffing jalapenos in burger patty and not under the bun means no falling jalapeno slices. Surprisingly slightly juicy burger patty.
Cons: Probably not good to eat daily, or every other day. Lame iceberg lettuce. Buying a convertible to make up for balding. Eating glue. Mel Gibson drunk dialing.

NEWS: Slim Jim Gives Convenience Store Owners More Flavor Options To Offer To Teenagers and Stoners

/ / Spotted on Shelves / 9 Comments

Slim Jim section at Winkler's local 7-11

I didn’t know there were so many Slim Jim varieties one could snap into. Not only do they come in different flavors, but also a range of sizes. Slim Jim’s latest varieties are the Slim Jim Giant Jamaican Style Jerk and Slim Jim Monster Zesty Garlic.

For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of snapping into a Slim Jim, Giant and Monster are two sizes Slim Jim offers. The Giant Slim Jims are tall, skinny, 28 grams in weight and can be used as an impromptu whip, while the Monster Slim Jims aren’t as tall, but are thicker, weigh 55 grams and can be used as an impromptu (insert imagination here).

The Slim Jim Giant Jamaican Style Jerk Flavor has a suggested retail price of $1.45 and the Slim Jim Monster Zesty Garlic will be $2.49. Both flavors will be available this month, probably at your nearest convenience store.

Image via flickr user Bennett 4 Senate / CC BY SA 2.0

REVIEW: Whataburger Green Chile Double

/ / Reviews / 26 Comments

Whataburger Green Chile Double

Whataburger restaurants are currently only located in ten states, all in the southern part of the United States, and I happen to be privileged enough to live in one of them. For those of you who live in the other 40 states, consider Whataburger something to look forward to when you take your cross-country road trip on the run from the Feds. For those of you living in Hawaii, I don’t know what to tell you. You’re on an island and Dog the Bounty Hunter lives there. There is no escape. You have no Whataburger to run to.

Another aspect of this product I’m reviewing, which, in case you have a handicap that prevents you from reading post titles, is the Whataburger Green Chile Double, is the green chiles. I live in a world where you can go to the grocery store and there’s a man outside roasting green chiles. He will give them to you straight off the grill, charred to perfection. I realize that many of you may not have this luxury. Instead of seeing this review as an act of torture as I dangle this hamburger in your face, consider myself an ambassador of Whataburger and roasted green chiles. As long as this burger doesn’t suck. In that case, consider yourself warned. And fortunate.

Whataburger is what I would consider to be high-end fast food. Way better than, say, McDonald’s, but not quite up to the quality of In-N-Out or Five Guys. You’ll wait a little longer at the drive thru, but it’s worth it. The hamburger patties are large and taste like actual hamburger, the ingredients always seem fresh, and the buns are tasty. Their fries are pretty standard fast food fries, but they make a country gravy I use as a fry dip that makes everything okay. Note to other fast food restaurants, offer a delicious country gravy on your menu and much will be forgiven.

We’re not here to talk about gravy, although I could probably write a disgusting amount of words about it. We’re here to talk about the Green Chile Double. Here’s what Whataburger had to say about it in the email they sent me:

“Whataburger’s new Green Chile Double stacks up two 100% pure American beef patties, two kinds of cheese and roasted green chiles. Come try one today. Hurry, it’s here for a limited time only.”

Whataburger Green Chile Double Halves

Limited time only. Three words I can never resist. Roasted green chiles, three more words I find difficult to ignore. I was more than ready to put my car in park at the drive-thru window to wait for this burger. I might have been more cranky if it had been summertime and 115 degrees outside. Living in green chile territory does have its disadvantages.

It was worth the wait, however, because the Green Chile Double is freakin’ delicious. Whataburger scores as usual for having great patties and fluffy buns. Fluffy Buns was my stage name back when I was a stripper, but that’s neither here nor there. Their burgers are already quite sizable, and making it a Double meant that I had almost half a burger left to enjoy the next day. Whataburger plays hard-to-get by not telling me what the two cheeses on the burger are, but I’m guessing American and Monterey Jack. They added a nice creaminess to go with the burger.

But that’s all pedestrian. The real star here are the chiles. They definitely didn’t skimp on them, which is good, because they add a nice little crunch and the perfect amount of heat. They’re roughly chopped, and you can actually see the char marks on the pieces, which means they really have been roasted. The crunch and that organic heat is what makes this burger stand out from just a regular burger. Whataburger does offer jalapeños on their regular menu as a topping, but green chiles have a different flavor and spice.

My one complaint would be that, while the green chiles do make the Green Chile Double different from other burgers, if you take them off, you’ve just got a standard Double Whataburger. They haven’t exactly reinvented the wheel. That said, roasted green chiles are a pretty unique topping, but they are just a topping after all.

After doing a little research, I discovered that the Green Chile Double is only available at restaurants in 2.5 of the 10 states that have Whataburgers. The rest get a Steak Sauce Double. I gotta say, I think we got the better deal. So when you’re cruising across the country using a fake identity in hopes of losing the fuzz, make sure to stop in west Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona. Make sure to commit that felony soon, though, since the Green Chile Double ain’t gonna wait around for you to hide that body.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 burger/382 grams – 1,020 calories, 570 calories from fat, 64 grams of total fat, 26 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 165 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,867 milligrams of sodium, 66 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugars and 50 grams of protein.)

Item: Whataburger Green Chile Double
Price: $4.74
Size: 1 burger
Purchased at: Whataburger
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Roasted green chiles had char, added nice crunch and perfect heat. Fast food that serves country gravy. Big, juicy burger patties. Living in green chile territory. Creamy, melty cheese held everything together.
Cons: Definitely not for someone on a diet. Dog the Bounty Hunter. Take off the green chiles and you just have a regular cheeseburger. Fluffy Buns, stripper extraordinaire. Burger only available in 2.5 states.

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