The domain name Pizza.com is currently for sale, with a high bid over 2.5 million dollars. The name is being sold by it’s owner in a live web auction via Sedo.com, the world’s largest marketplace for buying and selling domain names. With over 3 days still left in the auction, we can only guess how high it will go. It would seem almost certain to break the 3 million dollar mark, but some are saying it could reach 4 or 5 million. Whatever the final price, this is a sweet piece of ‘virtual’ real estate, and some serious money being spent on it.

You can follow the auction by clicking here. The identity of the bidders are kept private, so if you’re hoping to see a bidding war between Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s, you will be disappointed. Of course, there is no guarantee the established Pizza Giant’s of the food industry are behind the multimillion dollar bids, or even interested in the name. But it raises an interesting point, about who the bidders are, and who will eventually walk away with this valuable Internet property. We will keep this story covered with a follow up after the sale is completed and made public.

Oranges are squeezed (or ‘pressed’) to make orange-juice. The same with Apples and apple-juice. Everyone knows this. You’ve probably even made fresh-squeezed juice yourself at home. But, have you heard of somebody squeezing Pickles? Yep, it’s happening, and they use the pickle juice to create a frozen treat called the “Pickle Sickle”. The idea was born at a roller-skating rink located in Seguin, Texas. The owner of “Outerskate” has been freezing pickle juice for his local customers, and selling out every night. That success convinced him there was a larger audience for his unusual green treat, and now it’s available to everyone nationwide. It turns out that PickleSickles are very nutritious. A frozen treat that’s good for your health. But how do they taste? FFC will get our hands on some as soon as possible. In the meantime, visit PickleSickle.com to learn more.

“PickleSickles are uniquely packaged frozen treats made, not from just the brine left over from pickling, but from freshly squeezed pickles” — PickleSickle.com

“We use 100% of the pickle,” says PickleSickle Co-Founder David Millar. “We realize it is hard to imagine that someone thought of the idea of creating a frozen treats made from pickle juice,” he says. “But once people try them they are hooked – and we are happy to supply them with this refreshing treat.”

You may have heard that “Everything is bigger in Texas”. As a native Texan I can tell you this is often true. I wish we could take credit for the World’s Largest Hamburger, but that title belongs to Bob’s BBQ of Pattaya, Thailand. Yes that’s right, I said Thailand. The giant burger, called “Big Bob’s Texas Belt Buster” weighs in at 78.5 pounds. In case you are wondering, that’s equivalent to 314 McDonald’s Quarter-Pounders. The incredible creation is recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest commercially available hamburger. The cost is $400, and the burger needs to be ordered 12 to 14 hours in advance. Bring your friends!

“Bob made his decision to retire and move to Thailand, where soon after Bob realized that he was just not ready to fully retire. There was one thing he dearly missed from his home country of Texas (that’s in America, Texas is as big as a country) and that was his love for BBQ.” — Bob’s BBQ and Grill

We realize this story doesn’t qualify as “Fast” food, since you have to order the burger far in advance, but it’s so incredible we had to report it. Can you really blame us?

The inventor of the Egg McMuffin died this week. Herb Peterson was 89 years old, and died “peacefully” at his home in Santa Barbara California, according to Monte Fraker, the vice president of operations for McDonald’s stores within that city. Santa Barbara is also the city where the Egg McMuffin first made it’s debut, way back in 1972. Peterson first began working with McDonald’s as the vice president of their advertising agency, D’Arcy Advertising of Chicago. He is credited with the companies first national advertising slogan “Where Quality Starts Fresh Every Day.” He eventually became a McDoanld’s franchisee, owning 6 restaurants when he passed away. He is survived by his wife, 3 daughters and 1 son.

According to this recent article posted by MSN-Money, stockholders in McDonald’s are not very confident these days, selling off over 750,000 shares worth $43 million in the past 6 months, including holdings from McDonald’s insiders, and the CEO himself.

“A significant amount by any measure, this works out to roughly a 20% liquidation of the insiders according to Thomson Financial. CEO James Skinner sold 35% of his stake. Gloria Santona, the general counsel, parted with more than half of her shares. Jose Armario, responsible for Canada and Latin America, traded away 80% of his holdings.” — MSN Money

I’m sure this is just a small bump in the road for the mighty Mickey-D’s, but those who have invested in the company should definitely be paying attention. In the meantime, I can’t help but wonder if McDonald’s has introduced the Feng Shui concept into their corporate office environment. If not, this might be a good time to do it.

In a large Asian community located in Hacienda Heights, California, the golden arches on the sign and menu are the only things most visitors will recognize. That’s because this McDonald’s restaurant has been given a full-scale makeover, embracing the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui, which is said to utilize the laws of both Heaven and Earth. The Ronald McDonald statue is gone, the plastic furniture is gone, and the bright yellow and red color scheme known to McDonald’s patrons the world over - is also gone. In their place are large bamboo plants, wood tables with silver coated metal chairs, leather seats in thickly padded circular booths, and warm earth-tone colors. Next time you stop by for a BigMac, you may want to skip the drive-thru and go inside to pick up your food with a free side-order of peace, harmony and good fortune. The remodel is part of a larger plan by McDonald’s, which intends on catering many of it’s restaurants to local residents and tastes.

Store location: 15628 Gale Avenue, Hacienda Heights, Ca.

I’ve just finished creating the Fast Food Nutrition Information page. This provides quick access to nutrition information from all the major fast-food chains. Most companies made the information easy to find, but a few could definitely improve the visibility, navigation or priority of the facts. Understandably, calories and fat are not something fast-food companies want to promote or advertise. The food items we buy in the grocery store have nutritional info printed on the back of the package, but fast-food items have no such label. Most people have no idea how much cholesterol is in their favorite cheeseburger, or how many calories in their favorite fries.

*This marks the beginning of adding real content to the FFC site. No more ‘filler’ text for design testing. The new site will continue to be tweaked, but the foundation is now in place, and Fast Food Critic is officially off the ground. Woohoo!