One day back in June, Steve Portigal was leaving his hotel in Seattle when he noticed a bright bold truck advertising KFC’s Chicken Bowls. It had huge glass windows on all sides, creating a big glass box on wheels, and colorful banners hung in the windows. Suddenly the banners rolled up like mini-blinds to reveal something inside…

It was a giant KFC chicken bowl, the size of an automobile. It wasn’t just a big bowl, the ingredients were big too. Enormous pieces of chicken and huge kernals of corn are clearly visible among the mashed potato, cheese and gravy filled jumbo tub. Then, just as quickly as the banners on the magical truck had opened, they closed again, hiding the humongous bowl and whatever other mysteries were held within.

Adding to the fascination, as Steve pulled alongside the truck he received a message on his cellphone requesting him to accept a Bluetooth connection from KFC.

“I declined, but Whoah. I was watching them, and they were watching me.

I guess this is the sort of thing you read about, but to see it deployed and actually happening right in front of me, that was quite intense.”

– Steve Portigal, Portigal Consulting

An interesting combination of advertising tactics from KFC, and a creative way to get attention in traffic, assuming it doesn’t freak-out people and cause an accident.

Thanks to Steve for sharing his awesome cool, slightly disturbing experience with us. Personally, I would have jumped out of my car, grabbed the giant spoon I keep in my trunk, and demanded to eat that giant bowl of food they had teased me with.

Krispy Kreme will be giving away Free Doughnuts on Tuesday, National Election Day. After you vote, stop by and enjoy a free star shaped doughnut complete with red, white and blue patriotic sprinkles. You will also receive an “I voted” sticker.

The new Big Country Breakfast Burrito released by Carl’s Jr. today features 3 meats: Bacon, Sausage and diced Ham, plus Eggs, Hash Rounds, Cheddar Cheese and Sausage Gravy, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. That’s 7 different ingredients. Nutrition numbers are also big: 770 calories, 47 grams of fat, and 1500 milligrams salt. The burrito is $2.69 or $4.09 as a combo meal with hash rounds and coffee.

In July we reported on their new Monster Breakfast Sandwich. It’s obvious Carl’s Jr. is not kidding around when it comes to satisfying big breakfast appetites.

With these $50 Pizza Hut branded Golf Balls by Titleist, you will dominate the sport, and destroy other players that use cheaper Domino’s or Little Caesars’ balls.

Popeyes has introduced a limited time special called the “Big Easy Chicken Bowl” featuring red beans and rice, pulled chicken, Cajun gravy and shredded cheese. Hot sauce and sour cream are available upon request. The bowl’s price is $3.49 and no indication how long it will be around. Popeyes’ other most recent special, the Loaded Chicken Wrap, was excellent, and that item earned a review score of “A” here at FFC. Sadly it’s no longer available. Hopefully it will return soon, either on the regular menu, or making another limited time appearance, assuming their marketing department found it was a sales success.

It seemed like a new press release was coming out of Jack in the Box headquarters every 15 minutes the last couple days, so instead of making several small posts, I’m combining all the information for you, cutting out the boring dribble, and posting only the good stuff below. I used Photoshop to create a nice graphic collage with all four new products for your viewing pleasure, using photos supplied by Jack’s reps.

1) Teriyaki Bowls are back! — In 1993 the original Teriyaki Bowl was introduced and had a successful run of 10 years, but it was removed from the menu in 2003 due to “changing tastes” of customers. Over the past 5 years the company has received lots of requests to bring it back, and now they have. Jack’s Teriyaki Bowls are made from steamed white rice, broccoli florets and carrots, with chicken or sirloin steak, and topped with teriyaki sauce, then served in a sealed bowl for easy on-the-go eating. The new Chicken bowl sells for $4.29 and the Sirloin Steak bowl is $4.79.

2) Introducing: Mini Churros — Based on the classic Latin-style treat, Jack’s new Mini Churros are bite-sized pastries sprinkled and filled with cinnamon and sugar. Aimed at satisfying your sweet tooth, a 5-piece order is $1 and 10-piece is $1.89.

3) New Homestyle Chicken Sandwiches — Jack has introduced a new “Homestyle” chicken filet, served in two versions. The Homestyle Ranch Chicken Club is $4.29, featuring a chicken filet on a toasted bakery-style bun, bacon, Swiss cheese, green leaf lettuce and sliced tomato topped with ranch sauce. Next is the $2.99 Breakfast Homestyle Chicken Biscuit with a chicken filet on a warm buttermilk biscuit.

4) “Beanie Jack” Antenna Ball — People have been cruising around with the head of Jack in the Box spokesman “Jack Box” attached to their car antennas for over 10 years. Now they’re introducing a new version to help raise funds and awareness for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, an organization that helps kids keep their lives on track, with volunteers at over 400 agencies across America. The new Beanie Jack Antenna Balls should be available today at most Jack in the Box locations, and will sell for $1 each, with 70 percent of sales going to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

Just a reminder to everyone that you can pick up a free taco at any Taco Bell today, Tuesday the 28th, between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. local time. All you have to do is show up to any participating restaurant and request your free taco. Limit 1 per person.

Taco Bell is giving away free tacos whenever a player steals a base during a game of the World Series. This first freebie is thanks to Jason Bartlett of the Tampa Bay Rays for stealing a base in game 1. Stay tuned, hopefully more free tacos to come.

Thanks to Ryan and John for prodding me into finally posting this. I suppose I’d seen so many commercials for it over the past week, that it lost all meaning. Ha!

Back in May, FastFoodCritic reported news of Chick-fil-A making a few upgrades to their already awesome lineup. It’s a trait of CFA not shared by nearly enough other chains within the fast food industry. Constantly striving to improve tomorrow’s menu, even when today’s is very successful. Chick-fil-A recognizes there’s always room for improvement, and that speaks volumes for a restaurant that has, in my eyes, done most everything right. One item tweaked with an upgrade, the Chick-N-Strips.

As we told you previously, the new Chick-fil-A Chick-N-Strips are 50% larger than the chain’s former version. Made from what is arguably the best part of the breast, the tenderloin, freshly marinated, hand-breaded and pressure cooked in peanut oil. These strips are full of flavor and undoubtedly some of the most tender and juicy you’ll find in fast food land. The breading is light and slightly crisp in spots, but not crunchy. It’s like a thin skin. It compliments the chicken, showcases it, without intruding.

Some brands of strips and nuggets have thick breading helping to mask lower quality chicken meat. Suffice to say much of the flavor in those items comes from breading and not bird. CFA’s chicken is high quality, and there’s no need for a heavy coating. The focus here is on good chicken and the perfect balance of seasoning.

Whatever changes were made to the recipe itself are obviously very subtle. I’ve had the previous chicken strips and the new version doesn’t taste much different, but they are definitely bigger, and still just as delicious. You can purchase them as 3 or 4-piece entrees, and 1 or 2-piece servings as part of a kid’s meal. If you’re having a party you can order 3 sizes of “Trays” in advance, with enough strips to feed 25 people.

While these chicken strips are among the tastiest I’ve had, they are not perfect. They’re a little on the greasy side, and will leave your hands messy. You’ll notice evidence of their oily nature in the box they come in (see above). And since the breading is lighter than many other strips and nuggets, it has a tendency to slide off the chicken easier. I’m being persnickety there but it’s just a couple honest observations. With chicken this good, such minor issues are easy to ignore as you grab another napkin.

Along with the bigger strips, they have also introduced a new smoky mustard dipping sauce, simply called “Chick-fil-A Sauce”. Tasting it the first time I immediately noticed the mustard flavor, but it had a little extra something too. After reading the ingredients it appears to be a hybrid of honey mustard and barbecue. That would explain it. The combo works, and it’s very nice match for the chicken strips. If that new sauce doesn’t sound like something you’d like, no need to worry because CFA has a wide selection of dipping sauces, including Barbecue, Buttermilk Ranch, Buffalo and more.

There’s so many restaurants focusing on new creations and crazy flavor combinations to grab our attention, it’s nice to see a company aiming to make improvements to the standard favorites. In this case, bigger is better, when it’s more of the same great chicken we’re accustomed to. Making high quality fast food is something Chick-fil-A does better than most, and the Chick-N-Strips and Sauce continue the legacy.

Price: $3.89 (4 piece) / Website: Chick-fil-A.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

Click here for rating system details.

Nutrition Facts - Chick-fil-A, Chick-N-Strips (4 piece).

Calories - 470
Calories from Fat - 210
Total Fat - 23 grams
Carbs - 22 grams
Saturated Fat - 4.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 125 milligrams
Sodium - 1390 milligrams
Protein - 44 grams

Below is a photograph of something Ryan recently ate for dinner. This weekend we’ll be publishing his review, but in the meantime can you guess what it is?

*UPDATE* — WE HAVE A WINNER. She posted the “exact” correct answer. That’s a Chicken Strip from Chick-fil-A, with new “Chick-fil-A Sauce”.

Congratulations to Katie. That was fast! It was barely 20 minutes after I posted the photo. I’m impressed. You really know your fast food. I better make the photo a bit harder next time. More abstract, or disguised. Something. Ha!

And for those wondering, the actual name of the new dipping sauce is indeed simply “Chick-fil-A Sauce”, but to give you an idea of how it tastes… it’s a Smoky Mustard base with BBQ flavor blended in. Interesting stuff.

Guess what this is — win $25 fast food at any restaurant of your choice.

Note: In the case of duplicate type guesses that are all correct…

Example Guess #1: Fried Potato.

Example Guess #2: Fried Potato with Lemon Butter.

Example Guess #3: Fried Potato with Lemon Butter from GirlyBurger.

Assuming the item reviewed at FFC is indeed the Fried Potato from the GirlyBurger chain, Example # 3 would win, because it’s provides more details. In the case of exact duplicates, the first one posted wins. If you browse the other comments before you post, it will prevent that from happening. Make your guess as accurate as possible, with as much information as you can. ONE guess per person, please.

Whoever’s guess is the closest — will receive a $25 gift card to their favorite fast-food restaurant. If your favorite chain doesn’t sell gift cards or certificates, or if you simply prefer cash-money, we can send a check, money order or PayPal. Your choice!

CONTEST OVER, We have a WINNER. See the Comments section for details.

Thank you Burger Gods — This burger is amazing — I love everything about it.

Timothy, FFC’s Editor/Founder, is a little upset with me. You see, we both wanted to review Five Guys but neither had confirmed a date, so it ended up being a free-for-all. Basically, it was a race to see who could get there first, and I won. Why is this a big deal? Because Five Guys has been getting publicity from major food magazines and websites, and is regarded as one of the best burgers in the biz. They are located mostly in the east and northeast, but have begun to expand nationwide. They still have a limited presence, and the average fast food eater has probably not had access to them. Tim’s homestate has only recently seen their first 5G locations appear.

If you’ve never been to a Five Guys Burgers and Fries before, their name pretty much sums up what you’ll find. It’s a simple menu, burgers and fries are obviously available, but you’ll also find hot dogs, and veggie or grilled cheese. As far as the burgers go, they’ve got the Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Bacon Burger and Bacon Cheeseburger. Each of those also comes in a “Little” version, which I soon learned means a single beef patty as opposed to the regular version’s double stacked meat. They offer a good selection of toppings which are all free, included with any burger purchase.

When you walk into Five Guys, huge bags of potatoes line the windows, and they have lots of awards and reviews plastered all over the walls. They’re definitely proud of their success, and their freshly cut fries. After eating there, I cannot argue with either. One off-note I have to mention, the first 5G location I visited, the cooks were quite loud and animated. They were shouting orders to each other and it was a bit distracting. Things at the second location were quieter and more laid back, which I appreciated.

With the amount of toppings they offer, I wasn’t quite sure how to dress my burgers. For consistency, both times I ended up getting the Cheeseburger (regular, not “little”) with fried onions, jalapeno peppers, and bbq sauce. After placing my order, the wait at the two locations averaged 5 -7 minutes. It’s definitely a longer wait than a typical fast-food place. Once I got my burger, I tore the wrapping open and was surprised at the size. It was big, and I hadn’t expected 2 beef patties. And they were delicious, cooked perfectly, with just a bit of char on the outside, plenty juicy inside, and a taste almost like homemade. Each patty looked different, the result of fresh beef that’s shaped by a human being, instead of a machine spitting out clones ready to be frozen.

Another surprise was fresh jalapenos. Most fast food places use jalapenos from a jar, which are less spicy. I was excited to get some real heat on my burger. The jalapenos were great, and with three or four slices per sandwich, had just the right amount of kick without being overwhelming. The Kraft American cheese was nicely melted, the onions were fried to perfection, and the Cattlemen’s bbq sauce added the finishing touch of flavor. Even the buns are worth mentioning, soft and squishy yet firm enough to hold everything together, and soaking in some of the juices from the meat.

As I said in the beginning, I was satisfied with everything about this burger. It’s one of the best I’ve eaten, regardless of the classification: fast-food, casual or quick-serve. This is one burger that lives up to the hype. If there’s a location near you, GO!

If there’s any complaint about my Five Guys experiences at all, I guess it would be the waiting time. I just wish they could make them faster. Then again, I’m not sure they’re technically considered “Fast Food”, and there’s a reason they don’t have a drive-thru. Burgers this good take time. If I’m in a rush, and don’t think to call ahead, my short lunch break will force me to swing into another fast food joint, but if I have those extra few minutes I’ll definitely be visiting Five Guys again. After getting a closer look at the nutrition facts, perhaps it’s best that 5G remain my special occasion burger.

Price: $4.99 / Website: FiveGuys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A+

Click here for rating system details.

Nutrition Facts - Five Guys, Cheeseburger (onions, jalapenos, bbq sauce).

Calories - 1033
Calories from Fat - 520
Total Fat - 59 grams
Carbs - 61 grams
Saturated Fat - 26.5 grams
Trans Fat - 2 grams
Cholesterol - 195 milligrams
Sodium - 1735 milligrams
Protein - 67 grams

NOTE: The nutrition numbers above include the regular Cheeseburger with two beef patties, two slices of cheese, onions, jalapenos, bbq sauce and bun. Five Guys does a good job at breaking things down by individual ingredient. For the complete 5G nutrition information, visit this link. (.pdf file)

I finally got my hands on Wendy’s *New* Flavor Dipped Chicken Sandwich. Wendy’s website and advertising have been updated, and this item should now be available nationwide at most locations. There are two versions: BBQ and Buffalo. For this review I’ve chosen the BBQ flavor sandwich and eaten it twice over the past few days.

Let’s get straight to this… it’s a pretty good sandwich. The chicken is tasty, moist and tender, feels natural instead of being over processed. It’s not Chick-fil-A quality, but still a nice piece of chicken. It’s in fact, the same “Homestyle” filet used in the Wendy’s sandwich sold by the same name. It’s breaded with a light crispy coating, seasoned with black pepper. Any piece of processed chicken meat tastes better covered with sauce, but this filet is good enough to stand on it’s own, and that shows.

They take a homestyle filet and dip the whole thing in sauce, like a giant chicken wing. Wendy’s BBQ sauce tasted OK, with a decent amount of tangy sweetness, but it was too weak. More impressive was the way the sauce clings to the chicken filet, providing even distribution of flavor for the entire sandwich. The breading on the chicken seemed to absorb the sauce, ensuring that each bite would provide a small burst of barbecue. As a sauce lover, especially BBQ, I like this “dipping” system. Forget about spreading or pouring it on… just dip the whole damn thing in sauce! YEAH!

There’s less sauce than you might think. Most of the bumps and clumps you see in the photos are the breading underneath, showing thru the outer layer of sauce. It’s also not as messy as it looks. The sauce is thick, and sticks to the sandwich. There’s not many drips, and you won’t end up with a puddle of sauce on your shirt, if you’re careful. Be prepared though, you’ll still going to need a couple napkins with it.

Sitting on top the dipped chicken filet are several thin circles of raw onion and a few pickles. I had minor worries about how these toppings were going to get along with the BBQ sauce, but it turns out everything was fine. It’s a fitting combination. Both were applied in limited quantity, and were just noticeable enough to add a final bit of extra seasoning. They are the same onions and pickles used on their hamburgers.

The bun resembles a large dinner roll, and the top almost looks as if you could tear it apart into sections. It’s thick but squishes down to a perfect chicken/sauce/bread ratio once picked up and bitten. It’s dusted with corn on the outside, and the inside does a nice job absorbing the small excess of barbecue sauce from the chicken.

The BBQ Flavor Dipped Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s is good, but not great. It doesn’t make me forget other chicken sandwiches, but it’s solid overall. Tasty chicken, decent barbecue sauce, and a nice bun. Plus, “dipping” is a winner. I was happy with how the sauce coated and penetrated the breading, chicken and bun, creating a moist and flavorful sandwich from beginning to end, without drowning it. Two sure ways to improve it would be lowering the price, and using a better barbecue sauce.

Price: $4.39 / Website: Wendys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B-

Click here for rating system details.

Nutrition Facts - Wendy’s, Flavor Dipped Chicken Sandwich, BBQ.

Calories - 450
Calories from Fat - 110
Total Fat - 12 grams
Carbs - 60 grams
Saturated Fat - 2 grams
Trans Fat - 0 gram
Cholesterol - 40 milligrams
Sodium - 1430 milligrams
Protein - 25 grams