Taco Bell
http://www.tacobell.com

As usual, Taco Bell has yet again re-worked its menu to re-introduce a menu item that first debuted in 2007, the Grilled Stuft Chicken Enchilada burrito.  Since I didn’t remember this from 2007, I figured this was a “new” item and ventured to my local Taco Bell recently to try it out.

What I Got:  Grilled Stuft Chicken Enchilada Burrito ~$3.00.

As always with Taco Bell, they start out with their usual mix of on-hand ingredients to prepare your food.  In the case of this burrito, those ingredients were:

“Marinated all-white-meat chicken, slow-simmered enchilada sauce, a melty blend of three cheeses–cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella–enchilada rice and reduced fat sour cream all wrapped in a flour tortilla and grilled to go.”

Well, as always, I can confirm that those were in there.  The second thing that I can confirm is that this thing definitely was “Stuft” because when I took it out of the bag, it felt like I was lifting a brick.  This is definitely a burrito that’s got some girth to it and they don’t skimp on the ingredients.  If you are a light-to-normal eater, you really could make this and maybe one other smaller item into a full meal.  Since I’m not a light eater, well, let’s just say that wasn’t the case.

Anyway, as far as taste is concerned, it was just alright.  The chicken was cooked tenderly and the rest of the components mixed well together and tasted as you would expect them to since it is just a re-mix of their usual ingredients, but all things considered, this burrito really lacked any sort of pizzaz that I would expect from a menu item at Taco Bell that costs in the neighborhood of $3.00.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, I would not.  For $3.00 or more at Taco Bell (the king of cheap food), I would expect a menu item more memorable like the chicken or steak quesadilla.  This burrito definitely could not hold any sort of candle to the quesadilla or the many other menu items in that price range. 

So, all in all, this will probably stay out for a limited time once again and go back into mothballs for another three years until they can dupe some poor unsuspecting rube like me into thinking it is a new menu item. 

-IndianapolisEater

For someone that LOVES Taco Bell, I was thinking recently how odd it is that I haven’t been there in a while.  So, since I was sort of craving it and saw that they had introduced a new menu item, I thought I’d make a visit over this past Labor Day weekend.

What I Got:  Chicken Flatbread Sandwich, $0.99.

To Taco Bell’s credit, they are pretty creative in finding ways to use existing ingredients that they have on hand to create new menu items.  Along those lines, they now have joined the flatbread craze and created this new “sandwich” that they are currently running on promotion.  According to their website, it consists of:

“Warm, square-cut flatbread, filled with marinated all-white-meat chicken, and a melty three-cheese blend of cheddar, pepper jack, and mozzarella topped off with flavorful chipotle sauce and melted to perfection to seal in the flavor.”

As always with Taco Bell, I can confirm that all of these things were in my sandwich (it still feels funny to me to use sandwich and Taco Bell in the same sentence), so the presentation was nailed.  The taste component was nailed as well as the flatbread was both warm and soft, the cheese was perfectly melted, the chicken was tender and the chipotle sauce taste was definitely noticeable.  Although, I will say that the chipotle sauce tasted more of sour cream to me and that’s not a positive in my book because I am not a fan of sour cream.  Still, even with that drawback, I will say that this was not bad.  It’s not earth-shattering in any shape or form, but it is a decent menu item, especially when you consider it is only 99 cents.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, probably not.  While it tastes fine and it definitely does not cost much, there is nothing inherently memorable about the experience that would get me to order this “sandwich” again.  I’d much rather stick to tacos, burritos, etc. before I went and ordered another one of these.  If you are looking to mix it up with your Taco Bell order from time to time, go ahead and order one of these.  If not and you aren’t curious, don’t waste your time.  Trust me, you’ll have no regrets.

-IndianapolisEater

This has happened to everyone.  It seems to happen a lot to me.  The question of the day, what do you do?

I have heard of stories where people throw the food at the people back through the drive-thru window.  While I am not condoning this, this violation calls for desperate actions and I can understand people getting upset (maybe not to the point of throwing things…).   However, If they knew how much garbage that I have to deal with at work, the value of my dollar is pretty high.  Fill up the cup!!  Oh yeah, and not with ice.

Exhibit A, the evidence.

Arby’s Jamocha Shake: $1 value menu size.  Notice, this shake is un-touched.  116th and Allisonville location, Fishers.

Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard. Zionsville, IN.   The week of the $.25 BOGO promo.

As you can see, a handful of problems here.

1. The peak of the ice cream should be above the cup.

2. Where are the chunks of Oreo?

3. The attitude heavy teenage worker walked up to me and said…”Oreo Blizzard, M&M Blizzard” as she jammed the spoons in the cup cafeteria lady style and then walked away. Of course she didn’t say thank you…I will never return to this DQ.

And yes, that is Pearl Jam’s 1996 release, No Code.

So, what do you usually do?  Write a letter, call a manager, just forget about it, return it right away and ask for everything to be made right, throw your fresh milkshake back at the window?

-wibia

Wendy's Spicy Chicken Nuggets

What I Got:  Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets 99¢/five piece (promotional price)

Wendy’s recently has introduced a spicy component to their traditional chicken nuggets and since they were running a promotion and I’m a big fan of their regular chicken nuggets, I decided to check them out.  Oddly enough, as I was looking through the archives, I realized that this is our first review of any Wendy’s product item.  It seems odd that we have missed one of the largest fast food providers in all of our reviews, but that just goes to show that Wendy’s doesn’t really introduce anything that exciting all that often.

That being said, with these nuggets, you are just getting the standard chicken nugget with a spicy breading.  As you can see in my blurry picture, the spicy coating makes the color of the nugget change to an orangeish color from the normal brownish tint.  As far as the taste, you can definitely tell there is some spice in these things (the pepper is clearly visible in the above picture) but the spice is definitely not all that overwhelming, in my opinion.  If you are sensitive to hot foods (I am not), this increased heat may bother you a bit, but all in all, it’s not going to ruin your day if you eat a five piece order of these.

If the heat in the nuggets does bother you or you are so inclined, you can pair these nuggets with Wendy’s assortment of dipping sauces which include Ranch, Barbecue, Honey Mustard, Asian, etc. to attempt to cool them down or add more flavor.

Would I Buy It Again?  Sure, I would buy these again.  Nothing about the taste of these nuggets is overwhelmingly outstanding, but you are getting the value of what you are paying for.  Plus, at the promotional price of 99¢, you are actually getting a better deal by ordering these than you are by ordering the traditional nuggets (which are $1.29 for a five piece order in my area).  If these are popular enough and stay on the menu, I’m sure they will go up to the same price as their traditional nuggets, so get these at this price while you can.

-IndianapolisEater

A&W Coney Dog

What I Got:  Coney Dog combo (comes with fries and and a drink) $3.99

I am a huge fan of chili, so coney dogs are right up my alley and when I saw that A&W had one on their menu, it was like a dream come true.

Nothing out of the ordinary here as this dog was topped with chili and chopped onions.  The chili taste was a mix of both sweet and spicy, which is my favorite as well, so I was a big fan of the chili at least.

Unfortunately, the actual hot dog was crap.  It was small and rock hard.  It really reminded me of the kind of hot dog that you see at the gas station that has been sitting on the hot dog turner for the better part of this millenium.  You definitely don’t want any part of those gas station hot dogs and you definitely don’t want part of this dog.

Would I Buy It Again?  No.  As much as I love coney dogs, I really couldn’t do this one again despite the fact that the chili was outstanding.  This is another one of those fast food items that sounds great in a food test lab but really fails in execution.  Mix this chili with a decent hot dog and A&W would have a real winner.

-IndianapolisEater

Rally's Big Buford

What I Ate:  Rally’s (known as Checkers in some parts of the country) Big Buford burger $2.00 (available as part of a 2 for $4 deal at most Rally’s locations)

Rally’s is a guilty pleasure for me and the Big Buford definitely fits that description.  This burger is also a nutrition bomb (570 calories), so its not going to do any favors to dieters.

The burger is a double burger patty with two pieces of cheese stacked on top of a sesame seed bun.  Also included on the burger is red onion, ketchup, mustard, pickle, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  Basically, this thing has every single traditional topping you could think of on a burger.

As for the taste, it’s outstanding.  The burger patties are a little thin, but when you stack two of them together, it really feels like you are getting quite a bit of meat and you don’t really notice their thinness any longer.  Also, the vegetables they throw on this thing are suprisingly fresh.  Both the onions and the lettuce are crunchy which is quite a shock considering what you get on your typical fast food burger.  The wet toppings can get a little messy, but you aren’t eating this thing to watch your waist line, so who cares.  This is truly gluttony at its best.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely yes.  This one is recommended and if you really feel like blowing your diet or just eating a good burger for pretty cheap, this is the route to go.

-indianapoliseater

Hardee’s
French Dip Thickburger

http://www.hardees.com/menu/

I have to admit, Hardee’s is trying.  There seems to be a new burger every few months.   When you throw so much at the market, you are bound to have some hits and misses.  The last one we tried was the Western Thickburger, that was a miss.

When I read about the French Dip Thickburger, I thought…man, that thing looks disgusting.  Keep in mind, this is coming from a french dip fan.  Since I have yet to see a review, I thought that I would take one for the team and give it a try.  The things I do for this blog….

$5.99 for the standard combo.  You can up size for $.59 and then get crazy large for $.89.  I ordered the sandwich and it arrived in the little basket that you see along with a styrofoam container of Au Jus.  Fries were in the basket and I think that this is the smallest portion of fries that I have seen at a fast food restaurant.  Not a good start.

I took a look under the hood and then had a bite.  Wow, this is bad.  My bun seem to take some color from the roast beef, but it was dry.  So I dunked it in the Au Jus and it was incredibly salty.  The Au Jus was really dark, almost black.  It lacked flavor and depth, it tasted like water, salt and black food coloring.

The quality of the roast beef reminded me of the really cheap deli meat you can get in the packages at the grocery store.  Ya know, the kind that sells for $.50 a pack?  It was obviously microwaved and then placed on the burger.

Would I Buy It Again?  NO!!!!!!!!! This is the worst fast food burger that I have ever had.  I can’t imagine anyone would like this.  How it got past the market studies is a mystery to me.  I mean, I didn’t expect it to be good, but I sure the fuck didn’t expect it to be this bad.

It was so bad that I am not sure if I want to go to Hardee’s for a while.   If I want a thick burger from a national fast food chain, McDonald’s Deluxe Angus Third Pounder the one to beat right now.

Btw, check out these nutrition facts.  Geez…

Dig It,

-wibia

Rally's Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

What I Ate:  Rally’s (known as Checkers in some parts of the country) Buffalo Chicken Sandwich $1

I absolutely LOVE food that has the buffalo sauce flavor and when you mix that with a sandwich that costs only $1 (currently on a promotion; I believe regular cost is $1.49), you basically have me at hello.  This one checks in at 340 calories, so it’s not a complete punch to the health stomach.

The Rally’s Buffalo Chicken sandwich is a nice sized, breaded chicken patty served on their traditional sesame seed bun with lettuce and ranch dressing.  The buffalo sauce used has got quite a flavorful and spicy kick to it and when I did a little research on Rally’s website, I found out that they use Franks Red Hot® buffalo wing sauce as their sauce, and if you’ve ever had Frank’s before, you would know that is the source of the kick.  You’ve got to hand it to Rally’s…they have no shame about not having anything proprietary and instead use other people’s products on their food.  First, there was the chicken wings review that I did where I was convinced that they were using the same Tyson frozen chicken wings that you can buy at the grocery store (unconfirmed) and now they are openly flaunting the fact that they use Frank’s sauce for their buffalo chicken products.  While the restaurant may lose points for originality, anything that makes the food taste better definitely gets my seal of approval.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, but only because it’s a dollar and I love buffalo sauce.  If they would switch to blue cheese dressing instead of ranch dressing (not a big fan of ranch), this would become an absolute must have for me.

-indianapoliseater