adventures in fast food

Monday, June 20, 2005

Taco Bell "Crunch Wrap Supreme"

The Crunch Wrap Supreme is an interesting... thing? Sorry, I really don't know how to refer to it. It consists of a flour tortilla filled with ground beef, nacho cheese, a tostada shell (a flattened taco shell?), lettuce, sour cream, and tomatoes. No, it's not like a burrito - it is folded up into a hexagonal disc.

Is it good? Well.. I didn't think it was bad. Definitely not a new taste. Taco bell was really playing the "Texture" card with this one, which, aside from the chalupa/gordita, was a bit of a departure for the company. The thinness and toastada shell yielded a crisp entree, even after driving home with it - something I had assumed would soggy this beast up.

In reality though, I think Taco Bell is really banking on the success of their quesedilla and associated "portability" based ad campain, because the Crunch Wrap Supreme is really just a double decker taco supreme sans beans and repackaged for easier on-the-go eating.... thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Crunch Wrap Supreme - 7/10 stars

Monday, June 06, 2005

chik-fil-a grilled chicken sandwich

Chik-fil-a makes some tasty stuff. unfortunately, all of the tasty stuff is deep fried.
so, i went out on a limb and tried the grilled chicken sandwich there. It looked flavorful in the picture on the menu....

.. it wasn't. In fact it was pretty bad. Really no flavor at all save for a little from the wheat bun (bleh) and the tomato on top. It wasn't utterly disgusting, but it wasn't good either.

I recommend staying away from this thing.

chik-fil-a grilled chicken - 2/10 stars. boo.


also, if you're like me and love the chik-fil-a waffle fries, try the ore-ida brand waffle fries from the grocery. they actually taste _better_ than the chik-fil-a ones.. even when they are baked in the oven!

ore-ida waffle fries - 9/10 stars

Thursday, June 02, 2005

I am lifting my ban on fazoli's

Many years ago I stopped eating at fazoli's for two reasons.

First, their entrees had been going down hill for a while. They did away with the manicotti, which was my favorite part of the "sampler trio". Then they started using a pre-made, frozen lasanga which was quite disgusting. The pizzarino was to be the savior of their menu, but it went away pretty quick.

Second, they were REALLY skimpy with the "free" breadsticks. This annoyed me to no end, because, after my favorite entrees went away/became crappy, I mostly just went there for the bread, and bought spaghetti so I had some sauce to dip the bread in.. not only would they not give me any more than 1 up front, ("you don't need them now, the breadstick person will be around shortly") but they would only give me 2 at a time when the breadstick person came around. ..and the guy wouldn't come around that often either.. once a half hour or something ridiculous.
This may not seem bad to many of you reading this, but I have eaten as many as 27 breadsticks in one sitting. (with a half order of lasanga) It got to the point where I could sit there for a hour, and only get 5 breadsticks. boo.


Once again, mass media marketing sucked me in. The [return of the] pizzarino and spaghetti combo had an awfully attractive price. ($4.something)
the entree was pretty mediocre. The pizzarino was barely cooked, and less than luke-warm in the middle, and they forgot to put sauce on my spaghetti.. BUT, the breadsticks flowed like the blood of the disbelievers in ancient babylon.. er.. something.

The size has gone down. They are probably only 60% of the size they were, but I can live with that.

Since finding this out, I have also tried their 9" personal pizzas and found them to be satisfactory, although not as good as their old pizza by the slice, which is now apparently gone. meh.

so, way to go fazoli's, your entrees still suck, but at least you are getting the breadstick thing correct now.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

white castles new garlic chicken breast sandwich

I went in wanting a burger and a fish sandwich, but the marketing materials took hold and I had to go for the new garlic chicken breast sandwich combo despite is high-for-white-castle price ($5.something) I kind of hoped that it was grilled chicken, which would be totally awesome in that size, but it wasn't... typical breaded stuff with garlic flavour, although the portion was a lot larger than the standard chicken breast sandwich.. at least thats what i thought.

Upon opening the bag, I thought they not only forgot to put the cheese on, but also added mayo without my knowledge. I wasn't really happy about this, but took a bite... ahh, not mayo... mozzarella. It all began to make sense.

The chicken itself was a little on the tough side, and the flavor was unimpressive, but not offending.
It appears that the largest shortcoming of these palm size poulty sandwhiches comes hours after you eat them... I can't stop belching awful garlic burps.

I'll give the white castle garlic chicken breast sandwich 5 stars out of 10. definitely worth a try, but I don't think I'll get it again.