McDonalds debuts new Chicken McBites

Mc Donalds added a new menu item in the past couple of weeks that is supposedly only here for a limited time. The item is called Chicken McBites and is their version of popcorn chicken. It comes in snack size ($1.99), regular size ($2.99) and shareable size ($4.99). The chicken isn't bad, but I actually expected it to have a little more flavor. The snack size would be a nice little supplement to your meal though. The chicken has a very good crunch to it and is moist on the inside. I think I remember KFC popcorn chicken tasting better.

McDonalds Chicken McBites Nutritional Info:

Snack Size-Calories 310, Fat 19g, Carbs 22g, Sodium 490mg

Regular Size-Calories 470, Fat 28g, Carbs 33g, Sodium 730mg

Shareable Size-Calories 1050, Fat 63g, Carbs 73g, Sodium 1620mg

How many calories are in a Carl's Jr. Turkey Burger?

Carl's Jr./Hardee's released a new line of Turkey Burgers today. The question I keep hearing everyone ask is, "So how many calories do they have?" Well, the turkey burgers that were developed with the help of Men's Health Magazine and "Eat This, Not That" clock in at less than 500 calories each. The turkey burger currently comes in three different varieties, Classic, Guacamole and Teriyaki and range from 470-490 calories.

I was so excited to hear that one of my favorite fast food chains was offering a new healthier food option that I went down on it's release date to try it. I noticed that I was not the only one there ordering a turkey burger. In fact, the person before me and a few people after me also ordered turkey burgers. The idea of a new healthy fast food item seems to be exciting a lot of people.

I decided to order the Guacamole Turkey Burger ($3.69). I ordered it with red onion as well, but they forgot to put it on. The guacamole on the burger was the same familiar onion guacamole that comes on their other guacamole burgers. The burger was served on a wheat bun with iceberg lettuce and one slice of tomato.



The turkey patty itself wasn't bad. It was a little dry though and could have used a little more flavor. It reminded me of the frozen turkey patties that you can get at Costco. The burger was decent for a "healthy" burger. It still had 21 grams of fat though. This is definitely a good option for someone looking for a healthier dining alternative at a fast-food restaurant, but it is nowhere near as good as their beef burgers. Since I am trying to be a little more conscious of what I eat, I will most likely be getting one of these again. Perhaps I'll try the teriyaki version next time to cut out some of the fat.

Carl's Jr./Hardee's Turkey Burger Nutritional Info:

Classic Turkey Burger
Serving Size (g) 268
Total Calories 490
Calories From Fat 200
Fat (g) 23
Saturated Fat (g) 4.5
Cholesterol (mg) 80
Sodium (mg) 1010
Carbohydrates (g) 45
Dietary Fiber (g) 3
Sugars (g) 10
Protein (g) 29

Guacamole Turkey Burger
Serving Size (g) 281
Total Calories 490
Calories From Fat 190
Fat (g) 21
Saturated Fat (g) 6
Cholesterol (mg) 85
Sodium (mg) 1120
Carbohydrates (g) 43
Dietary Fiber (g) 3
Sugars (g) 9
Protein (g) 33

Teriyaki Turkey Burger
Serving Size (g) 320
Total Calories 470
Calories From Fat 120
Fat (g) 14
Saturated Fat (g) 5
Cholesterol (mg) 80
Sodium (mg) 1120
Carbohydrates (g) 55
Dietary Fiber (g) 3
Sugars (g) 19
Protein (g) 32

New KFC Fiery Grilled Wings

www.kfc.com
After seeing the commercials all the time for KFC's Fiery Grilled Wings, I finally decided I had to try them. I went down to KFC the other day for lunch. An order of 5 grilled wings was $3.99. I wasn't sure that 5 little wings would be enough for lunch so I also ordered their special 6 piece chicken (drums and thighs)for $5.00.

I got home and popped open the box. Inside were 5 small darkly colored wings. I picked one up and took a bite. The flavor was pretty good and the wings were actually a little spicier than their regular hot wings. I still didn't find them to be that spicy though. For someone that doesn't like a huge amount of spice, these would probably be perfect. Since these wings are grilled instead of fried, I thought they wouldn't be that good, but I actually liked these wings more than I thought I was going to.

The only problem I have with these wings are the price. I find it hard to pay $3.99 for 5 tiny wings when I can get 6 full pieces of fried chicken for $5.00. I would get these again, but only if they cut the price in half.

Nutritional Info for one (1) grilled wing:

Calories 70
Calories from fat 35
Fat Grams 4
Saturated Fat Grams 1
Sodium 200mg

Domino's New Pizza Recipe - Does it Deliver?

In case you haven't heard yet, Domino's pizza is making a risky business move to celebrate their 50th year in business. Domino's decided to completely scrap their old pizza recipe and release a new and improved pizza recipe in all of their stores. They apparently did a lot of focus groups and found that people thought that their old pizza tasted like cardboard. Therefore, they spent millions coming up with a new pizza recipe. They have changed every component, the crust, the cheese, and the sauce. They documented the whole thing and launched a website to promote the event (pizzaturnaround.com).

I have never been a big fan of Domino's. Whenever I get quick takeout pizza, I usually opt for Pizza Hut. I decided to try Domino's tonight though to see if their new and improved pizza was really as good as they say it is.

I logged on to their website and saw that they were selling their new pizzas for $5.99 each when you purchase at least two medium, two-topping pizzas. The website let's you build your own virtual pizza on the screen while you order it. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot more variety than Pizza Hut. First of all, you could pick between three different sauces; classic tomato, white sauce or barbecue sauce. To make a fair comparison, I decided to order my pizza close to my standard pizza at Pizza Hut. This means I got pepperoni and extra tomato sauce. Domino's offers regular size pepperoni and jumbo pepperoni. I had them add both since I usually get double pepperoni at Pizza Hut. V decided to get a slightly different pizza than her usual. At Pizza Hut V gets ham and jalapeno pizza. Since Domino's offered white sauce and a larger variety of toppings, she decided to get white sauce, prosciutto and feta cheese.

I arrived at Domino's 15 minutes later to pick up my pizza. I opened the boxes to check the accuracy of my order. I opened V's pizza and saw what looked like a plain cheese pizza. I told the cashier that my order was incorrect. I told him the the prosciutto was missing. He showed me my order on his computer and it did not say anything about prosciutto. He called the manager over and the manager informed me that she had never heard of prosciutto as a topping. She kept telling me that maybe I was seeing things because she didn't think they even had that topping on their website. I kept insisting that I wasn't seeing things. I pulled out my iPhone and showed her the Domino's website with prosciutto listed as a topping. She apologized but said she still didn't have the topping. I asked her to remake the pizza with ham instead of the prosciutto which she agreed to. I was annoyed to say the least. How can a large corporate website let me order something that their stores know nothing about? It especially annoys me that this topping mysteriously disappeared from my order when it was transmitted to the store. It is as if they knew that the store didn't have the topping but they let me order it anyway and then just took it off before sending my order to the store.

After my second pizza was made, I headed home to try the pizzas. The pizzas smelled fantastic on the car ride home. I opened the pizza boxes at home and saw two nice looking pizzas.


(Ham, feta cheese and white sauce)

(Jumbo pepperoni, regular pepperoni, extra tomato sauce)

One of the new features of Domino's pizza is a garlic butter crust. It was very tasty and I even heard V use the word "gourmet" when she was eating it. It was nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. This was nothing like their old cardboard crust.

Overall the pizzas were very tasty. The sauce was nice and tangy, slightly sweet and had the tiniest kick to it from crushed red pepper. The crust was nice and slightly buttery and the cheese is now a blend of mozzarella and provolone. V really enjoyed her pizza. She was very happy with the fact that Domino's has white sauce since she doesn't really like tomato sauce. I thought that the pizza was as good or a little better than Pizza Hut. It was also a lot better than a lot of pizzas that I have gotten in full service sit-down restaurants. I will most likely be getting this pizza again in the future, especially if they keep the $5.99 price tag. They just really need to work on making sure their website is accurate.....

Burger King - Burger Shots and Angry Whopper - I ate at Burger King, so you don't have to!

www.bk.com

I have been seeing these commercials for Burger Shots and Angry Whoppers all over for a while now. Advertising works on me, so I decided I had to have them. As I drove over to my local Burger King, I wondered to myself, "Why don't I go to Burger King more often?" In fact, I couldn't even remember the last time I went to a Burger King.

I walked into Burger King around 12:30 PM on a Monday. I was the only person inside. I looked at the menu board and saw posters advertising both the Burger Shots for $1.39 and the Angry Whopper. I ordered one 2-pack of Burger Shots ($1.39) and an Angry Whopper ($3.99). She asked if I wanted cheese on my Burger Shots and I said yes. I decided to order a side dish as well and saw that two orders of $1.00 value onion rings was cheaper than buying one small order, so I ordered two of the value size. I handed the cashier my credit card and she rang up my order. She handed me my receipt and I was kind of shocked at how high it was. $9.03 for lunch from Burger King and I didn't even order a drink! One of the reasons for the high price was that they had charged me 50 cents extra for EACH Burger Shot for the cheese. This brought the price of my "2-pack" to $2.39. I thought about it for a second and realized that Burger King just conned me into paying $2.39 for two teeny tiny burgers when I could have gotten a double cheeseburger for $1.00. Stupid commercials.....always hypnotizing me into thinking I need whatever they are advertising...... My wife calls me a sucker.......I guess she's right. (Shhhhh don't tell her!)

I unwrapped my Burger Shots and saw that they were even smaller than I thought they would be. The burger patties for the Burger Shots was actually a single patty that was sort of "figure 8" shaped. You had to break the buns and the patties apart to separate the two burgers. There was a smidgen of cheese and a little bit of ketchup, mustard and a pickle on each bun. They weren't bad. They were just basically mini versions of a standard cheeseburger from Burger King. The only difference is that you pay three times the price for less than half the amount of food. What a deal!

The Angry Whopper was a burger with "Angry Sauce," "Angry Onion Strings," jalapenos and pepperjack cheese. The burger was pretty bland and not spicy AT ALL. The jalapenos they put inside actually just tasted like pickles. The supposed spicy "Angry Sauce" tasted more like a sweet barbecue sauce. I didn't even want to eat the whole burger because it made me so angry. Maybe that's why they call it the Angry Whopper!

I've always loved the onion rings at Burger King. I know they must be mostly artificial because they are all the same tiny shape. They must be made with some kind of pressed, formed onion mixture. I never really cared though because they were always so tasty. This time was different though. They had almost no flavor at all. Maybe all the flavor came from the trans fat that they used to be fried in.

As I threw away the remainder of my meal I said to myself, "Oh yeah......That's why I hardly ever go to Burger King...."

I know you guys always like when I include the nutritional info for new fast food restaurant items, so here you go.

Burger Shots WITHOUT CHEESE-
Calories 220
Fat Grams 11
Saturated Fat Grams 4.5
Trans Fat Grams 0.5

Angry Whopper
Calories 880
Fat Grams 55
Saturated Fat Grams 18
Trans Fat Grams 2

Jack in the Box - Breakfast Bowls and Cinnamon Rolls

It seems like every time I walk in or drive through a Jack in the Box, there are signs touting a new menu item. The newest additions to the Jack in the Box breakfast menu are two new breakfast bowls and a Cinnamon Roll. I went down there today and got one of each. The breakfast bowls ($2.99) come in both "Hearty" and "Denver" varieties. The Hearty breakfast bowl comes with hash brown sticks, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and shredded cheese. It is then all covered with a white cheese sauce. The Denver bowl has hash brown strips, scrambled eggs, ham, bell peppers, shredded cheese and white cheese sauce. I ordered the Denver bowl without the bell peppers.


Hearty Bowl
Calories: 779.6
Fat: 60.3 g

Denver Bowl:
Calories: 719.5
Fat: 53 g

Cinnamon Roll
Calories:459.5
Fat: 18.9 g

The bowls start with a layer of hash brown sticks on the bottom. The next layer is scrambled eggs that are reminiscent of eggs from a hotel breakfast bar. They then sprinkle on a little bit of meat and cheese and then cover it all with the cheese sauce. The bowls were ok, but nothing spectacular. Without the cheese sauce, they would be really dry. I think I would rather consume less fat and calories by having a Sausage McMuffin and Hash Browns from McDonalds. The cinnamon roll was quite good. It was warm, gooey and very cinnamony. It might also be a little too sweet. Unfortunately, the cinnamon roll gets cold really fast and quickly becomes dry and hard. If you buy this, make sure to eat it right away.

Jack in the Box is SO Cheesy!

www.jackinthebox.com


I stopped at Jack in The Box the other day for lunch. I noticed that they had not one, not two, but three new cheesy items! Whatever should I do?!?!? I think I’ll order them all! Jack in the Box is now serving a Nacho Cheeseburger ($1.49) a Nacho Chicken Sandwich ($1.49) and Cheesy Macaroni Bites (Fried Mac and Cheese $2.99 for 6).

I ordered all three and took them to go. I got back to my office and unwrapped my cheesy feast. I was excited about all three items, so I didn’t know where to start. I finally decided to start with the chicken sandwich. I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. This was really good. The nacho cheese and jalapenos added a burst of cheesy flavor.

Next, I moved on to the burger. This was of course very similar to the chicken sandwich. I felt that the flavor of the burger patty didn’t go quite as well with the nacho cheese and jalapenos. I still enjoyed the burger, but I thought the chicken sandwich was better.

Last up were the cheesy macaroni bites. I was so excited to try these little fried triangles. I took a bite and my excitement faded. They weren’t horrible, but they were pretty greasy and bland. At $2.99 for an order of 6, I think these are way overpriced. Maybe if they were 6 for 99 cents, I’d order them again.

I went on the Jack in the Box website to try and find the nutritional value of my meal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything on the nacho sandwiches. They had the info for the cheesy bites though. An order of 6 cheesy bites had 444.2 calories and 25.4 grams of fat including 9.6 grams of saturated fat and 4.2 grams of trans fat. Blech. I think I’ll avoid these in the future.

New Carl's Jr. Prime Rib Burger

I got a coupon for the new Carl's Jr. Prime Rib burger, so I decided to go down there for lunch to try it. (For coupon, visit Griffin Eats OC Coupons) The coupon was valid for any size burger, so I decided to get the "six dollar" version. The menu board stated that this version was $5.79, but the cash register rang it up at $4.89. I then got $1 off.

The burger is served as a large beef patty covered in grilled onions, horseradish sauce, thinly sliced "prime rib" beef and swiss cheese all on a ciabatta bun. I opened the box and looked at my burger. It looked a lot smaller than it does on all the posters they have around the restaurant.

I picked it up and took a bite. This burger definitely lives up to the old Carl's Jr. motto, "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face." This burger is extremely messy. The juice from the prime rib soaks through the ciabatta bread and turns it into a soggy mess. The melted cheese and horseradish sauce then cause the onions to slide out all over the place. To top it all off, the burger wasn't even that good. It was extremely bland. The horseradish sauce was tasteless. I only tasted a faint hint of horseradish once. The swiss cheese might as well have been white american cheese, because it had no flavor. I found myself not even wanting to eat the entire burger, so I threw part of it away. I really love Carl's Jr., but I think this burger is lacking in the flavor department. My buddy also got one of these burgers. He didn't like it at all either.

The Prime Rib Six Dollar Burger
Calories: 1060
Fat: 70 grams
Saturated Fat: 23 grams
Sodium: 2940 mg

Final Verdict: So not worth it

New Panda Chinese Fast Food -Santa Ana/Costa Mesa

(Image not affiliated with New Panda, I just forgot to take a picture of their sign. This is just a random panda photo.)

3814 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA 92704

(714) 957-1134

Near McDonalds, next to Games For Less

I used to have this fantastic place near my office in Lake Forest called China Express. They were pretty much a fast food counter service Chinese place, except they didn’t have any steam tables. They had gorgeous pictures all over their walls of the different culinary delights that they offered. You would place your order and the guy in the back would wok up your order hot and fresh just for you. Sadly, China Express closed. They left a phone number in their window to call for more information. I called the number and it just rang and rang. I called again, and again. Over the next couple of weeks I dialed the phone number repeatedly. I was in a panic. Would I never have the joy of tasting their delicious dishes again?!??! I called again……ring…..ring……ring…..ring…..ring…. and finally “New Panda, can I help you?” I was so excited that someone picked up the phone! I stammered out, “I’m looking for info on China Express! This phone number was left on the door!” I then recognized the voice on the other end of the phone. It was the very nice girl that always took my order at China Express. She told me that they had relocated up to a place near South Coast Plaza. She said they were now called “New Panda.” “I can still get my salt and pepper shrimp though, right?!?!” I asked. She laughed and said “Of course.”

All of the above events took place a couple of years ago. After I hung up the phone that day I immediately drove down to their new location and ordered me up a big plate of salt and pepper shrimp. Every time I want good salt and pepper shrimp, I make the drive again. It now takes me 20-30 minutes to get there from my office but it’s oh so worth it.

New Panda is more of your typical Chinese fast food place. They have scoop and serve steam tables and a combo plate will cost you about five or six bucks. Their fried rice is a little bland, but oddly good. The rest of their steam table items are about the same you would expect from any other similar place. What I really go here for is their wok to order food. Most people going to New Panda don’t even notice the cook to order menu on the back wall. They’re really missing out.

I like to start my meal here with some of their fried wontons. At $1.50* for an order of 6, these are a really great deal. They are fried up perfectly crisp and contain a hidden gem of glistening pork inside. I like to dip them in a little hot mustard. If you ask the lady behind the counter, she will give you some real hot mustard instead of that fluorescent yellow crap that comes in the packets.

The item I can never seem to resist on their menu is the Salt and Pepper Shrimp ($6.99* during lunch). I have taken many people here to try the salt and pepper shrimp and they have all fallen in love with it. The chef in the back takes some juicy shrimp, lightly batters them and then woks them up with some oil, fresh jalapenos and green onions. They are then sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper. The resulting dish is an explosion of flavor that is hard to describe. I find myself eating these shrimp so fast that sometimes I make myself sick. Even so, sometimes I’ll go back and order more once I finish my first plate.

New Panda is an ok place to go and get some Chinese fast food, but if you have a few extra minutes, take the time to look over their “cook to order” menu and get something made especially for you. I of course recommend the Salt and Pepper shrimp, but I have also tried many of their other dishes and I haven’t been disappointed in any of them.

* Prices are from memory, so they may be a little off.

Tommy's Burgers Lake Forest

24310 Swartz Drive
Lake Forest, CA 92630

www.originaltommys.com

Good news! The Tommy's Burgers in Lake Forest is now open! No longer will us "South Countians" have to drive up to Fountain Valley to get a Tommy's burger. I headed over to the new location last Friday for lunch. It was packed! Even though it was crowded, the line still moved very quickly. They also prepared the food in a flash! There were tons of people there, but I think I still got out of the restaurant with my food in less than 5 minutes.

For those of you not familiar with Tommy's, most of their food items, including their burgers, hot dogs, tamales and even breakfast sandwiches all automatically come with Tommy's famous chili, mustard, pickles, tomatoes and onions. You can ask them to leave any of these items off if you prefer.

I ordered a cheeseburger and chili cheese fries ($5.05 together), a chili tamale ($2.90), and a chocolate shake ($2.00). I ordered my items without tomato. They were all fantastic. I only wish I had a bigger stomach so I could have actually eaten all the food. I know I ordered too much, but I couldn't help it. I was excited!


(Cheeseburger)


(Tamale....yes, there's a shredded beef tamale under there)


(Chili Cheese Fries)

Carl's Jr.-Delicious Meal of Death

I know I shouldn't have done it. The voices in my head were screaming for me to stop. I think there was even a little cartoon cardiologist on my shoulder screaming "Don't do it!!" I didn't listen. I did it anyway. I recently consumed a lunch from Carl's Jr. that consisted of the new double chili cheeseburger, fried zucchini, and the new Cap'n Crunch malt (also available in milkshake).

Why did I do it? Because it was worth it. The double chili cheeseburger was fantastic. Two charbroiled patties of beef, smothered in chili and mustard and slapped on a bun with some onions (I ordered mine without the tomatoes and pickles). It was quite a big burger, and quite messy too. I didn't know how I was going to be able to eat my fried zucchini after it. But I pushed forward. I've always loved the fried zucchini from Carl's Jr. Crispy on the outside, soggy on the inside. There's just something special about them when you dip them in those little tubs of house dressing. After I finished my zuchinni, I was so full. I didn't know how I was going to be able to finish my Cap'n Crunch malt. I took a sip, and then I remembered. These Cap'n Crunch milkshakes might just be the best thing ever invented. I've had a malt before, and I've had Cap'n Crunch. Why oh why didn't I ever think to combine them? Crunchy little bits of Cap'n crunch cereal swirled together with ice cream and milk. Perfection.

By now I'm sure you're all feeling sick, wondering how much fat and how many calories I consumed. I was almost afraid to look it up on the Carl's Jr. website. Including those two little tubs of house dressing, I just consumed 2400 calories and 138 grams of fat, 59 of them saturated. Oh well, if this meal had given me a heart attack, at least I would have died a happy man.

Battle of the Fast Food Hot Wings

I posted a new article on OC Food Blogs. OC Food Blogs is an online community of food bloggers from Orange County. Have you ever wondered where to get the best fast food hot wings in the Irvine area? If so, jump over to the article at OC Food Blogs to find out where to get them!