This Saturday, we look back on a busy week in the Quick Service Resto (QSR) sector! Guy Fieri, who’s already all over your TV, is coming soon to your neighbourhood with his new Fried Chicken chain. Dunkins, Panera and Little Caesar’s are all testing new feature menu items. And Disney is dumping plastics…
A typical Chicken Guy! meal: Tenders with Dips, a side of Fries and an icy cold Beverage.
Guy Fieri morphs into… ‘Chicken Guy!’
Food TV’s bad boy, Guy Fieri, is taking the plunge into Fast Food with a new chain of Chicken restaurants called – yes – Chicken Guy!. It’s a slightly different take on one of the world’s favourite Quick Service foods, Fried Chicken, in which he’ll be serving only the ‘tenders’ (boneless fillets of breast meat), but in a host of different ways, including Sandwiches and Salads, as well as by themselves. Sides available include Fries, Slaw, Mac ‘N Cheese and Fried Pickle Chips. And you’ll have to choose from a list of 22 (!) different dipping sauces. Prices range from (US)$6 to (US)$9 per item. Not bad. Alas, there’s currently only one place you can sample Chicken Guy! menu: the Disney Springs district at Disney World. Look for new franchises to pop up in neighbourhoods near you fairly soon…
Here’s a new one: Waffle-Battered Chicken!
It’s from Dunkins and it sounds really good. The new Waffle Breaded Chicken Tenders turn good old fashioned Chicken and Waffles into a take-along treat you can eat with your hands without getting up to your elbows in sticky toppings. Waffle Breaded Chicken Tenders are just one item on the new Dunkins Run menu, which also includes: Pretzel Bites, Ham and Cheese Roll-ups, gluten-free Fudge Brownies and Dunkin’s already launched Donut Fries.
Panera Bread tries something truly different
Usually, when a chain resto introduces something ‘different;’ts really a slightly tweaked example of a tried-and-true menu item which the resto knows will sell. But Panera, the Bread and Soup people, have come out with something really different which pays homage to their popular Bread Bowl dishes which opening up a new world of possibilities. It’s an oblong Bread Loaf with two cavities, so you can have two different Soups in the same meal. Or, you can swap out one Soup for Mac and Cheese, and make it a fully-rounded meal. The new double Bread Bowl is being test marketed in Philadelphia from this coming Monday through the end of August. Thereafter, we’ll have to wait and see what the chain is going to do about a major roll-out.
Little Caesar’s testing a new Pizza with 4 different quarters
The Quattro Italian is officially described as, “a unique large pizza with a collection of classic Italian flavors, sprinkled with garlic-herb seasoning.” The four quarters are dressed as follows: Bruschetta; Sausage & Pepperoni; Pepperoni; and Sausage & Bruschetta. I gather there are no options to this selection. But if the Quattro is rolled out nationally in the future, I suggest Caesar’s consider allowing customers to choose what they want on each of their quarters. They’ll sell a gazillion of them! For now, though, you can only get a Quattro in one configuration, and only in Tulsa, Oklahoma. *SIGH*
McDonalds offers limited-time 2 for (US)$5 deals
Starting this coming Monday, you can get any two of the following: the Big Mac, the Filet-O-Fish, 10-piece Chicken McNuggets or the Classic Chicken Sandwich for just (US)$5 at Golden Arches locations across the U.S. It’s called the Mix & Match Deal and it’s on for a limited time only, of course. Sounds as if McDonald’s got caught without a ‘headline’ special to offer this month and discovered its competitors were pulling out their own big guns. Regardless of the reason, its a good deal. Get it while you can.
What we’re missing at Krispy Kreme this summer
We’re missing it, but they’re getting it in Japan, of all places. It’s a special summer doughnut menu celebrating the flavours of Asia. Now through September KK fans in Japan can feast on special creations including: Hong Kong Almond Tofu, Thai Mango Cheesecake, Vietnamese Che, Taiwan Pineapple Cake and Thai Spicy Green Curry. The special menu, titled Tasty Asian Sweets, looks as good as it sounds. Too bad I won’t actually get to taste them!
Disney bans disposable plastic from its parks
Hopping on the humanitarian bandwagon, in an attempt to save our seas, the Disney organization has announced it will discontinue using disposable straws and stir sticks at all its attractions worldwide. That will reportedly reduce the amount of reusable plastic being dumped into the environment each year by an estimated 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers. That’s a noble gesture, but the reality is, Americans alone currently throw away something like 500 million plastic straws a day. That’s right: I said PER DAY. Some many moire organizations will have to join the parade if anything meaningful is to be accomplished.
And that’s the skinny…
…on what’s going to make some of us fat this coming week. Back in seven for another roundup of Fast Food News!
~ Maggie J.