No Salty SNACKS or noteworthy SIDES this week. But the Fast Food machine is back in high gear with new offerings from most of the big players, including a pile of new Beverages and Sweets! And the ‘Value’ combo meal engine is revving up again…
The rundown…
Just for fun… Check out the entertainment franchise x-overs at Burger King and McD’s. And wonder at the new BK France ‘Flying Saucer’ dessert Sandwiches!
MAINS
Burger King + Dragon Ball = Power-Up Pack
BK is partnering with animé hit Dragon Ball on a new Dragon Ball Super Power Up Pack meal deal. The Pack includes: 10-piece Chicken Nuggets with New Super Saiyan Sauce; Medium Fries; Dragon Ball Burst Lemonade; and one of 6 exclusive Dragon Ball Super Figurines. There’s also a Dragon Ball Super King Jr. Kid’s Meal featuring your choice of a hamburger, cheeseburger or nuggets, and bonused with a cardboard crown and a figurine.
SpongeBob + One Piece = New Happy Meals
Both monumental Kids’ franchises share a nautical heritage. And both are now sharing the spotlight in a new McDonald’s Happy Meal. The deal features a collection of 15 new figurines which, “mash up characters from Bikini Bottom with the Straw Hat crew.” Start collecting SB x OP figurines September 15 at participating McD’s locations. But don’t dawdle. Thee he for a limited time only.
Papa John’s coming for Dominos!
… With a new ‘Ultimate’ Pepperoni Pizza. Domino’s has offered its Ultimate Pepperoni since 2014. But now, Papa John’s is showcasing a new Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza – with two stacked layers of cheese and pepperoni!
“We know our fans can’t get enough pepperoni,” said Mark Gabrovic, Vice President of Culinary at Papa Johns in a news release. “The Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza delivers exactly what pep-peroni lovers are looking for: an abundance of bold, savory flavor from the first bite to the last.”
Cantonese BBQ Brisket is back at Panda Express
What more do we need to say? Cantonese BBQ Brisket features bite-sized chunks of slow-cooked beef brisket seared in a wok, and tossed in a smoky-sweet Char Siu-style BBQ sauce. It’s a limited time addition to the Bowls menu, available at a slight extra charge over the permanent-menu options.
Popeye’s brings back its $6 Big Box Deal
Now through September 27, the Louisiana Kitchen is once again offering its popular $6 Big Box Deal: two pieces of fried chicken or three fried chicken tenders, plus two regular sides and a buttermilk biscuit. At participating locations, US-wide.
BEVERAGES
Starbuck’s Fall Menu Showcases Pecans and Bananas
The premium coffee juggernaut is serving up a new Fall menu featuring it’s classic Pumpkin Spice Latté (below), along with a selection of Banana Bread flavoured and Pecan-themed coffee bevs.
There’s also a unique new Chaider drink – described as a cider-inspired take on chai… The line-up also includes baked goods and a special limited-time Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket…
Tabo Bell Expanding Energy Drinks menu…
The Bell is adding three new ‘boosted’ beverages to its Live Más Café menu, each fortified with 120 milligrams of caffeine and a dose of vitamin B. Choose from Pineapple Citrus Energy Refresher; Strawberry Tropics Energy Refresher; and Pineapple Citrus Energy Freeze. They don’t say which B vitamin they’re adding. But the National Institutes of Health Fact Sheets tell us the Bs, from B1 though B12, help convert food into energy and support brain and nerve function…
… TB + Salt & Straw = New Chiller…
It a Coco-Waffle Chiller, to be precise. It’s described as a shake-like bev, “with vanilla ice cream, churro crumbles and waffle cone pieces, topped with whipped cream and even more waffle cone pieces.” At Live Más Café locations US-wide, for a limited time.
SNACKS
SWEET
Baskin Robbins + Biscoff = Crème Brûlée Menu
The Ice Cream giant is floating (pun intended) a new three-item menu celebrating Biscoff Cookies and a new Crème Brûlée ice cream flavour.
Try it in a new Biscoff Cookie Signature Shake; a Biscoff Cookie Layered Sundae; or a Biscoff Cookie ‘Cake in a Box’. The Biscoff Flavor Collection is, as you probably guessed, available for a limited time only…
McDonald’s brings back Pumpkin & Cream Pie
It’s a Fall tradition. The McDonald’s Pumpkin & Cream hand pie is a Thanksgiving-season take on McDessert featuring layers of Pumpkin Pie Filling and Cream. It’s $2.39 for one, or $3.99 for two in LA, though prices may vary depending on where you live…
Starbuck’s Fall Menu includes Muffins, Cake Pops
The premium coffee purveyor is sneaking in some baked goods into its Fall menu. There’s a new Hedgehog Cake Pop which, combines vanilla cake and buttercream with chocolaty icing and choc-olate sprinkles.” And the popular Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin returns…
Taco Bell reprises its Ice Cream Taco
This time around, though, it’s a Salt & Straw Churro Ice Cream taco. The waffle cone shell is stuffed with Churro-flavoured ice cream…
… and topped with a crackable chocolaty seal bursting with rice puffs. For a limited time, at Live Más Cafe locations US-wide.
NOVELTIES
Burger King France serves up ‘saucer sammys’
They look like brown flying saucers, imprinted with a BK logo. But they’re really the brand’s entry into the Uncrustables Format niche. They’re dessert sandwiches, one filled with stuffed with Nutella plus hazelnut pieces, and the other with Lotus Biscoff spread and Biscoff cookie crumbles. Both also feature a layer of vanilla ice cream. The crimp-sealed ‘pocket’ is made of BK brioche bun dough…
And that’s the skinny…
… On what’s going to be making some us a little better insulated against the Fall shills in the coming days and weeks. See you back her in 7 for the next falling-leaves-in-my-Latté edition of Fast Food Week!
~ Maggie J.