It’s full speed ahead, toward the year end holidays! Deep Fried Turkey is back at Arby’s. Whataburger is pouring White Chocolate Peppermint Shakes and coffees. And KFC has partnered with the Hatch sleep sounds people on a new ‘frying chicken’ soundtrack…
Taco Bell’s hot new LT Smith Crunchwrap…
The rundown…
Hallowe’en holiday holdovers blend seamlessly with year-end US Thanksgiving and Yuletide specialties…
Mains
Taco Bell heats up its TBX program
The TBX program is a rolling promo inviting food-forward chefs to develop new and exciting Crunch Wrap quesadillas. The latest is a truly-remarkable spicy chicken creation by maestro Chef Lawrence ‘LT’ Smith, who’s contributed his Southwest Hot CHX Crunchwrap. It’s built on chicken nuggets tossed in Salsa Macha, topped up with shredded cheese, purple cabbage slaw, and a unique Apricot Hot Sauce. And crowned with a generous dollop of sour cream…
Jimmy John’s voluntarily gets in a pickle
It’s a new JJ’s sandwich which swaps out the bun in favour of a big, longitudinally-sliced, scooped out Dill Pickle. Try the Vito, based on JJ’s classic Italian sub of the same name, or the Turkey and Provo-lone, with turkey and Italian cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion.
The ‘Picklewich’ concept is not exactly new, but the idea of scooping out the pickles into ‘boats’, may be. I’m not aware of anything else quite like it on the Fast Food market at the moment…
SONIC adds another smash burger
It’s the Double SONIC Queso Smasher. And it’s just as big, and messy and ooey-gooey good as you’d imagine: Starting with SONIC’s trademark potato bun and two smashed beef patties, it adds 2 Ameri-can (processed) cheese slices, queso, tortilla strips, sliced jalapenos, diced onions, and a creamy Southwest sauce. There’s also a Deep Fried Turkey Club tat ops the same sliced Turkey Btreast turkey breast, cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, and mayo, on a toasted brioche bun.
Pizza Hut reveals My Haunt Box
Like a vampire appearing in a puff of smoke, the special box Hallowe’en-themed garlic and parme-san-topped Personal Fang Pizza plus your choice of fries or 4 boneless wings.
The deal includes an additional pizza topping of your choice. Available now for a limited time, at just $6.99. (Prices may vary depending on where you live.)
Deep Fried Turkey is back at Arby’s
The Deep Fried Turkey Gobbler piles deep-fried turkey breast on Arby’s brioche-style bun, and tops it with crispy onion strings, Swiss cheese, a ‘savory herb spread’, lettuce, and tomato, plus a good shake of ‘everything’ seasoning. It’s become a year-end holiday tradition… There’s also a Deep Fried Turkey Club that tops the same sliced turkey breast with cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, and mayo, on the same toasted brioche bun.
Beverages
Coffeemate sprays canned Cold Foam
Who better to bring you Italian Sweet Crème, Nestlè Tollhouse Brown Butter Chocolate Chip, and French Vanilla spray-canned cold foams, for your home iced-beverage elevation pleasure?
Now you can make most everyting at home that you would otherwise have to go out to a coffee shop for… I wonder how long it will take for folks to start just spraying it directly into their mouths?
Whataburger features White Chocolate Peppermint
WAB is featuring a new White Chocolate Peppermint Shake as its ‘headline’ year-end holiday treat. Available November 5 through December 30. Get it as either a hot or iced coffee shot, or as a sea-sonal shake. Sweet, simple – and among the few peppermint (Candy Cane-inspired) treats to surface on the Fast Food scene this Thanksgiving-Yuletide…
McDonald’s pours Dulce de Leche Frappé
It’s a special high-end Fall-focused frozen bev that’s sure to delight the refined pallet. It’s described as a blend of ice, caramel coffee Frappé base, and a new dulce de leche-flavored syrup, topped with whipped cream and crunchy caramel pieces.
If you’re looking for an incredible indulgence delivering 540 Calories, 17 g total Fat (11 g Saturated Fat), 350 mg Sodium, and 89 g Carbs (8 g Sugar) you’ve some to the right place!
Desserts and snacks
Ice Cream for Hallowe’en? Good Humor says, ‘YES!’
In fact the GH folks have ‘brought back from the grave’ a classic: The archival Candy Center Bar. It’s a vanilla ice cream bat with a chocolate hazelnut candy core. It hasn’t been seen since the 1990s. But it’s back – exclusively at Walmart – for a very short but sweet time!
Bojangles fries up Bo Bites
They may remind you of KFC’s Nuggets… The latter are actually ‘premium nuggets’, made of chunks of real cubed chicken breast, but extruded, mechanically de-boned chicken paste. But they’re not quite in the same category as ‘boneless wings’…
Bo’s is also débuting a new Peach Honey Pepper sauce to go-with. Available in 4- to 100-piece orders. There’s also a combo that includes a side and a drink.
Novelties
7-Eleven bucks ‘Resto of the Future’ trend
No, 7-Eleven is not technically a Fast Food outlet. But it’s been getting gradually ‘foodier’ for a few years now. And a recent declaration from the 7-E board room has called for North American 7-Elevens to be more like their Asian counterparts. With that in mind, the company has made it official: It will soon be expanding it stores to feature bigger footprints and a much wider range of both packaged and prepared foods. Stay tuned…
Doze off to ‘KFC Rain’ from Hatch
Hatch bills itself as, “on a mission to make sleep easier than ever for everyone.” Now, it’s discovered that the sound of frying chicken is just as effective a sleep inducer as that of a gentle rain.
And it’s partnered with the chicken giant to make that experience available to everyone.The custom sound is now available on Hatch’s Restore 2 smart sleep devices through their a Hatch+ premium content subscription, on the Hatch for Sleep and KFC YouTube channels, and on the Hatch for Sleep Spotify page.
And that’s the skinny…
… On what’s going to be stuffing some of us like a Thanksgiving Turkey over the coming days and weeks. See you back here in 7 for the next winter-tinged edition of Fast Food Week!
~ Maggie J.