Lots of non-food-related Fast Food and snacks news this week – including a Novelty Alert and a first-ever Unfortunate Coincidence Alert! KFC is doing a pop-up hotel and OREOs has opened a new Café. Pizza Hut and Doritos are bringing back old favourites. And Taco Bell is testing new premium nachos…
Your KFC dream room awaits – at the House of Harland in downtown London, England.
Each room comes with a Hot Winger arcade game and a ‘Press for Chicken’ button
connected directly to the kitchen. Book exclusively through Hotels.com.
KFC pops up hotel in London
KFC is operating a pop-up hotel in London, England, for 11 nights (corresponding to its famous 11 herbs and spices) from August 18 to 29. Guests will be whisked to the hotel via a special Colonelmobile, registered by a Chick In clerk, and tempted by a unique concierge service via a ‘Press For Chicken’ button in every suite. According to the official news release, all proceeds will go to the KFC Foundation. Book exclusively at Hotels.com.
OREOs opens first-ever Café
If you love OREOs (as millions of folks apparently do) you’ll love visiting the new OREO Café at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ. The Café will feature a custom dessert bar, OREO products and limited edition OREO merchandise. Visit the OREO Instagram channel for in-depth information.
Pizza Hut reprises the Big Dinner Box
The Hut is bringing back its iconic Big Dinner Box for a limited time, at participating Hut locations. The deal gets you and your family two medium, one-topping rectangular pan style pizzas, boneless wings and breadsticks. The Hut’s brain trust says it’s meant to help busy folks getting back into their regular routines as the world opens up again after the COVID-19 crisis.
Taco Bell tests 7-Layer Nachos Fries…
You heard right. Everything you love about Nachos and Fries may soon be available to all at Taco Bel. The Bell is currently testing the menu item in the Orlando, Fl, area. It starts with a bed of Fries which is topped with The Bell’s signature seasoned beef, black beans, nacho cheese sauce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and Creamy Chipotle sauce. You can also order the same ingredients in a new burrito.
… New White Hot Ranch Fries
The Bell is also testing new White Hot Nacho Fries in the Chicago area. They’re Nacho Fries topped with The Bell’s signature seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, new White Hot Ranch sauce, and sour cream. Warning: Te new Sauce is made with Ghost Peppers, the hottest naturally-occurring Chili Peppers on the planet. As with the 7-Layer Nacho fries above, you can get the same ingredients in a burrito.
SONIC pumps out new Banana Pudding Shakes
SONIC is going all out with its new Banana Pudding Shake: Into a base of SONIC’s standard vanilla soft serve, they blend fresh bananas, banana pudding flavor, and Nilla wafers – the classic Banana Pudding accompaniment. The thick creation then gets whipped topping, crumbled Nilla wafers and – of course – a maraschino cherry on top.
Rice-A-Roni now in Heat-And-Eat format
The San Francisco treat is now available in Heat-And-Eat microwavable pouches – perfect for the late night video streamer or the totally immersed gamer. Cooking time is just 90 seconds. At least initially, the snack is available in three varieties: Herb & Butter, Garlic & Olive Oil, and Spicy Spanish. At all the usual Rice-A-Roni sources.
Doritos brings back Tangy Pickle
Doritos, which is noted for floating fart-out flavours, is bringing back its Tangy Pickle version. The snack was a huge hit among pickle patriots last year and is not roaring back on the wings of a special promo: 1,000 bags of Tangy Pickle will be given away to lucky folks who visit snacks.com/tangypickle starting this coming Monday, August 9. Tangy Pickle Doritos will be back on store shelves – for a limited time – a little later this month.
Cheetos collabs on ‘Hot’ Ice Cream
Cheetos is partnering with Marble Slab Creamery on Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Ice Cream. It’s Marble Slab’s sweet ice cream base swirled with crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The treat also comes in shake form, topped with Whipped Cream and a dusting of crushed FH Cheetos. Available at all Marble Slab locations across the U.S.
Novelty Alert: Mustard-flavoured Hot Dog Buns
French’s – the mustard people – are offering special-edition mustard-flavoured hot dog buns for a limited time, while supplies last. They début today – National Hot Dog Day – at stadiums and famous hot Dog vendors’ locations in New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston. If you can’t get to one of the special locations, French’s has published recipes for its own Mustard Challah Bread and Mustard Beer Bread at the Mustard Buns website.
Unfortunate Coincidence Alert: Pizza Cutter Craziness
Domino’s Pizza is not amused following an embarrassing coincidence during the broadcast of an AEW ‘No Rules’ pro wrestling match recently. At the apex of one bout, Nick Gage appeared to use a pizza cutter on fellow pro wrestler Chris Jericho’s forehead. Immediately after, a Dominos commercial aired – featuring a close-up image of a pizza cutter! “We share the concerns expressed about this incident and the content of this TV-14 rated program, and are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward,” Domino’s spokeswoman Jenny Fouracre-Petko said in a statement.
And that’s the skinny…
… On what will be making some of us fatter during the waning days and weeks of summer 2021. See you back here in 7 for the next edition of Fast Food Week!
~ Maggie J.