I am a big fan of dipping foods into other foods, so the announcement that Popeyes Chicken is adding three new flavors to their line of “Signature” dipping sauces makes me happy (and hungry).
In addition to the already existing BBQ, Ranch, and Mardi Gras Mustard Signature Dipping Sauces, Popeyes is adding Bayou Buffalo, Sweet Heat and Blackened Ranch to the lineup. Here’s the breakdown:
Bayou Buffalo: “A cayenne pepper hot sauce blended with butter, celery and Cajun seasonings.”
Sweet Heat: “Sweet honey dipping sauce kicked up with Louisiana hot sauce, vinegar and a special blend of peppers.”
Blackened Ranch: “Traditional buttermilk ranch dressing mixed with onion, garlic, a blend of peppers (white, black and red) and Blackened seasoning.”
As a bonus, throughout the month of September you can get three Handcrafted Tenders with the purchase of an eight piece or greater box or family meal at regular price.
Oh, you’re sneaky, Popeyes. What better vehicle to try out their new sauces than some free chicken tenders?
I’m not usually one to post about deals (unless they’re flat-out freebies), but I’ve taken advantage of this deal before, and I have to say, it’s pretty awesome.
From now until August 12, order any Domino’s pizza online via their website or using their mobile app, use the promo code “50off”, and get any pizza for 50% off its menu price. Any pizza, including their Artisan pizzas, their American Legends line, or that dangerously-overloaded-with-toppings custom pie you’ve been customizing in your dreams. I assume you have pizza dreams like I do.
Plus, when you order off their website, you get to watch Domino’s Pizza Tracker, so you can see exactly when Dave has quality-checked your pizza!
Take advantage of this deal while you can – again, the promo code is “50off”, and the deal ends August 12!
I first wrote about Popeye’s Rip’n Chick’n back in July of last year; I never got around to reviewing it, probably because of time or real life or something stupid like that. Well, now it’s back! Here’s the official description:
“Rip’n Chick’n is a boneless chicken breast marinated with a blend of spicy peppers, then hand-battered, breaded and cooked. The chicken breast is sliced into pull-apart strips that are easy to rip and dip. This portable treat is served with cool buttermilk ranch dipping sauce for $3.99 and available as a combo with Cajun fries and a biscuit for just $1 more.”
I’m not an angry person, but if I need to take out some aggression, I think I’d rather do it on food as opposed to, say, my bathroom mirror. It also sounds a lot more tasty and a lot less painful.
GrubGrade actually reviewed Rip’n Chick’n last year, and while it’s hard to tell from the promo photo above, apparently it looks eerily like a monster hand, which makes it all the better. Who doesn’t want to rip off and then consume monster fingers? If you don’t, something is wrong with you.
Rip’n Chick’n is only back for a limited time, so if you want the chance to rip and dip (as opposed to grip and sip, which is a very different thing), head over to Popeye’s soon.
Just can’t get enough sausage? Are you insatiable when it comes to long, thick tubes of meat? Well, Papa John’s has what you need with their new Five Sausage Pizza. That’s right, I said five sausages. Can you handle that much sausage in your mouth?
Let’s run them all down: it starts with just “sausage”, which is obviously pedestrian, but then moves on to both mild and spicy Italian sausage. Whew, it’s getting a little warm in here! But we’re not done yet. There’s also smoked sausage, which, as everyone knows, is the most sultry of all the sausages.
Most interesting to me, however, is the last sausage – chorizo! Chorizo is typically a spicy, crumbly sausage, for those of you not living close to our friends south of the border who may be unfamiliar with it. I live in the southwest, and I’ve never seen chorizo available as a pizza topping, even from local joints that have some pretty exotic topping choices.
You can currently get all five of Papa John’s sausages in your mouth on a large pizza for the promotional price of $9.99.
Way back in April of last year, the news broke that Taco Bell was releasing the Doritos Locos Taco in test markets. Unfortunately, I didn’t live anywhere near one of them. But on March 8, they will be making this…thing available nationwide.
What is the Doritos Locos Taco? Well, basically it’s a regular Taco Bell taco with one ridiculous addition – a taco shell made out of Nacho Cheese Doritos. You can also get a Supreme Taco, which basically just adds chopped tomatoes and sour cream to a regular taco. With a Doritos shell
If you can’t wait to find out what a Dorito and a taco taste like together, Doritos is doing a “Hometown Tweet-Off”, wherein the person who gets the most retweets by Tweeting using the hashtags #DoritosLocosTacos and #Contest will get a visit from the Taco Bell Truck, which will give out Doritos Locos Tacos to the winner and their probably bewildered neighbors.
I feel like Doritos are the foundation of Junk Food Betty. The first two junk food reviews I ever did were both from the Doritos Late Night line. I posted them on my LiveJournal for my dozenstens few interested friends to read. I’d been knocking around the idea of creating a junk food review site for quite a while, and the encouragement I received from those two reviews finally motivated me to make it happen.
Heck, my very first review on Junk Food Betty was for Doritos Flavor Shots, and in the 2+ years I’ve been writing here, I’ve reviewed 11 different Doritos flavors. Cut me open and I bleed bright orange flavor powder.
Given all that, I obviously owe a debt of gratitude to Arch Clark West, the man who created Doritos. He got the inspiration while vacationing in San Diego, where he happened upon a small shack serving up fried corn tortilla chips. He took the idea back to what was then known as the Frito Company, and decided to spice the chips up a little with some seasoning. And thus, in 1964, the first flavor of Doritos, Taco Flavor, was born. (There’s a bit of controversy on what flavor actually came first, but you can read my review of the recently revived Taco Doritos here.)
Mr. West died on September 20th in Dallas at the respectable age of 97, and his funeral will take place in Dallas on October 1st. According to West’s daughter, those attending will have the opportunity to throw chips into the grave with West’s urn.
Denny’s, I’m starting to fall in love with you. You’re a sit-down restaurant, and when most people think of you, they probably think of breakfast with the family after church. Maybe a drunken late-night meal. Moons Over My Hammy.
When I think of Denny’s, I think of a restaurant chain ahead of its time. By this point, crazy menu items at fast food joints are old hat. Denny’s looked at that and said, “We can do that. We can do that and force people to eat it in public.”
Denny’s isn’t resting on their laurels with their Tour of America Menu. They now have a whole new menu called “Let’s Get Cheesy!” And it’s just what you would think. “Urging everyone to try something a little different with their favorite dairy, the new menu boasts a medley of both traditional and unconventional cheesy choices covering, smothering, oozing and gooey with every dish.”
I have an official press release and Denny’s-sanctioned promo pictures in my hot little hands, and by golly, I am going to use them. I’ve decided to showcase them in order of “most normal” to “my God, why is this a thing that exists?” I hope you’ve taken your Lactaid.
Cheese Please Omelette
Cheese Please Omelette
“A three-egg omelette with a blend of cheeses folded in, topped off with a creamy cheese sauce and diced tomatoes, served with hash browns and choice of bread.”
Pretty straightforward stuff, here. Looks and sounds quite tasty. Anywhere there’s creamy cheese sauce, sign me up.
Say Cheese Sizzlin’ Skillet
Say Cheese Sizzlin Skillet
“A blend of diced cheddar smoked sausage, fire-roasted peppers and onions, grape tomatoes and seasoned red-skinned potatoes topped with shredded cheddar cheese, cheese sauce and two eggs cooked any way you like.”
This actually sounds quite delicious, although I have my suspicions about the “cheddar smoked sausage”, mostly because I then saw the…
Cheesy Breakfast Sampler
Cheesy Breakfast Sampler
“Featuring a cheddar smoked sausage, two eggs scrambled with cheddar cheese, hash browns topped with melted shredded cheddar cheese and choice of bread.”
I know, cheese inside of a sausage really shouldn’t bother me at all. And it’s probably right up my alley, as far as taste goes. But every time I see something like this, I get all squicked out. Perhaps I had a traumatic incident as a child with some cheese-infused meat product.
Although, the more I stare at the cheddar smoked sausage, the more I want to try it. My palate is always challenging itself, whether my brain likes it or not.
Also, what, no cheese on the bread? C’mon Denny’s, you’ve managed to cram cheese into every other item on the plate, you can’t conjure up some cheesy bread?
The Big Cheese Country Fried Steak and Eggs
The Big Cheese Country Fried Steak and Eggs
“Featuring a golden-fried chopped beef steak covered in pepper jack cheese sauce, served with hash browns topped with melted shredded cheddar cheese, two eggs cooked any way you like and choice of bread.”
Pepper jack cheese sauce on top of a country fried steak may be delicious, but it just sounds (and looks) decidedly unpleasant. Perhaps I’m offended on behalf of sausage country gravy, which is what really belongs on country fried steak. The pepper jack cheese sauce sounds like Denny’s is just trying too hard. On the other hand, as we move along, you’ll see that they can try much harder.
Winner Winner Cheesy Dinner
Winner Winner Cheesy Dinner
“Two golden-fried chopped beef steaks covered in pepper jack cheese sauce, served with a side of new creamy Mac ‘n Cheese, broccoli topped with cheese sauce and dinner bread.”
There’s two reasons this menu item falls below the Big Cheese Country in my hierarchy. The first is the name. Given, most of these have horrible punny names that are designed to embarrass you as the waitress takes your order, but I find this one particularly offensive. “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” is a phrase that has been around for quite a while, with origins in gambling or something, but thanks to this douchebag, I can’t see the phrase or any cheesy derivative without flying into a rage and smashing everything within arms’ reach. I can’t have nice things.
The second reason you may have already noticed on the left hand side of the picture, there. “That’s odd,” you may have said to yourself. “It looks like they accidentally replaced the Mac ‘n Cheese with a bowl full of giant maggots.”
Unfortunately, you’re wrong. That is the Mac ‘n Cheese. It scares me. I’m sure they use some sort of white cheese, and that’s the end of it, but I think I’d prefer it be neon yellow rather than sickly white. Unfortunately, the only descriptor we get is “creamy”. Creamy, indeed.
We’re not out of the woods yet, though. We now come to the “outrageous crazy omg wtf Internet sensation” menu item:
Mac ‘n Cheese Big Daddy Patty Melt
Mac n Cheese Big Daddy Patty Melt
Feast with your eyes. Take a good, long gander. “A hand-pressed beef patty topped with new creamy Mac ‘n Cheese, melted cheddar cheese and zesty Frisco sauce on grilled potato bread, served with a side of wavy-cut French fries.”
I’m not sure what else to say. Denny’s pretty much sums it up. I have seen many sides and snacks stuffed into a sandwich, but this one fills me with particular trepidation. I can’t imagine the texture of pasta going well with hamburger. It freaks me out. As if that weren’t enough, there’s also cheddar cheese and “Frisco” sauce. Taste and texture aside, this sounds like a giant, gooey mess waiting to happen. As if uttering the words “Big Daddy Patty” in public wasn’t humiliating enough, enjoy having your face and hands covered in cheese sauce.
It’s gimmicky, it’s ridiculous, and I want one. Wait, let me rephrase that. I “want” one. Sometimes being a food reviewer is a terrible curse.
Just in case you haven’t had enough cheese in your meal, Denny’s also has two new sweet and cheesy items.
Strawberry Cheesecake Milk Shake
Strawberry Cheesecake Milk Shake
“Thick, creamy hand-dipped milk shake made with vanilla ice cream blended with strawberry topping, cream cheese and real cheesecake. Topped with a dollop of whipped cream.”
Cream cheese in a milk shake. Is this okay? I can’t tell. I love cream cheese, but I’m not so sure I would appreciate it in a milk shake. I can get behind the cheesecake itself, but cream cheese just sounds wrong. Also, this thing sounds heavy enough that you could order it and skip a cheesy entree altogether.
Strawberry Pancake Puppies with Cream Cheese Icing
Strawberry Pancake Puppy with Cream Cheese Icing
“Six bite-sized round pancakes made with strawberry and white chocolate chips. Sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a side of cream cheese icing for dipping.”
Ow. I think I just got a cavity. While these things sound like sugar overload, I see nothing inherently creepy about them, which is a relief. They actually sound damn tasty, but I could probably only eat one or two before my stomach started protesting. I can’t even finish a donut; I don’t think I could put down a whole plate of these.
“And if the limited-time menu still doesn’t have enough cheese to please you, there’s the option to cheese it up even more by adding some extra ooze to any dish for just 69 cents.”
“Extra ooze”. Not the best phrase I would choose if I were in the marketing business, but after writing this news post, I find it apt. This thing is longer than many of my reviews. I never thought I’d get tired of cheese, but after just writing this review, I feel kind of cheesed-out, and that’s no small feat.
What a muenster of a post! You cheddar believe I’m spent. I hope you all have a Gouda day!
Okay there I’m done.
Edit: No, wait, one more thing: why are all the shakers in these pictures empty? Is there a serious salt and pepper shortage that I should be worried about?
I was immediately excited and then somewhat un-excited to see new Cheetos Crunchy and Doritos Fiery Fusion snacks at my local convenience store the other day. My brain went, “Yay! New chip flavors!” Then my eyeballs looked closer and saw that the “Fusion” flavors were “Sizzlin’ Cayenne & Cheese”.
Forgive me for not throwing handfuls of confetti in the air, but the “spicy/cheese” combo has become a bit played out to me. Notable ingredients in the Cheetos Fiery Fusion include brown sugar, aged red cayenne peppers, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapeño pepper, and paprika. The Doritos version differs slightly, using regular sugar and containing no blue cheese but keeping the cayenne, jalapeño and paprika.
One serving of Cheetos Crunchy Fiery Fusion contains 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 190 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates and no cholesterol.
One serving of the Doritos version of Sizzlin’ Cayenne & Cheese has 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 160 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates and no cholesterol.
Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy spicycheesy snacks just as much as the next capsaicin-tolerant person. I’ll probably give one or both of these Fusions a try at some point. I’d just like to see a little more creativity from the Frito-Lay flavormakers. No word if “Fiery Fusion” is going to be a whole line or just a one-shot deal, but I wouldn’t mind seeing future varying concoctions show up in the snack aisle.
Do you always order the blooming onion appetizer at restaurants? Did you rip the heads off of all your sister’s Barbies as a kid? Then you may enjoy Popeye’s new Rip’n Chick’n.
The premise here is that Popeyes takes a whole white meat chicken breast and cuts it into strips, but keeps the strips connected at the base. They then marinate the mutilated breast in four different peppers (cayenne, habanero, white and black peppers) and “Louisiana seasonings”, whatever they may be. It’s then hand battered and fried.
It’s basically just a unique twist on their Louisiana Tenders, but I like the idea. I’m down with any food that lets me take my aggression out on it. *RIP* Take that, guy that cut me off in traffic this morning! *RIP* How dare you leave SVU, Chris Meloni! Now who is going to get inappropriately angry at rapists and throw them against the interrogation room wall? I trusted you to rid New York of its unusually high population of violent pedophiles! *RIP*
Rip’n Chick’n comes with Cajun fries, a biscuit and buttermilk ranch for dip’n for $3.99. It’s only available through August 28, so if anger management classes aren’t working out for you, you better hurry on down to Popeyes soon.
Appearing in at least two cities (Algonquin and Genoa) in Illinois, McDonald’s is test marketing the English Pub Burger. Within the Empier first reported it; his tray liner described it as such: “If someone asks you if you fancy an English Pub Burger, the correct response is YES! This sandwich is smashing, made with 1/3 lb. of 100% Angus beef, hickory-smoked bacon, white cheddar & American cheese, grilled onions, tangy steak sauce & smoky Dijon mustard sauce all housed on an artisan roll. It’s so tasty, you’ll be gobsmacked!”
Credit: Within the Empier
The liner also defines these bolded English slang words, which I find completely unnecessary since I’m convinced that by now, every American has watched at least one of Gordon Ramsey’s seven million TV shows and is mildly familiar with such terms.
A GrubGrade reader also had the chance to try one, and reported that “This burger just works and tastes unlike anything I’ve ever had from McDonald’s.” Strong words. There’s a lot going on with this burger; I find the combination of steak sauce and smoky Dijon most intriguing. My fingers are crossed that the steak sauce will be British brown sauce (like HP or Daddie’s) and not just standard A1. I also hope that it goes national and I’ll actually get to try it one day.
The English Pub Burger is priced at $4.49, the same as McDonald’s other Angus Third Pounders. It’s nice to see the chain doing something outside their usual burger offerings. I’m not convinced that the English Pub Burger stays 100% true to actual English pub offerings, but at this point, I’m beyond semantics. I just want to try it out!
If you’ve had a chance to try the English Pub Burger, please leave a comment! I would love to hear some other opinions.
I am a big fan of dipping foods into other foods, so the announcement that Popeyes Chicken is adding three new flavors to their line of “Signature” dipping sauces makes me happy (and hungry).
