Category: General

Taco Bell Does It Again!

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USA Today – Taco Bell, the fast food radical which has boasted healthy changes to its menu, has unveiled its Naked Chicken Chalupa, a taco in which the shell is made completely of fried chicken.

No other fast food restaurant knows itself, or its customers, better than Taco Bell. Taco Bell is not fine dining. Taco Bell is not fast casual. Taco Bell probably isn’t even your first choice most nights (no one eats Taco Bell during daylight hours). And Taco Bell is fine with all of that.

Taco Bell is cheap food quick. Taco Bell is food for when you’re in a rush, down to your last $18  before your next paycheck, or on your way home from the bars. Taco Bell knows they have to keep things interesting to keep you coming back, and I don’t think they get enough credit for that. Taco Bell is an innovator in the field of fast food the way Steve Jobs was an innovator in the world of computers and electronics.

Taco Bell is fearless. They’re not afraid to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. You can’t have the Crunchwrap Supreme without the Bell Beefer. You can’t have Doritos Locos Tacos without the Black Jack Taco. Not every new product launch is going to be a success, but that doesn’t mean it was a failure.

I was at Taco Bell the day they launched their breakfast menu in 2014, and you can believe I will be there on January 26 to try their interpretation of a Double Down. Will it be a success like the Doritos Locos Tacos, or a flop like the Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito? Who knows, but I’m not worried about that. I’m just happy to go along for the ride.

PS – If this Conan trip to Taco Bell doesn’t make you wish you worked at Taco Bell, you’re not being honest with yourself.

Friday Morning Randomness

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It’s not unusual to be loved by anyone.
It’s not unusual to have fun with anyone. 

But when I see an old British dude singing Purple Rain, things get weird. Makes me a little sad to realize I was too young to enjoy the halcyon days of random-ass programming on MTV and VH1 at 3 AM.

Fast Food Follies

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Cook County Record – A Des Plaines man has brought a consumer fraud class action against a suburban Chicago McDonald’s franchisee, alleging the restaurant group should be made to pay for allegedly false advertising on its menu, as the group’s pricing of its two cheeseburger “Extra Value Meal” causes customers to pay 41 cents more than they would if they just ordered their two burgers, fries and drink separately.

I like to consider myself a fast-food connoisseur. I make In-N-Out my first stop every time I travel to the West Coast. I wait in line for my free taco (and nothing else) during every Taco Bell “Steal a Taco” promotion. I savor every McRib like it’s my last. Five Guys and Qdoba are a little too rich for my blood. So I blog today to commend this Des Plaines man for doing God’s work.

We’ve all been squeezed by the cumbersome regulations associated with the McDonald’s “value” menus. Who among us hasn’t wandered into a McDonald’s after dark only to find the once-familiar Dollar Menu replaced with the infamous late-night menu? At the McDonald’s on my college campus, McNuggets could only be purchased in multiples of 10 after 11 PM. No wonder the freshman 15 also comes in packages of 25. They must have to put away the four-piece McNugget boxes after dinner.

Occasionally, these regulations could be avoided. I was known to order three four-piece McNuggets off the Dollar Menu to get 12 McNuggets for $3 instead of the standard 10-piece McNugget for $3.69. But the Dollar Menu could be wildly inconsistent. Years ago, you could find the Big N’ Tasty on the Dollar Menu in Weymouth, but only ketchup packets on the Dollar Menu at North Station.

Enough is enough. McDonald’s has long been lauded for its consistency. A Big Mac in Boston tastes the same as a Big Mac in Bismarck. Isn’t it time the menu replicate that same consistency? Isn’t it time the consumer be rewarded for simplifying the ordering process by ordering one meal? Rather than five individual items in one transaction that would almost certainly be fouled up?

I hate to say it, but it’s not about the money. It’s a moral issue at this point. Do better, Ronald and friends. Do better.

Uber Continues to Innovate; Now Mimicking Public Transportation

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Screen shot 2016-05-25 at 9.21.54 AM

This is genius, I wish someone had thought of this sooner. It’s like some sort of mass transit system. And at $40 a month plus $2 per ride for 20 rides a month you could be looking at $80 a month, which is right about the same as, oh you know a monthly T pass or a bus pass

In all seriousness, it’s not a terrible idea, but Uber is getting closer and closer to the establishment rather than further away from it. It’s basically becoming mass transit or essentially what BRIDJ has been doing for a while now. If I can order an Uber Pool and be to my spot in 15 mins for $2 bucks that’s awesome, but that’s not how this works. You hop in, ride around for 10 mins, pick up 2 people, drop some more people off and before you know it it’s a 40 minute ride to get to Fenway. Which is the same as the goddamn train.

So I appreciate the effort Uber, but if you’re gonna charge more than a T pass, I’m expecting a lot more than avoiding human interaction.

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