Tag: Fast Food Ratings

The 300s Reviews Taco Bell Chicken Nuggets

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Earlier this week I heard whispers of a new Taco Bell menu item being rolled out in a select market. As David Letterman used to say, “I just pray to God that your city has been selected.” Well, the fast food gods were smiling on me because my market was selected and that’s how I got my hands on the latest innovation from Taco Bell.

Well, it’s not really an innovation. The Bell certainly didn’t reinvent the wheel to pump out chicky nuggies. Even nacho fries, which I love, were a little more innovative. If anything, the dipping sauces were more innovative than the nuggets themselves.

My first thought when opening the box was “oh shit.” These nuggets looked strikingly similar to the worst fast food nuggets I’ve ever had the displeasure of eating (congrats Sonic!). But they were actually somewhat juicy and tender, and not covered in a Michelin Tire-like coating.

The nuggets themselves were not that much of a departure from your standard (non-McDonald’s) nuggets. I didn’t sense any special seasoning on them, like there is on nacho fries. But the sauces were surprisingly good. The two nugget dipping sauces were “Bell sauce” and a jalapeno-flavored honey mustard. The Bell Sauce tasted like thicker Taco Bell sauce you’d get out of the packet and was the better of the two, but the honey mustard packed good flavor and wasn’t too spicy.

Eating the nuggets dipped in the sauces was actually a similar experience to boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings.

So what’s the verdict? I wouldn’t go out of my way to grab Taco Bell chicken nuggets the way I would a Crunchwrap Supreme. But I won’t go so far as to say they serve no purpose. My guess is that Taco Bell chicken nuggets will be most popular in late night group orders. A good add on, or an option for the one guy in the car at 1 AM who doesn’t want a taco. I can’t imagine them being too popular with the younger set, though. (Sorry, dads who would rather a Chalupa than a Quarter Pounder when grabbing chicky nuggies for the kids.)

I didn’t order the meal, as I wanted 10 nuggets to try both sauces (could only do a meal with five nuggets). A 10-piece with both sauces ran me $6.99 before tax. Overall, I give the Taco Bell Chicken Nuggets a 5.8. Good, not great. Won’t go out of my way to grab these again, but I could see myself eating a few in addition to my next quesadilla. The dipping sauces helped the score. McDonald’s and the other chicken fast casuals do not need to press the panic button.

All the Top Fast Food Burgers Got an F on Their Meat. Don’t. Care.

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Yahoo –  There could be harmful chemicals in your burger, at least according to a new research report released by the Consumers Union, an advocacy division of Consumer Reports… Only 2 of 25 U.S. burger chains were issued “A” ratings for serving beef that has not been raised with antibiotics. Both Shake Shack (SHAK) and BurgerFi strictly serve antibiotic-free beef to customers…A stunning 22 of 25 burger chains in the US received a failing grade of “F” for not disclosing any intent to stray away from purchasing beef products from antibiotic-free sources. Among those “F” rated restaurants were some familiar names such as McDonald’s (MCD), Burger King – whose parent company is Restaurant Brands (QSR), Jack in the Box (JACK) and Sonic Drive-In (SONC).

Look I don’t go to McDonalds or Burger King or Wendys or Five Guys or any one of the other fast food joints because I am looking for a quality piece of meat. If I wanted that I’d go to a steak house. So when this story came across my desk it seemed like another gigantic waste of time and money so scientists can prove something we already know; fast food burgers are trash.

Now what? The last moderately useful breakthrough in these food science experiments was seedless watermelons.

It is pretty disheartening to see one of the all-time great cheeseburgers In N Out being grouped with the likes of White Castle. That one hit close to home considering it’s literally the first place I hit when I go to Vegas or LA.

This is slanderous really.

Shoutout to Shake Shack though for getting an A on this test. Burger Fi also got an A, but that place was open on Comm Ave for approximately 6 months before getting shut down. Sooo I can’t say I’m super confident in that franchise as a whole.

All these “breaking news” food studies always do the exact opposite of what the nerds with the test tubes intended anyways. You think I’m going to stop eating McDoubles now?

HA!

Literally every time I see Supersize Me, the OG “stop eating fastfood” initiative, the first thing I do is drive straight to McDonalds and crush a Big Mac.

So to the nutritionists and the vegetarians and the scientists looking to take down fast food, I leave you with this: