A Twist On Taco Shells

Taco Bell has stumbled backwards into an amazing business, with the Doritos Locos Taco (and its newly-bred Cool Ranch variation, alongside another upcoming, flamed-fueld flavor) being both a boon to their bottom line and the economy of America as a whole. It was (conceptually) a simple change; make a taco shell out of a Dorito chip, or coat a taco shell in the infamous Doritos dust.

But why stop there?

Food Beast is reporting that Taco Bell in Southern California is testing a Waffle Taco. Naturally, this will not be a daytime, ground-beef-and-lettuce taco, but it is a sausage patty and egg (and syrup, at your discretion) breakfast beast that would make early-morning Taco Bell fans run to their borders with 89 cents in hand.

Ingenuity will always reign with the home craftsman, though. DudeFoods has created the Bacon Weave Taco, making a shell entirely out of everyone’s favorite pork variety. His rough instructions give a good idea where to start on making one of your own, but he suggest filling it with “seasoned ground beef, sour cream, lettuce, tomato and shredded cheese.”

We know where your mind has ventured, and we’ve thought about it as well. Combining all these forces of tacos into one delicious mega taco would be the goal, and end point, of all humanity. Where can you go after a bacon/waffle/Dorito triple-shelled taco with sausage, eggs, beef, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and maple syrup?

Taco Bell struck it big with their first variation, and are going for more. Have you considered trying something outlandish to spur sales at your restaurant?… Read the rest

McDonalds To Double Up On Quarter Pounders

Jules: Well, if you like burgers give ‘em a try sometime. I can’t usually get ‘em myself because my girlfriend’s a vegetarian which pretty much makes me a vegetarian. But I do love the taste of a good burger. Mm-mm-mm. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell ‘em, Vincent.
Vincent: A Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that?
Brett: Because of the metric system?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett!

The last time the Quarter Pounder with Cheese ever got any major media attention was in the 1994 classic, Pulp Fiction, by Quentin Tarintino. It’s a simple, solid burger for fast-food fans, featuring a quarter pound of 100% pure beef (as always stated, before cooking), seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with two slices of cheese, onions, and pickles, on a sesame seed bun. It’s a reserved Big Mac. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese features an additional meat patty, but that’s where the differences, and the legacy of the burger, end.

Not so! GrubGrade reports that McDonald’s will be introducing three new Quarter Pounders, replacing their fading Angus Burgers in prominence and variety for a premium burger from the company. The new burgers include:

Deluxe Quarter Pounder, featuring cheese, tomato, fresh leaf lettuce, red onion, pickles, mustard, and mayo.
Bacon & Cheese Quarter Pounder, featuring thick-cut, applewood-smoked bacon, red onion, pickles, mustard, and ketchup.
Habanero Ranch Quarter Pounder, featuring white cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, an a habanero ranch sauce.

These new burgers will begin to appear in May, but will fully roll out by the end of June.

Have you looked at updating some of your menu items with new variations? Have you consider that a more expensive … Read the rest

T.G.I. Friday’s Going For Small Plates

The allure of the small plate is simple; having “small plate” dishes on your menu allow customers to buy a bunch of them and share with their cohorts. The cost is low for the individual, but they get a chance to try multiple things on the menu, which you may actually sell larger versions of. Consider them, in this regard, to be paid samplers. T.G.I. Friday’s has launched a menu committed to just this plan.

Their Taste and Share menu includes

Thai Pork Tacos
Ahi Tuna Crisps
Bacon Mac and Cheese Bites
Corned Beef and Swiss Sliders
Garlic and Basil Bruschetta
Parmesan Meatballs
Hibachi Skewers

All the dishes are priced individually from $4.99 to $6.99, and three can be purchased for $15, or five for $22, Nation’s Restaurant News reports.

While all the dishes sound delicious, the real treat is how easy they are for customers to share, and how varied they are, encouraging groups of friends and family to orders multiples and a variety of them. The fact that Friday’s is offering bundle packs encourages customers to stock up. Additionally, this may increase foot traffic, as people with a limited budget or desire to eat might just pick up a snacker, and spend money elsewhere on items that drive profits, such as drinks.

Have you considered adding small, shareable dishes? Do you see the value in making them a regular part of your menu, or would you consider doing them on a trial basis? What dishes do you serve that you see customers splitting, sharing, and passing around?… Read the rest

How To: Should You Go Gluten-Free?

Should you go gluten-free? Nation’s Restaurant News reports that, while the buzz around gluten-free is on the rise, the actual growth in the market has been slow. The suggestion is the pay attention to it, but don’t overhaul your whole menu. The largest increase in gluten-free lifestyles are those in the 18-34 year demographic. Many of these people may have celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or just a general desire for the perceived health benefits of living a gluten-free life. Could, and should your restaurant go gluten-free?

What Does “Gluten-Free” Mean?

To quote NRN, gluten-free means

To avoid gluten, consumers must reject products containing wheat, barley and rye. Specifically, that means they can’t enjoy many of their favorite foods, including breads, cereals, pastas, beers, cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, croutons, French fries, gravies, processed deli meats, candies, salad dressings, sauces and more.

While not wholly accurate, this rules out many traditional carbohydrates. In some ways, creating a gluten-free menu would be easy and require no new products. On another level, depending on how committed you wish to be to the movement, you may be crafting whole new menu items and investing in new machinery.

How To Craft A Gluten-Free Menu

It’s important to note that “Gluten-Free” does not mean a complete and total lack of gluten, but very minimal amounts can be processed by those sensitive (the actual number is up for debate, but generally hovers around less than 10 mg per day)
Corn, potatoes, quinoa, and rice are common replacements for fillers and carbs in a gluten-free lifestyle. Almond flour and buckwheat can be commonly replaced in dishes that require their regular version.
Most dishes that are intended for Passover are gluten-free, except those that use matzah as an ingredient.
A gluten-free diet allows for fresh fruit, meat, vegetables, and many

… Read the rest

Steak ‘n Shake Goes 7×4 Instead Of 7×7

Steak ‘n Shake has gone a little overboard in recent months when it comes to late night burger options, given their infamous 7×7 Steakburger (featuring seven patties of meat and seven slices of cheese).

For their newest promotion, they’ve launched 7 burgers with meals under $4. Their burgers, included in this offer, are

Prince of Royale Steakburger (American cheese, hickory-smoked bacon, fried egg)
Guacamole Single Steakburger (pepperjack cheese, guacamole)
Bacon Horseradish Single Steakburger (American cheese, bacon, horseradish sauce, French’s fried onion)
Garlic Double Steakburger (American cheese, garlic spread, garlic salt)
Jamaican Jerk Double Steakburger (pepperjack cheese, Jamaican Jerk sauce, onions)
Three Pepper Double Steakburger (banana pepper rings, pepperjack cheese, Jalapeno ketchup)
Nacho Cheese Double Steakburger (Jalapeno slices, nacho cheese, red tortilla strips)

All these meals come with fries according to GrubGrade, but it doesn’t seem to include a drink. You’ll want to get a hold of a shake, most likely, given the restaurant. Some of the meals seem inspired by their Midnight Menu, which we have covered before.

Anything sound like something you want to tackle?… Read the rest

McDonald’s Offering French Fry Holder Starting Today

At least in Japan, offering another item in the island nation that we sorely need in America. We’re not asking for a free hamburger if we don’t get our meal in 60 seconds, but a few tasty options like a teriyaki burger, shrimp patty, or juicy red pepper chicken would be appreciated over here.

In America, McDonald’s has had a troublesome history when it came to packaging. The McDLT was an ingenious attempt to “keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool”, but was ecologically troublesome. Their current Happy Meal bags aren’t nearly as cool as the boxes from many childhoods, and there’s the infamous lawsuit that came from a hot coffee spill.

Japan, starting today, is offering a “potato holder” for people ordering a value meal with large fries, RocketNews24 reports. Ideally designed for cup holders in cars (which is an oddity, as Japan is primarily a public transportation nation, at least in major cities), the promotion will last until the end of May.

Fries in their country are mostly the same, but a look at their current promotional items reveals (according to Google Translate)

Classic side menu of the extreme popularity “Mac fries”, “taste to get glue” appeared for a limited time. Salt and Okinawa Prefecture that was used in seasoning, a combination of seaweed rich flavor, you can enjoy a taste deep and simple.
※ After the purchase, you can enjoy an additional fee “Mac fries” and “get to taste glue”. (I do not do the sale only for seasoning)

Not exactly sure who wants to “get to taste glue”, but there’s a fry holder for it.… Read the rest

New Starbucks Menu Includes Rice, Salads, Ginger Ale?

It’s time for spring cleaning, and Starbucks has decided that the shift in the weather makes it a great time to try out a bunch of new dishes. Huffington Post reports that they’re launching about a dozen new items, and testing even more.

Bottled Starbucks Iced Coffee (all $1.99)

Iced Coffee with Milk
Low Calorie Iced Coffe with Milk
Vanilla Iced Coffee
Caramel Iced Coffee (only in the northeast)

New Dishes

Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl (only in select stores, $6.95)
Chicken and Greens Caeser Salad Bowl ($6.95)
Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl ($6.95)
Egg Salad Sandwich ($5.25)
Turkey and Havarti Sandwich ($5.95)
Ham and NY Cheddar Sandwich ($5.95)
Chicken Salad BLT ($5.95)

New Drinks

Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino (a tall will range from $3.95 to $4.65)
Valencia Orange Starbucks Refresher (a tall will range from $2.75 to $3.25)

Additionally, Starbucks Melody reported on new drinks in testing, which may or may not make it to the big stage. Sparkling Teas, Sparkling Refreshers, Sparkling Spiced Root Beer, Sparkling Ginger Ale, and Sparkling Lemon Ale all seem to use a special shaker machine that infuses the drinks with CO2, and it’s been stated that you can “sparkle” any of their other drinks if you’d like.

The most intriguing drink, though, may eventually have to make its way from Japan, and is more of a dessert than anything else. A Tiramisu Frappucino is not the most surprising drink (the fact that there has never been one before is more surprising), but the addition of cream cheese mousse and “crumbled crunchy black cocoa biscuits” makes it a calorie-rich drink. Mascarpone cheese and lady fingers were tested, but did not make the cut in this drink.… Read the rest