Fast Food

Dear Foodbeast Readers, Apparently, we’ve caused a national outrage that some have deemed “the greatest controversy in recorded history.” When we broke the news that Cap’n Crunch is a Liar and a Fraud, readers were both heartbroken and shocked that we had the audacity to utter such blasphemy. Cap’n Crunch is only a Commander, not a Captain? Thanks @foodbeast for ruining my childhood. http://t.co/m6rRhWAupx #marketing — J.W. Cannon (@cannonjw) June 15, 2013 I don’t know what’s real anymore. “Cap’n Crunch Sails on a Cereal Bowl of Lies [Updated] http://t.co/BlXe8pcCdc via @RELEVANT” — rachel karman (@RKarSuperstar) June 18, 2013 While others were simply delighted Is Cap’n Crunch Really A Captain? Internet Fuels Delicious Debate http://t.co/bxkaWjfJVE via @nationalpost #CapnControversy — Dan Levy (@TheDanLevy) June 18, 2013 As you read this, you’re probably thinking, “All of this fuss and tears over a jolly bearded man in a Halloween costume?” Our answer: This is the internet, purveyor of serious sh*t. At least, serious enough to land the story and cause a plethora of temper tantrums on Huffpo, CNN, Gawker and the National Post (check the comment sections, they’re great). While we initially lamented over the discovery that the Cap’n was a commander and not the “captain” he claimed to be, many were quick to point out that anyone in command of a ship and crew, regardless of their rank, is considered a “Captain.” That being said, we apologize for not consulting America’s beloved cereal icon first. Who knew that a two-dimensional cartoon character could cause such a monumental controversy? Luckily, Cap’n Crunch himself reached out to us to set things straight. .@foodbeast All rumors and misunderstandings! I captain the S.S. Guppy with my crew – which makes an official Cap’n in any book! #CapnFacts — Cap’n Crunch (@RealCapnCrunch) June 14, 2013 No worries, Cap’n, we’ve still got mad love for ya — even if you do shred the roofs of our mouths to fleshy bits. Cheers, Charisma Unapologetic Leafs Fan & Lucky Charms Enthusiast The post Cap’n Crunch Makes National Headlines, Insists He is Not a Liar & a Fraud appeared first on Foodbeast.

If you’ve ever been to The Cheesecake Factory you know that their menus are more of an encyclopedia of dishes than something to order off of. If it takes you 45 minutes to go through the menu once, you know there’s a problem. Lucky for us a pair of brothers over at First We Feast who frequent the chain put together a list of the top 15 dishes to help us all spend a little less time ordering and a lot more time enjoying those enormous portions. Here’s a peep at our personal favorites of the bunch: #12 on the list is the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. This dessert is a fusion between cake and cheesecake, with layers of Red Velvet alternating with a cheesecake stripe to bring you a four layered slice of dessert hybrid heaven. #6 are the Buffalo Blasts, don’t let the picture fool you, those actually aren’t pieces of fried chicken, it’s better. This “Frankensteined” appetizer is a spiced wrapper filled with chicken, cheese and buffalo sauce and fried until golden brown. Um, want. Now. Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake is quite the mouthful taking the #3 spot on this list. This slice of goodness is full of cheesecake, Oreo cookies, Oreo cookie mousse, and chocolate icing. If you’re worried about feeling guilty over devouring such a sinful dessert perhaps the fact that a quarter of each slice of this cheesecake sold is donated to Feeding America will make you feel better. But probably not. Top honors go to the Louisiana Chicken Pasta, the menu’s token Cajun style dish. The only thing New Orleans about this dish is the seasoning and kick, but it’s American influence is showing with that fried panko crusted chicken. Head over here to drool over the rest of the top ranking, glorious food porn. H/T + Photo Courtesy First We Feast The post Cheesecake Factory’s Best Dishes Ranked by Dankness appeared first on Foodbeast.

It’s no mystery that I’m not too fond of Pizza Hut.  Most of my mentions of Pizza Hut on GrubGrade are pretty negative and you wonder why I’m reviewing a Pizza Hut product when I’ve got so much venom.  Well, just as long as you know that little piece of background, take this for what it is.  I give Pizza Hut a chance from time to time to see if maybe one of us has changed.  Pizza Hut just came out with new Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizza and I just placed an online order.  Should be here any minute…Fast forward a few minutes…OK, I’m back… pizza arrived, check out the long box picture above.  The box is two feet long by 9″ wide. I snapped some pics and I’m now sitting in my office with this new Flatbread Pizza from Pizza Hut.  I dropped $11.99 for this, plus $2.50 delivery charge, plus tax and tip I’m down $19.00… laziness can get pricey. The Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizza is made up of six individual pizzas topped three different ways on a flatbread crust.  Each piece is around 3.5 inches wide by 8 inches long.  You choose up to three toppings for each pair.  I went with pepperoni and onions on my first pair, ham and pineapple on the next one and pepperoni, italian sausage and mushrooms on the final two.  Even though I had the option to have three toppings on each flatbread, I only maxed out with one of the pairs.How much of a difference do the toppings make?  Well the major focus on these flatbreads is the crust and the toppings so it’s important they don’t have any glaring issues.  The flatbreads are low on cheese and sauce which is typical of the flatbread-style pizza.  I found this to be a positive considering my issues with not being a big fan of Pizza Hut is the cheese and sauce.  With that put aside, the Flatbread Pizza is getting some easy points for that. The only thing new on this pizza is the flatbread crust and I found it to be passable.  The edges get pretty tough and hard for a crackery crunch, yet I didn’t mind it that much.  Yeah it’s a little on the overly dry side, but I expected that from a flatbread crust that acts as a very sturdy base for the ingredients. There is very little mess this pizza.  No dripping sauce or ingredients sliding off or strings of gooey cheese.  This pizza is great grab and go grub.  I did find the flatbreads with the combo of pepperoni, italian sausage and mushrooms to buckle more under the weight of the ingredients.  These pieces also seemed to have more sauce and cheese so either there’s a consistency problem or that’s just a result of the weighty sausage.  Not a huge concern.At a price of $11.99, it’s not an amazing value, but it’s about what I’d expect to pay.  The additional seven dollars for laziness won’t be taken into my opinion of the product itself.  If you’ve got a group of three people sharing the Flatbread Pizza, there are three separate taste choices in one and two pieces for each person.  Two bucks per piece is how it’s broken down and that price seems about average.  At this point in writing, I’ve had one of each flatbread and I’m stuffed.  I would’ve been satisfied stopping at two so I know the value is fair to me.In closing, of course these reviews are subjective and an opportunity to share your personal opinion and hope that maybe someone cares to read it.  Maybe reviews are just fodder for the contrarians that will surely call me moronic for liking or disliking a particular product.  To me, all I want is to give you my take, my pictures, and get a discussion going.  This review was worth writing because I gave a fair shot to a place that is clearly not a favorite for me.  Pizza Hut didn’t wow me in any way with their Flatbread Pizza, but they didn’t turn me off to the idea of completely closing my mind to the idea of changing tastes and changing opinions.  On this particular day, Pizza Hut wa

Starbucks is leading the calorie-conscious caffeine wave by adding nutrition information to all Starbucks menus nationwide starting June 25. The move comes after the FDA proposed a requirement that all restaurant chains with more than twenty locations post calorie counts on their menu boards and provide full nutritional information upon request. However, Starbucks decided to bite the bullet and expose the dirty calorie details regardless of the FDA’s decision. This is great news for health activists and people suffering through their summer diets, but really lousy news for all of us who’d really rather not know that our daily Frappuccino is singlehandedly supporting the sugar industry. Come on, Starbucks. We’ve been gulping your caramel-drizzled concoctions for years, and never once did we have any illusion that what we were drinking was healthy. It’s indulgent, overpriced, and effing delicious — and that’s the whole point. If we wanted zero calorie, no sugar, low fat concoctions that taste like burnt coffee beans and disappointment, we’d make ourselves coffee in our own kitchens. But no. You had to save us from ourselves and print the cold, hard truth in black and white right there on the menu. We suppose our arteries (and our six packs) will thank us later, but we’ll be honest — we’ll probably just avoid looking at the menu for a while. At least until we’re better at living in denial. H/T + PicThx Eater The post Starbucks Puts Calorie Info on Menus Nationwide, Ruins Caramel Frapps for Everyone appeared first on Foodbeast.

The latest from Pizza Hut is another style of pizza with focus on sharing and variety.  The new Firebaked Style Flatbread Pizza consists of six individual pizzas topped three different ways on a flatbread crust.  This has kind of a Domino’s Artisan vibe without the pre-set combination of ingredients.  Price $11.99.

After a while, the same ol’ Dollar Menu at Mickey D’s gets old. There are only so many McDoubles and vanilla soft serves you can eat before you start wishing more choices fit your dollar budget. Looking to add some variety to their current offerings, McDonald’s is testing a new “Dollar Menu & More” lineup. The new menu is an expansion of the original Dollar Menu and will include items ranging from $1 to $2. Some of my personal favorites include the Southwest Burger (above) featuring their beef patty topped with tortilla chips, barbecue sauce and cheddar processed cheese, and the Bacon Hot ‘N Spicy McChicken (below) with bacon, white cheddar processed cheese and a sesame seed bun combined with the Hot ‘N Spicy McChicken. Other newcomers include the Bacon McDouble, Buffalo Ranch McChicken, Dijon Swiss Burger and McChicken Deluxe. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Dollar & More Menu is currently testing in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Columbia, South Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Memphis, Tennessee; and Fresno, California. H/T + PicThx Brand Eating The post McDonald’s Testing ‘Dollar Menu & More,’ Adds $1 Burger Stuffed with Tortilla Strips appeared first on Foodbeast.

Milk & cookies . . . how do you eat them? If you grew up in my household, you likely had your fair share of cookies out of a package, because let’s face it, your mom wasn’t Paula Deen, she was a sweet Lebanese lady who bought enough packages of Chips Ahoy and Oreos to fill the minivan (oh, your mom wasn’t Lebanese?). Regardless, the years of pulling cookies out of plastic packages and dunking them into a variety of ill-fitting glasses led to a revolutionary finding. While I was pouring milk into a nearby cup during a Saturday morning marathon of Boy Meets World, some of my milk splashed into the cookie tray. My irritation quickly grew to euphoria, as I came to the realization . . . the tray was the milk cup. All the years of wasting glasses for milk and the solution was sitting in the very same package I was eating out of: Most cookie packages come segmented into catch-all compartments that just happen to make the perfect container for your milk. Gone are the days of dirtying piles of cups, crying over spilled milk, and failed attempts to fit your cookie into an uncooperative glass. And before people start throwing a fit and saying, “Well, now I’ve dirtied my cookie container,” I have one of two solutions for you: Finish your damn cookies, there’s only an average of 24 per package. No big. You can use any pair of mediocrely-crafted scissors to cut the compartment you filled with milk away from the others Looks like cookie companies had functionality in mind after all: In the past couple months, we’ve learned How to Eat Chinese Food, Cupcakes, Apples, Strawberries and Corn. Now, we can add Milk & Cookies to the list of things we can say we’re doing just that much better. Foodbeast, changing lives every day. Thanks cookies . . . thanks for nothing, mom. The post So Apparently, We’ve Been Eating Milk & Cookies Wrong Our Entire Lives [VIDEO] appeared first on Foodbeast.

Tamales are one of those things that, if I see them, I buy them. Growing up in an Italian family it may seem strange, but my grandmother actually made tamales by hand, and I fell in love with them as a little kid. During the trip where I secured my oh-so-delightful pig ears, I found [...]

You know the saying “There’s a Starbucks on every corner”? Turns out there might be more free books on city blocks than those pricy coffees. America is home to about 17,000 public libraries, according to statistician Justin Grimes with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Grimes plotted library locations on Google Maps to show their density and outreach. In the shadow of free knowledge, Starbucks operates about 11,000 stores nationwide, and McDonald’s slings burgers in about 14,000. Still, we’d  be curious to find out the average number of people visiting libraries compared to the number of people visiting McDonald’s and Starbucks locations within a given period. We have a feeling that might skew the study’s initial perspective a bit. Sorry, guys. H/T Galleycat + PicThx Atlantic Cities The post There’s Hope: America’s Libraries Outnumber McDonald’s & Starbucks appeared first on Foodbeast.

My best friend has a saying – “What’s life without a little risk?” This is usually applied to a select few scenarios, most often involving the possibility of death and/or a very good story. But when it comes to summer grilling, more than a couple “what ifs” come to mind that make taking the safer-than-sorrier route a very compelling option. You know the drill — lax food safety practices leading to pain. Sleepless nights. Gas. Sure, there are those among us who are just intuitively good cooks and know all these rules like the back of their Kindle cookbooks. But for everyone else, it might come in handy to take a quick primer before you accidentally poison yourself and all your Fourth of July guests. With that in mind, this isn’t a guide for the conservative, the timid, the chronically color-by-number. This is a guide for those who really couldn’t give a rat’s ass about proper food storage and who’d much rather do their damnedest to tempt fate. Oh, so the correct temperature for keeping food in a fridge is under 40 degrees Fahrenheit? Why don’t I crank this b*tch up to 50? Oh, you’re supposed to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds (or long enough to sing the ABC song twice)? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Check out the infographic below this list to learn how not to be a total, blundering idiot at the grill and in the kitchen. For everyone else, here are 15 Sure-Fire Ways to Guarantee You’ll Get Food Poisoning This Summer, Probably. _______________ 1. Feel free to use raw meat as all-purpose grocery bag décor Most meats are either bagged or shrink-wrapped, but what’s stopping that glossy Cap’n Commander Crunch box from tearing your steak a new one? Cross-contamination happens when bacteria-infested juices from uncooked foods come into contact with other foods they have no business coming into contact with. So it’s best to separate your raw meats from your other groceries from the get-go, right out of the grocery store. That way if and when they leak, at least they’ll leak all over each other and not into your precious breakfast cereals. Unless, you know, you’re trying to kill somebody. Picthx Kitchn 2. Leave groceries in the car while you spend the day at Disneyland Summer at Disneyland means higher temperatures and longer lines – perfect conditions for flourishing bacteria. Foodsafetysite.com recommends that perishable food should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours, no more than one hour if it’s hotter than 90 degrees F. They also recommend storing food in the back seat instead of the trunk, as temperatures back there can easily reach over 100 degrees F. Picthx Bimmer Forums 3. Make sure to use the same cutting board, tongs and plates for everything You know what they say, don’t eat where your bacteria sh*ts. Wait. Well, whatever the maxim is, the same bacteria that are wallowing around in your meat juices don’t just disappear from those juices just because the meat’s been cooked. If you’re using the same cutting boards, tongs, knives and plates to handle raw meat as you are to handle cooked meat, you’re practically nullifying the whole cooking process. We’ve heard of paleo before, but that’s something else entirely. Picthx Wikimedia 4. Skip the directions Different meats mean different cooking times and different cooking temperatures. Foster Farms states that cooking poultry at 165 degrees Fahrenheit cooks all bacteria, while about.com places it at between 8 – 20 minutes for steak and 5 – 12 minutes for hot dogs. When in doubt, check the packaging. Picthx Food Safety News 5. Only check the surface temperature for doneness A recent episode of Masterchef showcased a gorgeous shiitake black cod which was also, sadly, completely raw inside. While this isn’t much of an issue with steaks, other meats like burgers and sausages actually need to be cooked throughout in order to not to leave you huddled over the toilet seat bemoaning your entire existence. Do yourself a favor, stick that th