Arby's buying Wendy's for $2.3 billion

Actually, the owner of Arby's, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, is doing the buying, but he also owns Arby's (through a company called Triarc).

Dave Thomas started Wendy's in 1969.

Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news.

"It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome," said Farber, 53.

If her father were alive to hear news of the buyout, "he would not be amused," she said.

Associated Press

Pizza Hut's 580-calorie slice

Yes, that's right, a single slice of Pizza Hut's new Double Deep Meat Lover's Pizza has 580 calories! 330 of those calories are from fat.

Touted by Pizza Hut as an "innovation," the Double Deep "features so many toppings that Pizza Hut needed to use a specially folded crust to hold them in."

Brian Niccol, Pizza Hut CMO admits, “Double Deep Pizza is abundantly topped for big appetites.”

Here's the rest of the nutritional stats for a single slice of Pizza Hut's Double Deep Meat Lover's Pizza: 580 calories, 330 calories from fat, 36 grams total fat, 14 grams saturated fat, 1.5 grams trans fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 1990 mg sodium, 31 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams sugars, 31 grams protein.

Jack's Sirloin Steak Melt

Jack in the Box has a new sirloin sandwich called the Sirloin Steak Melt.

The Melt features slices of marinated sirloin steak and American, cheddar, and Swiss-style cheese topped with grilled onions and peppercorn mayo on grilled sourdough bread.

"Our new melt has everything our guests crave – sirloin steak, lots of cheese and our grilled sourdough bread," said Teka O'Rourke, director of menu marketing and promotions for Jack in the Box. "It's an incredibly satisfying, indulgent sandwich with very broad appeal."

The Sirloin Steak Melt sells for $3.99 at participating Jack in the Box restaurants.

Jack's Sirloin Steak Melt has 640 calories, 360 calories from fat, 40 grams total fat, 13 grams saturated fat, 2 grams trans fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 1490 mg sodium, 34 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams sugars, and 36 grams protein.

UK McDonald's parking fee

From the Guardian Unlimited in the UK, it appears that McDonald's restaurants are fining customers who stay in their parking lot too long.

And it is no small fine either: £125 (about $255). Cameras in the parking lot take photos of license plates and a bill is sent to the car's owner.

(The sign shown isn't an actual one. We made it at Ronald McHummer.)

"The question of just how long it should take to eat fast food is being answered by the burger giant McDonald's, which is making customers finish within 45 minutes or face a charge of £125.

"Motorists who care to linger over their McMeals for any longer at some drive-throughs are receiving demands from a private company that manages car parks for the burger chain."

from Guardian Unlimited via BoingBoing
custom McDonald's sign made at Ronald McHummer

Carl's Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito

Carl's Jr. has added a staple Mexican dish to their breakfast line up and wrapped it in a burrito.

There new Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito has features refried beans, scrambled eggs, shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, and Ranchero sauce, topped with corn tortilla strips, and wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

"While originally starting out as a traditional Mexican breakfast, Huevos Rancheros has become a menu favorite at diners and sit-down eateries throughout the western states," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. "However, eggs, beans, melted cheese and Ranchero sauce don't make for a very portable breakfast. At Carl's Jr., we rolled it all up in a flour tortilla so it can be eaten as a burrito when you're on the go."

Carl's Jr.'s Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito has 660 calories, 34 grams of fat, 10 grams saturated fat, 490 mg cholesterol, 1550 mg sodium, 60 grams carbohydrates, 30 grams protein.

The Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito is priced at $2.39 or $3.89 as part of a breakfast combo meal, but you can save a dollar with this coupon.

T-shirt: How Hamburgers are Made

Another great fast food related t-shirt from our favorite t-shirt shop, Threadless.

This one is called How Hamburgers are Made:

Wendy's customer wins burger build

In May, Wendy’s challenged America to create and vote for its next great burger. Seven months and 15,000 entries later, the people have chosen a winner: The Philly Style Hoagie Burger, created by Ian Van Camp, a screenwriter from Los Angeles.

Wendy’s announced the winning burger today to mark the 38th anniversary of the founding of the hamburger chain by Dave Thomas in 1969.

Upon winning the $25,000 prize Van Camp said, “I knew if I got too crazy with the ingredients it wouldn’t be possible for Wendy’s to make – but it had to be unique,” said Van Camp. “The fact that Wendy’s tested my burger in their food kitchen and that people liked what they tasted – how cool is that? Not many people can say that.”

More on Van Camp's burger at www.thisismyburger.com

Cows flee McDonald's

8 cows escaped from their trailer when the driver pulled in for lunch at a Utah McDonald's on Monday.

Did they glimpse their future?

It took a couple hours to round them up.

The round-up was quickly dubbed "Operation Hamburger Helper."

Yahoo! News via BoingBoing

Chick-fil-a calendar and video contest

Calendar:
Chick-fil-a's 2008 Cow Calendar will feature "One-Hit Wonder Cows" in 2008.

This will be the 11th year that Chick-fil-a has produced their Cow Calendar. One-Hit Wonder Cow highlights include Junior Double-Cheese Jr. singing “Chicken Ain’t Cheatin’,” Spicy Skirtsteak’s hit “Gimme Chicken One More Time,” and Veal Medallion crooning “Chickens in the Night.”

The calendars will cost $5 and will include more than $30 in Chick-fil-A food coupons. Chick-fil-A is also offering a free calendar to customers who purchase a re-loadable Chick-fil-A Card in the amount of $20 or more. In addition, four plush toy versions of the One-Hit Wonder Cows will be available for purchase at $4.99 each.

Video Contest:

Chick-fil-a has a video contest to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Starting tomorrow (November 13) Chick-fil-A is launching an online video contest to find the brand’s greatest fan in the country. Chick-fil-A fans can submit a video – up to one minute in length – "that creatively pleads their case as to why they believe they are the brand’s most passionate fan."

The prize is 40 months of free Chick-fil-A Combo Meals, a trip for two to Atlanta to visit the corporate headquarters, and Chick-fil-A merchandise.

You can watch Chick-fil-a's President, Dan Cathy, explain the contest here:

Quizno's nutritional information... finally!

At long last, Quizno’s has revealed the nutritional information for their toasted subs, salads, soups and bread bowls.

We wrote about Quizno’s lack of nutritional data back in March of 2006. Until this week they were the largest fast food restaurant chain that did not publish their nutrition data.

Quizno’s doesn’t make it easy or convenient to find the nutritional information on their website. (see Note below for instructions on finding it on their site.)

To make it a bit simplier we’ve posted Quizno’s nutritional information all in one chart.

Some noteworthy discoveries in Quizno’s nutrition data:

• Quizno's Tuna Melt has the highest calorie and fat totals of any of their sandwichs! The large Tuna Melt has over 2,000 calories and 175 grams of fat!! (The regular size has 1,420 calories and 118 grams of fat, the small 770 calories and 60 grams of fat!)


• 2 of the 5 salads Quizno's serves have 1,000 calories. The Roasted Chicken with Honey Mustard Flatbread Salad has 1120 calories and 76 grams of fat!


• Quizno's large Prime Rib Cheesesteak Sub has 1,770 calories and 116 grams of fat (that's 1030 calories from fat). It also has 2.5 grams trans fat.


• Quizno's Turkey Bacon Guacamole Sub with reduced fat Buttermilk Ranch dressing has a whopping 4530 mg of sodium! The US FDA recommends less than 2,400 mg of Sodium per day for adults. Quizno's has 31 items with over 2,400 mg of Sodium.


• Quizno's also has 34 items with over 50 grams of fat.


• Oh, and about the 'healthy' stuff... Quizno's large Veggie sub has 1,220 calories and 75 grams of fat!

If you suspected that Quizno’s didn’t publish this data sooner because the calorie, fat and sodium counts were high, you were right.

Note: Most fast food restaurant chains have a full nutritional data chart available; Quizno's only offers the data 1 sandwich at a time... it makes for lots of clicking. And the sauce and cheese data is only added to the totals after you do some more clicking.

To find the data on Quizno’s website, go to Quizno’s menu page and then click on a food category (like Subs), then find “Show Nutrition Information” at the bottom. This will cause a link to “Nutritional Information” to appear under each food item. Click one of these links will open the nutritional information in a new window. Then you’ll have to check the boxes next to things like dressing and cheese to get the grand total for the item.

I don't know exactly how long the Quizno's data has been available. I discovered it after a tip from a Fast Food News reader. You can bet Quizno's won't be promoting it. US Food Policy has also written about the new Quizno's data, too.

BK's Homestyle Melts

Yesterday Burger King introduced their new Homestyle Melts for a limited time. BK is billing them as "delicious melted sandwiches just like mom used to make."

There's a Homestyle Melt designed for breakfast and another for lunch and dinner.

For breakfast, the Honey Butter Homestyle Melt, has sausage, egg, honey butter sauce and melted American cheese between two pieces of "buttery flavored" sourdough bread. It costs $2.39.

For lunch and dinner the Bacon Double Homestyle Melt (shown above) has four half-slices of bacon, three slices of melted Swiss cheese and two hamburger patties with a garlic cheese sauce on "buttery flavored" sourdough bread. It costs $2.79 and has 810 calories and 58 grams of fat (more nutritional info below).

"Homestyle Melts are comfort foods Burger King style, with great, robust flavors and textures people associate with home," said John Schafulberger, senior vice president of global product marketing for Burger King Corp.

BK describes the television advertising campaign for these new sandwiches: "three vignettes that feature four moms who are angry at the King for encroaching on their turf by offering melted sandwiches served on soft buttery bread. The moms try to defend their territory, but the King and his new Homestyle Melts are ultimately victorious."

Burger King's Bacon Double Homestyle Melt with Buttery Spread has 810 calories, 520 calories from fat, 58 fat grams, 20 grams saturated fat, 2 grams trans fat, 135 mg cholesterol, 1370 mg sodium, 34 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 5 grams sugars, 39 grams protein.

Jon Stewart on Taco Bell in Mexico

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart talked about Taco Bell opening their first store in Mexico and wonders if Taco Bell will use their slogan, "Run for the border," in Mexico, too. He also shows us what a television ad in Mexico for Taco Bell might look like. Watch it below (or here)...

New product testing by McD's and Wendy's

Wendy's only sold chocolate Frosty's until July of last year (2006) when they introduced a vanilla shake. Now Wendy's is testing strawberry shakes.

Since the introduction of the vanilla Frosty, Frosty sales are up 60 percent and now top 300 million a year.

via Ohio News Now

McDonald's has begun testing two new McSkillet Burritos in a number of markets. One of the new McSkillet Burritos features steak and the other features sausage, both combined with potatoes, eggs, cheese and peppers.

via Cattle Network News

Fast food speed & accuracy survey

QSR Magazine has published 2007 edition of their annual "Best in Drive-Thru" report. (I wrote about the 2006 report last year.)

There's a lot to read in the various sections of the report, so here's the meat. Three ranking lists (starting with the best performing fast food restaurant and going down) that I'll call "Accuracy," "Speed," and "Friendliness."

Speed (found here) is based on the how long it takes to get your fast food drive-thru order. The same 4 chains are in the top 4, but in a different order. Wendy's moved to #1.

Accuracy (found here) is based on how often the chain gets your order right. Chick-fil-a holds onto the #1 spot again this year and Burger King enters the top 5.

The friendliest drive-thrus, based on the use of "please" and "thank you" and smiles, eye contact and an overall pleasant demeanor, can be found here.

Taco Bell's 2007 World Series promotion

Last year, Taco Bell's World Series promotion was to offer a free taco to everyone in America if there was left-field home run during Game 3 of the World Series. After six innings with no home runs, Taco Bell extended the promotion to include any home runs.

There were no home runs in the game, but the sportscasters talked about Taco Bell and their promotion during the entire game giving Taco Bell some great exposure (although I'm sure it cost them plenty).

This year Taco Bell's World Series promotion involves stolen bases. Any stolen base during the entire World Series will earn everyone in America a free taco.

Taco Bell is using the slogan "90ft. to free tacos for America" for this promotion. 90ft. being the distance between bases on the baseball diamond.

Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who stole a record 14 bases in World Series play (including an individual series record seven during the 1967 MLB World Series), will serve as Taco Bell's spokesperson. "Steal A Base, Steal A Taco" will also benefit a worthy cause -- a monetary donation of $20,000 will be made to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

If there is a stolen base, you can obtain your free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 (if base is stolen in Games 1 or 2 on October 24 or October 25, 2007) OR November 6, 2007 (if base is stolen in Games 3-7, October 27, 28, 29, 31, November 1, 2007). (More details at www.StealaBaseStealaTaco.com)

The good news for taco lover's: There has been at least one stolen base in every World Series matchup since 1990.

Fast food chains at 1000 mark

Sure, Subway has 20,755 locations and McDonald's has 13,744, but for some up-and-comers, the 1,000 restaurants mark is a huge one.

USA Today has an article on the front page of their "Money" section this morning about some chains that have "hit the big 1-0-0-0." Some excerpts:

Papa Murphy's, the ready-to-bake pizza maker, has reached 1,000 units after 23 years in business.

WingStreet, on the other hand, has reached 1,000 units in just 4 years. Of course, they share locations with Pizza Hut and are owned by Yum Brands.

Panda Express started in 1083 and now has 1,000 restaurants.

Sbarro's, the Italian fast food chain, opened its 1,000th location in Istanbul, Turkey and expects much of its future growth to occur outside the US.

Panera Bread took 25 years to reach 1,000 restaurants this year.

source: USA Today

Parents scold McDonald's for 'selling sex'

QSR Magazine is reporting that a parents organization is suing McDonald's for it's "My Scene Barbie" promotion:

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is demanding that McDonald's immediately end what it calls its "highly sexualized" My Scene Barbie Happy Meal promotion featuring "ludicrously proportioned" Barbies with micro miniskirts, halter tops, and rollerblades.

"It's bad enough that McDonald's continues to use toys to sell kids on junk food," says CCFC's director, Dr. Susan Linn, a psychologist at Judge Baker Children's Center. "But to lure young girls to its restaurants by promoting the worst sexualized stereotypes is reprehensible."

more at QSR Magazine...

Hardee's Country Breakfast Buritto

We were 'impressed' by the calories in Hardee's Steak 'N' Egg Burrito (560 calories) and Loaded Breakfast Burrito (780 calories)... now we're just overwhelmed!

Hardee's new Country Breakfast Burrito has a heart-stopping 902 calories and 60 grams of fat!

Hardee's is proud of this gut-busting breakfast and doesn't make any excuses for it's colossal calorie count. CNN quotes Hardee's marketing chief Brad Haley, ""We don't try to hide what these are," he said. "When consumers go to other fast-food places they feel like they've got to buy two of their breakfast sandwiches or burritos to fill up. This is really designed to fill you up."

Hardee's Country Breakfast Burrito has 902 calories, 60 grams of fat, 540 calories from fat, 23 grams saturated fat, 51 grams carbs, 500 mg cholesterol, 1970 mg sodium, 42 grams protein and is priced at $2.69.

from Epicurious: "That's more than half the daily recommended caloric intake for many Americans, and more fat than most of us need to eat every three days."

Hat tips: Slashfood, Epicurious, & CNN

Today is World Food Day 2007

Spread the word & help feed the world.
www.worldfooddayusa.org

via US Food Policy (thanks!)

Sonic's XL Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak

My wife and I stopped at a Sonic Drive-In over the weekend for a couple Cherry Limeades (yum!) and we noticed this sign on the drive-up menu board:

I was transfixed by the enormity of the sandwich (and its name), but my wife noticed the calorie saving hint in smaller print at the bottom: "Even better with a Diet Coke and fresh lime."

If you're going to eat something like that, why bother with a DIET coke!?!? Just go for it and get the regular Coke (or at least a Cherry Limeade).

I was guessing at least 1000 calories for this bad-boy, but it totals a mere 710 calories (complete nutritional data below).

The Extra-Long Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak is a "limited-time" menu item at Sonic. Their description:

What, you think you have to go to Philadelphia to get a quality cheesesteak? Just swing by any SONIC® (including the Philadelphia locations) and order a big, hearty, meat-lovers sandwich—juicy steak smothered with smoky cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, grilled onions and mayonnaise. Only SONIC® makes it extra long. Because we know that the regular amount of flavor just won't cut the mustard ... I mean mayo. There's no mustard. Forget I mentioned that.

As we were driving away, sipping our excellent Cherry Limeades, we made another observation: no other fast food restaurant comes anywhere close to offering the variety of drinks that Sonic does. We love it.

Sonic Drive-In's Extra-Long Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak has 710 calories, 360 calories from fat, 40 grams fat, 13 grams saturated fat, 1 gram trans fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 1030 mg sodium, 52 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 7 grams sugars, and 35 grams protein.