chains

A question in the Village Voice's Ask the Critics column has got me thinking about chain restaurants. Do you eat at a lot of chains?

Although there's the occasional time I find myself at a chain restaurant, I generally avoid them. The large portions, standardized decor, and generic food don't appeal to me. If I'm going to spend money on a meal out, I want it to be delicious and original!

That being said, the chains I make an exception for are BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse and Hillstone. I've eaten at both more than once and wasn't disappointed. Hillstone's artichoke dip is one of the best I've tasted! How about you? What chain restaurants do you eat at?

Source: Flickr User QuesterMark

"Crispy. Tender. New," the Burger King website declares of its latest menu item, BK Chicken Tenders. Funny: they might've been new on the BK lineup, but we could've sworn we'd seen them somewhere. Oh, right, on the menu at every McDonald's worldwide for the last three decades as Chicken McNuggets.

Much like the BK Breakfast Muffin was to the McDonald's Sausage McMuffin, the BK Chicken Tenders are near-carbon copies of their Golden Arched counterparts. (When asked to comment, Burger King remarked, "We don't provide details on our secret recipe.")

McDonald's sells its nuggets in packages of four, six, and 10; Burger King's are available in boxes of four, eight, and 20. In our taste test, we learned that just about everything, right down to the packaging, is identical — except, we discovered, with regards to taste. To see how fast food's top two stacked up against each other in a chicken nugget faceoff, read more.

The economic recession may not sound like the best time for burgeoning enterprises to expand, but a few restaurant chains actually expanded a shocking amount in the year 2010.

Among them? In-N-Out competitor Five Guys, BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, known for, among other things, its decadent Pizookie cookie; Jimmy John's, which is stacking up to be a fine competitor to Quiznos and Subway; and Chipotle, the burrito behemoth that also has a new Asian concept in the works.

Slashfood got its hands on Technomic's top restaurants and their sales over the past year. To find out more — including which chain takes the title of fastest-growing restaurant — read the full story at Slashfood.

Source: Flickr User Steve Snodgrass

Taco Bell, it seems, is not done defending its beef tacos. After being sued by a woman who claimed the chain's beef tacos, which contain only 15 percent protein, were falsely advertised, the Tex-Mex eatery took out full page advertisements in major publications to explain the truth behind its seasoned beef. Today, Taco Bell has taken it one step further by announcing the world's largest taco giveaway.

The company plans to thank Facebook fans for their support throughout the ordeal by giving away 10 million free beef tacos. To get a free taco, all you have to do is "like" Taco Bell on Facebook, then you'll be granted access to print a coupon for the taco. Although I haven't had Taco Bell in years, all this taco talk has made me crave the fast food joint's crunchy, meaty tacos. Perhaps I will take them up on the offer. How about you? Will you get a free beef taco?

Source: Flickr User i_hate_u

When McDonald's first launched its Angus Third Pounders to much fanfare, we couldn't wait to try them out, and the consensus was that the chain's Bacon & Cheese Third Pounder came out on top. The golden arches must've known they were on to something, because now they've expanded their line to include an Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon & Cheese Third Pounder.

The new offering — which also comes wrapped in a tortilla as a Snack Wrap — has a proprietary chipotle BBQ sauce. Did the smoky spiciness that chipotle is known for bring a new dimension to the Angus Third Pounder? Slashfood was on a mission to find out. For the verdict, read the full story at Slashfood.

As grocery bills continue to get steeper, Walmart is hoping to make a name for itself as an affordable place to buy healthy, wholesome food.

At a Washington news conference Wednesday, America's largest grocer stood by First Lady Michelle Obama and pledged to make its food products more healthful — and affordable. "We don't think any American should have to choose between what's affordable and what's healthy," executives at Walmart declared. The decision is right in line with Obama's food policy push for more corporations to market healthy food to kids.Walmart pledged to build new stores in urban and rural underserved areas and reformulate thousands of packaged food items by 2015, removing industrially produced trans fats, cutting sodium by 25 percent, dropping added sugars by 10 percent, and developing new labeling that'll call attention to whole-grain and unsweetened food options. It also plans to work with suppliers to lower prices on fresh produce at a rate that will save customers $1 billion annually.

The corporation's plan follows efforts to source more food sustainably. Regardless of its motivations, I'm glad Walmart's taken this long overdue step. Will you shop there more?

While at Fancy Foods, we caught up with J&D's Foods, the masterminds behind Baconnaise. Cofounder Justin Esch revealed what's next in the world of cured pork: soon, Hickory BaconSalt will grace the top of every table at Denny's Restaurants nationwide.

In addition to Hickory BaconSalt's presence at Denny's, we also learned that Baconnaise is coming to the shelves of Wal-Mart.

Hickory bacon sprinkles atop a Grand Slam, and bacon mayonnaise for the middle-American masses; it'd be hard to dream up a better fit, don't you think?