Archive for the ‘Fast Food’ Category

Punch Pizza Mimi

Friday, July 16th, 2010
Punch Mimi - Ad

Punch Mimi

A few days ago, Punch Pizza was giving away free Mimis – sauceless Neopolitan-style pizzas with basil, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella. Did I get in on that action? Of course I did.

Looks: The pizza I got could very well have been photographed for the ad – except for the size of the basil leaves and normal variations in the char of the crust, it was exactly as advertised. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: When I first started eating it, I was skeptical – no sauce? What is this, Soviet Russia? Due to the lack of sauce or melted cheese to glue the toppings to the pizza, I resigned myself to eating it like a breadbowl salad – toppings, crust, toppings, crust. However, as I continue to work on it, I started to get the hang of grabbing tomato, mozzarella, and basil in each bite, and the more I ate, the better it tasted – something in the juice of the cherry tomatoes combined with the slightly salty crust to produce a delicious combination that was completely unexpected and completely awesome. (I think I would have appreciated smaller pieces of basil, but that could be because I have trouble cutting leafy food with my incisors – long story.)

While there are only six Punch Pizza locations (and they’re all in central Minnesota), their pizzas are the closest thing to authentic Neopolitan pizza I’ve had in the U.S. Definitely try them out if you have a chance. 4.5 out of 5

P.S. Punch regularly announces deals and promotions via their @PunchPizza Twitter account.

Burger King Breakfast Muffin Sandwich

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Burger King Breakfast Muffin Sandwich - Ad

Burger King Breakfast Muffin Sandwich

Looks: The bun is overly browned (-0.5 points), the cheese is an oily orange and it curls up instead of down (-0.5 points), the sausage patty is overcooked (-0.5 points), and I want to deduct one more thing (-0.5 points). 3 out of 5

Taste: Burger King is advertising this sandwich as being blatantly stolen from McDonalds but offered for half the price, so let’s compare it to McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffin.

  1. The McDonald’s version is so oily I needed to call in the National Guard to help with cleanup efforts after I finished it, but this is lacking any sort of grease overflow.
  2. It tastes more “real” than McDonalds’ too; almost as if I made it myself in my kitchen. (That is, if I had access to pre-cooked egg-like squares and a heat lamp to leave it under for 20 minutes.)
  3. The sausage is just a little bit spicy, where McDonalds’ meat is unprovocative.
  4. The egg is mostly tasteless and not at all like McDonalds’ version of eggs, which aren’t too far off from the real thing.

Burger King is selling this for just $1, so it gets a favorable rating on that aspect, but for every dollar they raise the price, I’d probably take a point off of my rating. It’s good, but not $2 good. 3 out of 5

Jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burgers

Monday, April 26th, 2010

jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burgers - Ad

jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burgers

jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burger

Reader Rose Marshall provided this review of tiny little burgers from some place called “Jack in the Box,” which, being from Minnesota, I have never heard of.

Looks: Basically looked “mini” and sirlion-y…but in the thrown together way that all fast food looks. The burgers were thick and not too dry. The biggest discrepancy was the buns, they would have looked like the photo, except they were burnt….like BLACK burnt. I guess my Mom taught me to eat burnt food, so I didn’t really mind. 3.5 out of 5

Taste: Tasted pretty good, actually tasted like real food. Which, in some messed up way disappointed me, because I expect a fast food burger to be a super-greasy delicious sin. But, it was not as sinful as some, meat was thick and meaty. I would eat it again. The cooked onions were a nice touch, different that the standard toppings. 4 out of 5

I don’t know about you, but that last picture is the most appetizing thing I’ve seen all week.

Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich - Ad

Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich

Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich - Interior

(This sandwich was purchased from the Chick-fil-A in the Philadelphia airport during a 16-hour layover, so take from that what you will.)

Looks: Browner, crispier, and flatter than the advertised sandwich. The pickles were only visible after some exploration. (Although the bottom of that chicken patty makes me want to rethink my rating…) 4 out of 5

Taste: I can understand why McDonald’s came out with their own “southern” chicken sandwich in order to try and replicate Chick-fil-A’s success. The chicken patty is very good – crunchy batter and juicy meat – although it doesn’t taste too different from the chicken that Burger King serves on their Chicken Tendercrisp sandwich, so there’s nothing especially unique about it, but soft bread + good chicken = happy mouth. (I don’t care too much for pickles, so I gave them to my one-year-old son. He had no comment.) 4.5 out of 5