The product-development arm of fast-food companies never sleeps -- and in the slower restaurant months of January and February, it always seems to go into hyper-drive.
One of the latest unholy offerings is from Einstein Bros. Bagels, which has just released Twisted Bagels. They look like the offspring of challah and bagels, if a plain challah got together with a sesame bagel. It's two flavors in a braided bagel (sesame and plain, double chocolate chip and cinnamon raisin) -- and yes, one of them is asiago-flavored (asiago and cheddar cheese). If Panera Bread or Einstein Brothers were to ever close up shop, the speculative asiago cheese market would completely collapse.
I applaud the company for stretching the definition of bagel, but I shudder at what cream-cheese holder will next come out of its R&D department.
After all, the Mac Snack Wrap
is already here; it's a kind of hand-held cheeseburger burrito/wrap hybrid (it's
hard not to look at this and think that somebody has simply bitten a
Big Mac in half and then rolled it in a flour tortilla). The newest
iteration of a Big Mac made headlines last March, when it was being test-marketed in the United States and introduced to the Canadian market.
This
is either a Big Mac that's significantly less messy or a snack wrap
that's infinitely more beefy. Your shirt and your conscience will be
the judge.
In addition to new menu items, many fast-food joints are offering eat-in and takeout specials. To start your day, Dunkin' Donuts has a 99 cent egg and cheese sandwich -- with the purchase of a medium coffee or hot chocolate. It's available at the Lawrence and Overland Park locations.
When you need lunch, IHOP restaurants (in Overland Park, Merriam, and Grandview) have re-introduced the all-you-can-eat pancake special. You get two pancakes to start with an egg, hash brown and pork side combo -- after that, they bring three buttermilk pancakes (the only flavor included in the special) at a time until you ask them to stop or pass out in your booth. The special starts at $4.99 and lasts until February 21.
And dinner can come courtesy of Pizza Hut's $10 Pizza Days, where any size pizza with any number
of toppings is $10 (stuffed crust and double toppings are extra).
[Image via Flickr: Robert Banh]
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