The Wiener and Still Champion is celebrating National Hot Dog Day this Saturday and is offering every Vienna Beef, Chicago-style hot dog (and freshly battered Dipping Dog) for $1.00, so make like a Kobayashi and get yer fill.

Now there’s some conflicting info on the web as to whether July 19th or July 23rd is the actual National Hot Dog Day this year, but I like having the offer available on the weekend. National Hot Dog Month is also most definitely July, so there’s little to do now but kick back and enjoy some super sausage… on the cheap. Eat up.

Feel free to check out the other photos I snapped while he was there at the Picasa web album set up for just that purpose.

Yup, so there goes another chunk of my internet anonymity, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. And in case you were wondering, that’s a shirt for Korea University, which was established in 1905… in Korea. No, I didn’t go there for college.

So they’re only 7.11-ounce cups… but you can’t beat free, and it’s hard not to stumble on one of the thousands of locations that could potentially be participating. (Only once did they reject someone in my experience — a whole lotta schoolkids — but otherwise it’s been good.) Just don’t go too late or the Birthday cup supply could run out on ya. (And yes, it’s the company’s 81st B-day, and this apparently marks the 7th year of this wonderful promotion.)

I don’t know what radioactively colored frozen beverage you might be interested in this Friday, but I personally like Coke and Mountain Dew quite a bit… if they’re available (and the machine’s working).

Availability: participating Bells

Location: 3511 W. Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60659 (map); phone: (773) 588-9712

Rating: 3 out of 5 - acceptable

New menu items can obviously be hit-or-miss affairs, but Taco Bell’s additions have been surprisingly more pleasant than they seem to have any right to be. And while the Triple Layer Nachos didn’t stick to their Value Menu pricing as well as their Cheesy Double Beef sibling at my particular location (they’re listed at 79 cents online, though the web site does warn that prices and items may vary), the meatless combination of “nacho chips, covered in simmering red sauce, hearty beans and nacho cheese sauce” remained quite palatable — and under a dollar (even with tax).

Traditionally, whenever I order a plate o’ nachos from a border Bell, I get bored about halfway through when I run out of cheese and start to wonder how the tortilla chips would taste with some slices of jalapeno. In this case, I didn’t even miss the usual ground beef as there seemed to be enough beans and nacho cheese for at least two-thirds of the contents in the container. Mysterious red sauce strikes again, but makes little impact (on taste or perceived spiciness), leaving me to rip open the necessary Fire Sauce packets for any meaningful kick. Still, for a Taco Bell dish without meat, I’m shocked again by how my relatively decent experience is only enhanced by the budget price point. If only all meatless dishes could be as gooey and filling — without making me yearn for beef.

Promotion: Subway Get Smart sweepstakes, instant-win game

Location: 6843 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincolnwood, IL 60712 (map); phone: (847) 329-8134

Rating: 3 out of 5 - acceptable

I like entering online contests, but some sweepstakes are clearly more giving than others. I was lucky to win more bags of these Flat Earth Baked Veggie Crisps from Frito-Lay than I knew what to do with (thanks, CAG), and the winning e-mails just began to form daily in my inbox like the evening dew. It had been a while since I’d stepped foot in a local Subway sandwich shop, but I knew I was in for trouble when the person working there had never seen my winning redemption e-mail before. Fortunately, the deeper inspections, personal-information taking, and management consultations would come after this initial trip, freeing me to enjoy some free veggie crisps after a brief and relatively pleasant round of counter confusion.

So what’s all this Flat Earth talk about? Apparently, Frito-Lay decided that Baked Lays didn’t take the health quotient far enough for some customers, so in addition to baking these crisps, they decided to meet some of your daily nutrient requirements as well. Emblazoned across every 1-1/4 oz. bag of these “impossibly good” blends of rice, potato, and vegetables is the reminder that there’s “1/2 serving of real vegetables in every ounce” of these crisper chips, which are made up of more rice flour than potato flakes (as listed by priority in the ingredients list on the back). This rice-potato flip-flop seems to produce an almost Pringles-esque effect in taste and drying of the mouth (albeit in a thicker, sturdier, and more ridge-laden package), though Pringles still has more dried potatoes (and vegetable oil) than rice flour.

As for the Tangy Tomato Ranch part of the equation, the ranch component appears to derive from the cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, butter, garlic powder, dehydrated onion, and other natural and artificial flavors thrown in there. There are “spices” and ascorbic acid to help with the tang, but the main flavor that serves to distinguish this instance of the Flat Earth label is its tomatoey-ness. Tomato paste and powder, combined with dehydrated red bell peppers and the ranch factor already mentioned, produced a first impression of dried spaghetti sauce on the tongue. Nearly two weeks later with a second bag (acquired with relatively little trouble, thankfully), the ranch taste seems to dominate the overall flavor more, but the note of tomato still manages to filter through as one of those unexpected sensations near checkout lines typically reserved for SunChips, also made by Frito-Lay and sold by Subway.

All that to say that Tangy Tomato Ranch produces some unique flavors not altogether unpleasant in combination. If you haven’t tried a crisp or two, it could be an interesting new experience for ya. But should you lay down the cash — and not a winning e-mail print-out — to give it a try? Hard to say, so this Ranch will have to remain just within the borders of acceptability for me. At least this crisp can say it’s different.

Promotion: coupon for a free Frutista with any purchase

Location: 3511 W. Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60659 (map); phone: (773) 588-9712

Rating: 4 out of 5 - good

It can sometimes be hard to find a good (frozen, virgin) strawberry daiquiri at higher-end sit-down restaurants, and that certainly is the case at fast-food places, too. What I would settle for, however, is a reasonably priced fruity slush — which might be considered as less thick, but more easily drinkable than a smoothie. Taco Bell seems to have answered my prayers with the Frutista Freeze, a permanent addition to its lineup, now available in Strawberry and Mango Strawberry. Both versions are topped with real strawberries (which I suppose makes up for the fact that there’s “natural fruit flavors,” but no actual “fruit juice,” inside).

Nevertheless, these 16-oz. cups are mostly sweetened with “natural” sucrose rather than high-fructose corn syrup (see the May 15th official press release here), and the Freeze tastes great and goes down real easy with your standard-sized burrito. Not only was it simpler to slurp up through a straw than a milk shake, but there was virtually no flavorless ice left at the bottom when I’d sucked that frozen drink almost dry (unlike a number of airier Slurpees I’ve known). It’s just the drink for a hot day, and it doesn’t necessarily need another non-dessert complement to help wash down the food, either — a big score for value.

McDonald’s might be moving in the specialty coffee direction for its chain-wide new-beverage initiative, but I’d take strawberries on a sucrose slushee anyday. Frozen fruitiness for the win.

Availability: participating Bells

Location: 3511 W. Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60659 (map); phone: (773) 588-9712

Rating: 3 out of 5 - acceptable

It’s interesting that when I finally got around to reviewing something from Taco Bell, there’s a new salmonella scare surrounding raw tomatoes that’s got chains around the country pulling fresh tomatoes off their menus. Taco Bell is, of course, not immune to the dangers of bad marketing (nor unfeeling as to its customers’ health), so it was fortuitous that I already wanted to check out a menu item that included no diced tomatoes whatsoever. (The additional Fire Sauce I sprinkled on later presumably uses fully cooked tomatoes in its formula.)

Taco Bell has been making some additions to its Value Menu lately, and the most recently advertised Cheesy Double Beef Burrito seemed appetizing enough to try. Considering its simple composition (”A fresh tortilla filled with double the seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, seasoned rice and red sauce”), I wasn’t really expecting to be blown away — and just to get that out of the way, I wasn’t. But it’s not a bad deal if you don’t mind ground beef (which I find tasty in burritos and tacos from the Bell and elsewhere) or the slightly liquid-y nacho cheese sauce. The seasonings for the beef and rice were terrific as far as Taco Bell is concerned, as I remember the beef tasting (and looking) worse 10 years ago.

I don’t know what’s included in the “red sauce” that rounds out the list of ingredients in this new burrito bad boy, but along with the nacho cheese, this combination of flavors actually didn’t have me pulling for the hot sauce until I was well over halfway through. A trip to Taco Bell generally means multiple packets of Fire Sauce per order for me, so that could be considered somewhat of an accomplishment. (The Fire Sauce packets are the red ones with bits of veggies and spices thrown in, as opposed to the mostly liquid Mild and Hot Sauces.) By the end of my tortilla, however, I grew somewhat weary of the easy chewing and simplicity of contents. I began thinking about how the cheesy softness reminded me of mac & cheese and began coveting the challenge of harder meats like the pricier steak and chicken. For now this would have to do, but it’s not that bad when it’s just under a buck.

I’ve already encountered no fewer than three mailings to Korean Americans — mostly in Korean — including coupons for free Southern Style Chicken Sandwiches and Biscuits, no purchase necessary. While I’ve personally been left out of the biscuit bonanza myself, it would make sense to assume that other ethnic groups were targeted by McDonald’s for their latest product offerings as well. It’s also good to know that friends and family are perfectly willing to donate their mailing-list prizes, even if the food items aren’t exactly best in class. (Free food is still free food.)

As it turns out, there’s a way to tip the Southern Style scales in your favor: Amazon.com apparently partnered up with Mickey-D’s to send more generalized complimentary coupons in a whole lot of its packages lately. So if you don’t want to miss out on these coupons that expire at the end of the month, then maybe an order at Amazon might give you a better chance at a subsidized sandwich in June. And in case you were wondering, they go fairly well with large 32-oz. soft drinks for a buck (likely at McDonald’s till July the 4th) and $10 statement credits from your Chase Freedom Card (only if you got the offer). Other distributors in on the act reportedly include Ticketmaster and Columbia House. [Via CAG.]

I saw this info up on a local White Castle sign the other day and wondered whether it pertained to a national promotion or not. Lo and behold, it actually did. Here’s what’s written online:

“National Hamburger Month May 2008: Celebrate with 27¢ Hamburgers on Tuesday, May 27th ONLY from 2:00 pm - 3:27 pm. (At participating castles only. Limit 10. Cheese & Bacon extra. Dine-in and drive-thru only, no phone orders.)”

So I guess this isn’t just a Memorial Day promo come a day late — especially for those of us no longer off on a bank holiday in America. Hope you don’t mind your hamburgers in the midafternoon! Around 18 hours left tah go…

Location: 6321 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60659 (map); phone: (773) 588-8282

Rating: 4 out of 5 - good

After the blander Southern Style Chicken from McDonald’s last week, going to Popeyes seemed the right thing to do to satisfy my hunger on a late afternoon. I wasn’t going for the standard assortment of fried chicken, however, as I had another chicken sandwich in mind, this time the Chicken Deluxe… done up spicy like. (Of course, you could order this filet mild, but you’re not getting the full Popeyes experience if you go that route.)

Back when Popeyes was promoting this sandwich for a dollar-ninety-nine, I stopped by several days in a row — at several different locations — to see how well the spicy filet would hold up to repeated exposure. Somewhat surprisingly, the freshly fried preparation was perfect in juiciness and temperature nearly every single time in that span, forcing me to declare the Po’ Boy replacement my favorite fowl in a bun. Revisiting it at the regular price point proved to be a rude awakening, unfortunately, as the dry meat was far removed from my previous experiences.

So what happened? As far as I can tell, either someone botched the frying of the filet to cause this inordinate dryness, or the filet was already cooked and sitting under a heat lamp instead of made-to-order as in the past. Judging by the piles of non-sandwich fried chicken sitting in heaps under the lamps waiting for the next customer, that might very well be the case. In any event, the Chicken Deluxe didn’t live up to my high expectations this time around, but it was still relatively tasty despite the state of the filet. Perhaps ordering just one at a time, when no pre-cooked filets are in sight, will better facilitate some juicy, but high-heat chicken in the future. My current rating rests on that hope. Asking for a fresh filet (and waiting for it) might help, too.