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).

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.