The summer seems to be a time when fast food chains introduce new items to gin up enthusiasm and drive more traffic into their stores. These items are always over the top and never do much more than churn my stomach. It seems that lately there has been a plethora of them advertised. So at Lagniappe we decided to try many of them out at our last editorial meeting and rate them for you. Get out the Pepto.

Krystal Chick Stix

I was unable to get nutritional information, but three large chicken tender strips are in each box and are impaled upon a wooden stick. While the batter was heavy, the chicken seemed to be breast meat. Most everyone said they were comparable to McDonald’s chicken tender strips.

No Foosackly’s here, but good for fast food chicken. T. Marzetti’s sauces made it good quality for the condiments. The downside? Their commercials make Alabamians look like a bunch of hicks. (Chicken Hicks? Sorry.)

KFC Famous Mashed Potato Bowls

Could the commercials make this any less appetizing? This “bowl” contains mashed potatoes, corn, chicken bites, gravy and cheese. While I thought it looked like a bowl of vomit, the best comment was that “it is like staring into Satan’s colon.”

Gross, disgusting, fowl tasting was the general reaction. The country girl from Jackson, who liked it, thought it needed more salt and would be great hangover food. Nutritional information says it is 690 calories with 31 grams of fat.

Taco Bell Ultimate Gordita

There is a constant stream of new items from Taco Bell. And all they are is another mix of the same stuff, either in a different shell or the same low-quality meat with a different name. This is a fried tortilla with either chicken or steak. The chicken tasted like an ashtray, according to one tester who happens to be a Taco Bell regular. The steak was alright (Rob ate it up).

Overall, people said it was greasy and tasted like every other item at Taco Bell. I avoid the Bell because it just does not sit well with me. Nutritional information says this one is 290 calories with 12 grams of fat.

Hardee’s Philly Cheese Steak Thick Burger

The chick on the commercial is annoying and might as well be asking to perform fellatio on customers who walk-in. The meat was a disgusting grey and the Philly part looked pre-chewed as well, just one big mush. It hurt my stomach. Taste-wise the first bite was like Philly cheese steak, but was manufactured, chemically produced. The second bite was gross.

This might be good if you were high. Nutritional information says it is 930 calories with 63 grams of fat.

Wendy’s Frescatta Sandwiches

These are actually fairly good. We sampled the club, black forest ham and cheese and the turkey basil pesto. The “artisan” bread has a crisp outer crust and chewy inside. The meat is of good quality and all three passed as a good deli sandwich. The club would stand against most in town. The turkey basil pesto was the best, with roasted red peppers and a zesty pesto. Nutritional information on the club is 440 calories with 16 grams of fat.

McDonald’s Asian Chicken Salad

We got two, one with grilled chicken and the other crispy. The quality was surprising, a topping of mixed greens, edamame, roasted red peppers, mandarin oranges and snow peas – very visually appealing. Everyone liked this, the only negative was the chicken had a gooey sauce on top. Newman’s low fat raspberry vinaigrette is the dressing and was quite good. Nutritional information is 290 calories with 10 grams of fat.

So in order of preference here is the low down.

1. Asian Chicken Salad

2. Wendy’s Frescata

3. Krystal Chick Stix

4. Taco Bell

5. KFC Bowl (Saved from the bottom by a rogue third place vote)

6. Hardee’s Philly Cheese Steak Thick Burger

The “chant’ was made many times of what was going to happen to us afterward. Everyone just about felt sick, you know “when you’re climbing up a ladder and you hear something …”, that chant. Was coincidence that the next day I got rotavirus and spent the entire weekend in the bathroom? Perhaps not.

Winn Dixie

The never-ending story of MiMo is the deplorable condition of the Winn Dixie on Government. If Winn-Dixie is “getting better all the time,” then why is the store filthy and always packed with only two registers open?

I will say the staff, at least the management appears to be doing the best they can with a horrible situation. The produce is of poor quality and the selection of items laughable. They continue to upgrade other stores – so why not this one? There is a mixed market for them – upper income professionals along with the middle class and working poor. The working poor, of course, have little option to go elsewhere, while the rest of us avoid it at all costs and travel to Springhill to grocery shop.

Winn-Dixie claims on its Web site that they are making stores cleaner and brighter. This store doesn’t look like it’s been updated since it was a Delchamps. Another claim is that they will have better products and more variety.

Up until recently they carried organic milk yet were out frequently because it was so popular. So get more, don’t just stop stocking it like they have been lately. Yes, it, along with other items, just disappeared. Winn-Dixie’s corporate office was receptive to these concerns and comments, and listened to changes in the neighborhood, especially the high quality retail going in and was appreciative of the concerns of cleanliness, product selection and quality. They are looking into the matter and want to establish open communication. I will have their response and an update in my next column.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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