rolling new food laboratory inventions for american chain restaurants thread

I will try virtually anything at Dunkin Donuts, so I'll give it a shot

The seasonings: Garlic Parmesan, Zesty Ranch and Spicy Buffalo. But here's the rub: You don't buy the fries pre-seasoned. Instead, they come with special packets of seasoning that consumers are advised to open, pour and shake into a specially made mixing bag. Imprinted on the bags: "Seasoned fries. Shake your taste buds."

^^^ I could imagine this making them have better taste/texture but man does that sound like a pain (plus extra wasteful packaging - a mixing bag?).

I've had those before they're okay

http://i.imgur.com/apAipw2.jpg

sign me up

woah, not american at all...

http://www.exberliner.com/food/spit-takes/

In case the McDonald's menu offerings weren't terrifying enough: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/19/mcdonalds-secret-menu-items-wow-elaborate_n_5326332.html

my roomate who works at starbucks was bemoaning customers who are hip to the starbucks "secret menu"

Is it really a "secret menu" item if you're just ordering a bunch of shit off the regular menu and swapping the meat patties around?

shhhh

people who think there's actually a "secret menu" at in-n-out drive me crazy.

yes, you ordered your fries with all of the condiments mixed together + some onions slapped on top. you are a true patron of the secret good restaurant in-n-out burger.

the two cheeseburger meal is on the menu at every mcdonald's i've ever been to?

yeah it's a value meal option

Not in Toronto :( Two cheeseburgers sounds so much more delicious than one. Mmm

http://gawker.com/arbys-to-air-thirteen-hour-commercial-in-duluth-minnes-1581041418

advertorial innervortion

How is buying a bunch of different shit and assembling it yourself a 'secret' menu item? Like, I've thought about putting a quarter pounder inside a whopper, is that a secret McD's/HJ's(BK's) menu item that?

Anyway, more interested in some of the things here. Apparently the "iconic" restaurants of each state.

https://www.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iconic-restaurants-thrilllist.jpg

First of all, wtf is 'Space Aliens'?!

https://www.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/iconic-restaurants-thrilllist.jpg

?

Also I thought 'whataburger' was made up for Infinite Jest

for fucks sake

https://www.ijreview.com/2014/05/142401-ever-wondered-iconic-restaurant-chain-associated-state/

proud to be an ammuricun

Whataburger is quite a big deal here in TX

tell me about 'Space Aliens'!

And the Alaska Pizza Co.

http://i59.tinypic.com/adm1xd.jpg

space aliens does not look good but wtf

it's like naming your restaurant "ninjas"

I wish they had gone classier. "Whitley Streiber's Burger Communion."

"Nothing will be left behind when you eat at Whitley's!"

Whoops, wrong book series. Left Behind are the Christian ones.

awesome!

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/359641/

Also, there's only like, 4 restaurants, and half of them aren't even in North Dakota. Not sure if that qualifies the most popular brand in the state.

whataburger is ace! ate there when in dallas after hours a few years back, a very fine fast food establishment.

i can't help but talk like wimpy when i talk about hamburgers.

Wings to Go??? Pffft should have been Capriotti's.

'Blake's Iotaburger'?

Toilet themed restaurant near LA closes after 8 months.

http://la.eater.com/uploads/10_2013_BATHROOM_RESTAURANT-33df.JPG

http://la.eater.com/archives/2014/05/29/magic_restroom_cafe_craps_out_after_eight_months.php

Johnny we hardly knew ye.

As the first restroom eatery in the U.S., it featured some disgusting menu items like: "black poop" (chocolate sundae), "smells-like-poop" (braised pork over rice), "constipation" (zha jiang mian), "bloody number two" (vanilla-strawberry sundae).

what could have possibly gone wrong

the restrooms were mad fucked up tho

kramer_shower_salad.gif

"constipation" (zha jiang mian)

wtf?

That's a type of noodle

炸酱面

The toilet themed restaurants started in Taiwan, they're just jokesy places to go with friends and laugh at the joeks

The food is usually not great and chosen based on how much it resembles poop (like chocolate soft serve, or chocolate anything)

Like going to the Hard Rock Cafe or Johnny Rocket's or something

http://i.imgur.com/cpCwP4C.jpg

that kind of looks like the opposite of constipation tbf

That's mostly why I said 'wtf'. Also, it seems like a strange dish to show up at a SoCal fast food place with a tacky theme.

carl agatha OTM. I would nominate Grotto Pizza as a runner up. Jerry's kinda sucks imo, I think Ledo Pizza is more of a thing for Maryland people although I don't like it much myself.

Also, it seems like a strange dish to show up at a SoCal fast food place with a tacky theme.

― beard papa, Sunday, June 1, 2014 3:46 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

Haven't read any articles but it's likely they just copied the Taiwanese one wholesale or it might even be an overseas franchise

Yes, it was a branch of the Taiwanese restaurant. I haven't been in the City of Industry for a long while, but it seems like an odd place to locate. It's mostly an industrial business area but it does have a high-end hotel complex. Woulda killed in Alhambra.

not a chain but
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/our-top-10-burgers-in-atlanta-georgia.html

"Meatstick." If you saw that word listed on a menu—with zero accompanying description—would you tempt fate and order it? Let's hope so, 'cos the One Eared Stag's not-exactly-secret burger with the kooky codename (which comes from a never-released Phish song; how's THAT for obscure?) is well worth the leap of faith.

would not wanna eat produce from a chef who is familiar with unreleased Phish songs tbh

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/meet-taco-bells-resident-disruptor/373153/

Yeah, so here at Taco Bell, one of the great things about our company is that they are very understanding that the world is changing and the world is changing very quickly. Whether it's companies like Uber disrupting the taxi cab industry or Airbnb disrupting the hotel industry, disruption is happening everywhere and Taco Bell recognizes that. And the great thing about it was they sort of really embraced disruption and how do we do things differently, how do we reinvent what we do. And so my job here at Taco Bell is to really think about that.

Taco Bell: Digestion Disrupters

http://i.imgur.com/SWrMZve.jpg