In their seemingly endless quest to bark eternally up the wrong tree, when it comes to ways to revitalize their food and their brand, Burger King has released a new lower-calorie version of their second-rate french fries. While we didn't think it was possible for the company to release a more yawn-i ... More >>
McDonald's has finally overcome its 50-year resistance to the notion of animals having bones. And the results are kind of awesome. The company has spent nearly half a century working as hard as it possibly could to separate "eating" from "animals" in the mind of the public. Starting in the late 197 ... More >>
This week, we're looking at new offerings from two of the major fast food players: The inevitable expansion of Taco Bell's wildly successful "Doritos Locos Tacos" line (or "DLT," because ugh), and the new "Steak, Egg, and Cheese" McMuffins and breakfast biscuits from McDonald's.
Scanning the menu at McDonald's, you see that a Big Mac has 550 calories while a Ranch Snack Wrap has 270 calories. Then you are handed some general "calorie consumption guidelines." Does that make you order the wrap or forgo the fries (230 calories)? The answer, according to a new study, is a reso ... More >>
McDonald's CEO Don Thompson recently shared his weight loss strategy at an analyst conference -- and it didn't require setting aside daily meals at the fast food chain. In fact, perhaps taking a tip or two from Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle, McDonald's meals are a part of Thompson's daily diet, ma ... More >>
Fast food is a cutthroat business -- the days of sitting back and resting on your Whopper laurels are over. Or at least it seems that way, with fast food companies coming up with ever-more creative special menu items to keep customers excited. This week came the news that Wendy's will be introduci ... More >>
Duuuuude. You know how you, like, totally need an Egg McMuffin at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday and it's, like, a total bummer that you can't get one? Well that might all be about to change. In an interview on Friday with CNBC, McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said the company would "consider" serving breakfas ... More >>
Recently, Wendy's rolled out flatbread sandwiches and McDonald's added a yolk-less breakfast sandwich to their respective menus. Taco Bell has indicated its desire to shed its junk food persona. Giving alternatives for healthful eating has become a main strategy for fast food restaurants. And the ef ... More >>
LYFE (an acronym for Love Your Food Everyday) Kitchen opened in Downtown Culver City on Feb. 25, in the former Gyenari location. Featuring an eco, health, social and somewhat budget conscious dining concept, LYFE has two of McDonald's top executives, Michael Donahue and Mike Roberts, at the helm. (E ... More >>
In what some might see as an attack on the Big Mac, McDonald's will start posting the calorie amounts of its fast food items on its menus starting next week, The New York Times reports. "We recognize customers want to know more about the nutrition content of the food and beverages they order," Jan ... More >>
There's playing with your food, and there's Playing With Your Food. A kind of brilliant example of the latter is the artwork of Ben Campbell, a Texas artist who recently constructed a mummy entirely out of McDonald's food. Campbell, who describes himself as "some guy in West Texas who makes artwork ... More >>
It got so hot at Coachella over the weekend there was an explosion. No, not the kind seen on-stage at the Coachella festival when holographic Tupac was on the mic: This was a real, honest-to-goodness blast of fire at an Indio McDonald's. Riverside County Sheriff's officials say this is what happen ... More >>
Taking on the global scourge of chicken abuse, PETA members plan to swarm an Echo Park McDonald's tomorrow. The source of their ire? "Terror and agony for millions of chickens" that are each year destined to become tasty, golden Chicken McNuggets, PETA says. According to an announcement from the g ... More >>
Back a lifetime ago in 1994, McDonald's was sued over the temperature of its coffee when a woman accused the fast food chain of serving coffee so hot, it gave her third-degree burns when the cup spilled on her legs and groin. Now it's déjà vu all over again, as McDonald's is defending itself agai ... More >>
Apparently, one can guess whether you are happy or unhappy with your health based on your decision to have chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A rather than from McDonald's. That is, according to the BIGinsight™ Monthly Consumer Survey, which ranked the happiness level of certain fast food customers o ... More >>
Is there a McRib-sized void in your arteries? In need of some cheese and bacon as well? Then book an international flight to Austria and indulge in McDonalds' newly introduced McRibster. According to Burger Business, McDonalds' sandwich creation contains "juicy pork, bacon, pepper-Jack cheese, and ... More >>
McDonald's Corp. The "snack size" McBites contain 310 calories. Taking on KFC's popcorn chicken, McDonald's is introducing a new fatty, salty treat: Chicken McBites, "poppable pieces of premium chicken breast seasoned to homestyle perfection," according to the Mickey D's website. The snack si ... More >>
Among a slew of fast food headlines in 2011, the unveiling of a new Wendy's burger, Dave's Hot 'N Juicy, had lasting effects on the future of the fast food industry. Thanks largely to the new better-quality burger, Wendy's is set to surpass Burger King next year as the second-most popular (behind Mc ... More >>
M. RochlinThe McDonald's sign at Venice & OverlandIt may be a signal that the infrastructure of Los Angeles is further declining. Or that the recent wild Santa Anas blew further west than initially thought. Or maybe this McDonald's sign, on the corner of Venice and Overland in Culver City, is ... More >>
Tyler Brehm on Facebook.Updated at the bottom with victim John Atterberry dying today. First posted at 11:12 a.m. Friday. A suspect was dead this morning after at least one LAPD officer responding to a "man-with-a-gun" call at the iconic intersection of Sunset and Vine opened fire, police to ... More >>
Flickr/Calgary ReviewsMcDonald's will find a new egg source for its McMuffins. McDonald's and Target dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video last Friday of the egg producer's farms in three states, according to the Associated ... More >>
Flickr/Lauren Manning In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Can you get a vegan mi quang? This is Echo Park. You shouldn't have to ask." Central Vietnamese in the O.C. ... or Echo Park. "And rather than the 'Select' and 'Start' printed on the controller, ... More >>
The reprogramming of America just keeps getting scarier. First Oprah launched her own television channel (OWN), and now McDonald's is doing the same. Not on your home HDTV (yet), but in its own restaurants. The McDonalds Channel (McDTV, doubtless) will soon be in some 800 California restaura ... More >>
ABC7The stuff of life.Update: She's not the first to try it. "McRunner" Joe D'Amico pulled the same stunt before the L.A. Marathon earlier this year, and lived to tell the tale. Finished 29th, even! It's psychotic enough to go on a strict McDonald's diet while filming an award-winning docume ... More >>
Flickr/Lauren Manning In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Plus, there's a citrus slush, a bioflavonoid bomb enhanced with pomegranate vinegar, that is to a Jamba Juice concoction what a Kia Soul is to your mom's Subaru Forester." Iota: K-Town Teen Heaven ... More >>
iirraa/flickrApples at McDonald's Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama and James Gavin III practically shed tears of joy over Wal-Mart's professed commitment to selling good food cheaper and expanding into barren Whole Foods-deprived "food deserts." Gavin said, perhaps jokingly, that he hope ... More >>
It's a little late for National Hamburger Day, but it's never too late in our book. From June 6th through June 12th, Eagle Rock pastrami haven and burger barn The Oinkster is hosting its own Burger Week. They're honoring the mighty meat with a burger-a-day tribute to their favorite local ea ... More >>
McDonald'sWe're not sure if this is a positive sign of a turnaround, or an image that will be our time's version of a Depression-era soup line. But it appears that people are making a run on those thousands of jobs that have opened up at McDonald's. Yeah, the restaurant chain that not even A ... More >>
Sweet Plantains at El Pollo Campero It is probably no surprise that being thrifty about food is extremely difficult for us, no matter how the economy is doing; even our vast knowledge of happy hours and hole-in-the-wall Mexican food can't save us. With that in mind, we set out to discover so ... More >>
ceetap/Flickr In other countries, McDonald's franchises sell different things. Big Macs are made with lamb in much of India. In Greece, a Greek Mac consists of several smaller patties tucked into a pita. In Hong Kong, you can get a burger sandwiched between compressed sheets of glutinou ... More >>
N. GalutenMcDonald's enters the oatmeal businessFast food restaurants love adding new items to their menus, and then promoting them to the point at which every single person in the country is aware that KFC has replaced bread with fried chicken. (Does anyone else remember the Tracy Jordan Mea ... More >>
Last Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported on what it may have perceived to be a case of irony: In Japan, where citizens traditionally eat a healthier diet, live longer, and weigh less than their American counterparts, McDonald's has launched Big America 2, a marketing campaign featuri ... More >>
Farmshop's french fries are what fries should be
Jonagold apple, portions removedUpdate: Department of Corrections. In this week's First Bite column, which waxed rather purple over French fries at the rather too new FarmShop, we misidentified the price of the potatoes involved. We were erroneously brought a $4.50 serving of French fries ins ... More >>
Pleasure PalateMcDonald's: your healthcare specialist And you thought our healthcare system was screwed up? The Guardian's Felicity Lawrence reported last week that the United Kingdom is getting a little assistance with their newest healthcare policy -- by bringing in McDonald's, PepsiCo, and ... More >>
RachellebAmerica's Favorite Burger Turns out Burger King -- and McDonald's, Wendy's and Jack in the Box -- no longer rank among U.S. burger royalty. Consumer Reports recently published a list of our 18 favorite fast food burgers and local legend In-N-Out got top honors. While obviously proud ... More >>
Flickr/Simon ShekShould this sandwich be illegal? Some towns, to maintain their unique personality, have an ordinance in place banning "formula restaurants" like McDonald's and Applebee's from opening up within their borders. One of those towns -- Springdale, Utah -- has been doing it since ... More >>
Anne FishbeinFrench fries at Church & State French fries have always been prized for their uniformity and length -- see Michael Pollan on the potato and McDonald's -- but the size of your fries is determined by more than just aesthetics. (Your size matters joke here _______.) According to the ... More >>
A nutrition watchdog group has threatened to sue McDonalds over its "Happy Meals." The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened (PDF) to sue if the fast food chain did not stop using toys to market Happy Meals. "McDonald's practice of dangling toys in front of children is ... More >>
Chris SaulitWhat can we get for you? Sometimes fast food restaurants come up with menu ideas that really make your brain hurt. Amazingly, they could be doing a lot worse. For every KFC Famous Bowl, P'Zone, Volcano Taco and Nacho Crunch Burrito, there are hundreds upon hundreds of far more te ... More >>
New digs and a new vibe at lebanese cafe
James Freeman via FlickrHave You Had Your Break Today?Stereogum and Rolling Stone report that Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos, "a noted foodie who compiled his eating adventures into a travelogue called Sound Bites," is really upset at the band's US label Epic Records for licensing one o ... More >>
While the Los Angeles City Council has been sitting on its hands for the last three years and still has yet to produce a law governing local pot dispensaries, the county government of Los Angeles put regulations on the book in 2006 and this week moved to close a marijuana shop in Whittier. C ... More >>
Here's a movie that'll kill your Christmas spirit, though if you're a black metal fan, you wouldn't have any to begin with. After screening as part of last year's AFI Fest, the theatrical release of N.Y. filmmakers/musicians Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell's Norwegian black metal documentary Unt ... More >>
While America may be known around the world as a fast food paradise, there are actually some menu items you can't get stateside. Here are our Top 5 oddities from abroad. 1. McDonald's Spaghetti and Fried Chicken (Philippines) Fried chicken with a side order of spaghetti? Yes, please! McDonald's Ph ... More >>
SapphireBlue22stack of newspapersWhat's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections on Wednesday. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is ... More >>
