The fatty desert miracle (or curse) is being served in Nashville - when will it come to Chicago? more ›

Hilarity ensues. more ›

Three of the four plants that manufacture the ammonium hydroxide-treated beef have stopped production for 60 days after the recent public outcry. But a new website attempts (we think without success) to debunk your fears. more ›

Of the seven deadly sins, the one CNN associated with Chicago was gluttony. more ›

McDonald's announced that they would no longer be selling beef treated with ammonium hydroxide - otherwise known as "pink slime." more ›

As if eating a huge bag of sliders wasn't enough to make one ill, now you'll be able to wash it down with red wine. more ›

The shell of the new taco is made from nacho cheese Doritos. The CEO calls it "a breakthrough product." more ›

Sonic Drive-In is considering opening its first Chicago location in Uptown within the year. more ›

Thanks to our sister site LAist for the heads-up on this one. Today is an important day in American culinary history - the 84th birthday of 7-Eleven. To celebrate, the chain will be giving away free 7.11 oz slurpees all over the country - 5 million of them. They're gonna go fast, so get yours early! more ›

Consumer Reports, after a survey of some 36,000 consumers, has evaluated the fast food industry in America. They asked people about 53 different chain restaurants. The results? Not so great, especially for some of the larger chains. The winner, both of the hamburger category and the overall best-of-show, was In-N-Out Burger, which we sadly don't have in Chicago. But Five Guys, which we do, was the second-best burger chain. more ›

Love milkshakes? Yeah, so do we. On Wednesday, to celebrate their 25th anniversary, four Chicagoland Johnny Rockets locations will be selling their hand-dipped milkshakes for just $.99. The regular price is $5, so it's quite a deal. The shakes come in Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry, and the locations participating are below. more ›

A new restaurant chain promising "healthy" eating will begin opening restaurants around the country this fall. "LYFE Kitchen," which is based in Chicago and owned by two former McDonalds execs and Oprah Winfrey's personal chef, is betting that now is the moment for healthy food to make a killing in the market. We love healthy food, but this concept has some issues from the get-go: their horrible name, their definition of healthy food and their strange gender politics. more ›

Earlier in the week, an Alabama law firm announced that it was suing Taco Bell for not having enough beef in its beef. The story quickly went viral, running around the interwebs faster than the Taco Bell chihuahua chasing after a blond girl. Taco Bell issued a response (more of a denial) which we posted. Today, Taco Bell has responded in force, taking out full page ads in major newspapers all over America. The ads read "Thank you for Suing Us" and deny that there is any problem. more ›

This seems to be the week of fast food revelations and scary food scandals! Taco Bell, the tex-mex fast food giant with 10 Chicagoland locations, is being sued by a law firm in Montgomery, Alabama. The lawyers are alleging that Taco Bell's ground beef isn't really ground beef at all, but "Taco Meat Filling" which does not fit the legal or practical definition of ground beef. Now, many Taco Bell customers will be less than shocked that something fishy is going on with the filling in the tacos, but we were more surprised to find out that there IS a legal definition of ground beef. Call us naive, but we assumed that it was just... beef, ground up. We were almost right. In order to legally qualify as ground beef, a product must be made of" chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders." Taco Bell might not fit the bill. more ›

Maybe that headline should be "pours out soups." Anyway, Chipotle launched it's new soup program on Monday, and Chicago is one of only two cities in the nation to get it. This is especially exciting for our vegetarian readers, as their signature soup is vegan. Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew, is being made by Chipotle with a tomato and hominy base, and will sell for $3.33 for an 8-ounce portion. If you're a dedicated carnivore, you can add meat for an additional $1.50. more ›

WebMD, that haven for self-diagnosis, has created a great slideshow describing the nutritional information for some of the best and worst sandwiches in American fast food restaurants. This slideshow is particularly useful because instead of the standard preaching about avoiding all fast food, the authors have given us suggestions for eating relatively well at most of the major chains. It's also slightly shocking how many calories are packed into these sandwiches, especially at the "healthier" chains like Panera. more ›

It seems like Chicago is finally getting Chick-Fil-A. And, no, Aurora or wherever the new one is doesn't count. We're talking within city limits here. Besides one slated to open about this time next year in Lincoln Park, the fast food chain is now looking into space along the Mag Mile near Water Tower Place. From Crain's (via RedEye): more ›

From the inbox: Aurora's Chick-fil-A franchise, which, all due respect to NBC Feast, is actually the Chicagoland area's second location*, is set to open September 16 at 4435 Fox Valley Center Dr.. more ›

M Burger, in the former chef's table seating area of Tru, has been doing good business in the near month its been open to the public. The combination of its catchy name, "secret" menu and location have drawn comparisons to that Holy Grail of burger chains, In 'N Out. More than one person has made that comparison to us when discussing burgers. No less an authority than Michael Nagrant declared in a recent NewCity column that M Burger served "probably the best fast food burger in the city." 'Course, that's like saying the Cubs are in contention on Opening Day. more ›

Anthony tipped us off Friday, via Consumerist, Fast Company and a host of others, to this intriguing and informative series of maps showing which fast food chains dominate various territories throughout the U.S. more ›

Fast food is inherently less nutritious than slow food. However, most of us succumb to eating fast food at one time or another. During those times, Chipotle may provide a better option. Take a minute to peruse the nutritional breakdown of the menu, and then choose wisely. Chipotle’s got plenty of vegetarian options and hormone-free meats and dairy. You can opt to load up on beans and veggies, while omitting high-calorie toppings, like sour cream and guacamole. Our biggest gripe about Chipotle (aside from the obscenely large burrito, which is appropriate for two) is the high sodium content. For example, the flour tortilla used to wrap Chipotle’s standard burrito contains 290 calories and a whopping 670mg of sodium. So before you put anything in the burrito, the tortilla alone exceeds the 500 milligram sodium limit we recommend per meal. more ›

Love it or leave it, it seems a Chick-Fil-A is moving closer to Chicago with a new restaurant in Orland Park. Great, but call us when one opens that's accessible by CTA. [via Gapers Block] more ›

Ever noticed that fast food never looks quite as... appetizing as it does in advertisements? We've all heard food stylist horror stories about shaving cream, glycerin, paints, oils and all the other fake things used to make food look just so for photo shoots. But this piece from The Guardian's food blog puts it all in perspective: side-by-side pictures of fast food advertisements vs. reality. Yuck. We're especially disturbed by number 4, the canned whole chicken. Though, we suppose anyone buying a canned whole chicken is getting what they deserve. If you're on a diet, bookmark this page - anytime you're tempted by fast food, just take a peek.
more ›

There's the kind of food pr0n that Stolpman and others embrace, with beautiful shots of carefully crafted dishes. I like to call that "culinary erotica." Then there's the food photography equivalent of Hustler's "Beaver Hunt," with a little bit of snuff film added, for good measure. more ›

• From the "DUH!" Files: Apparently fast food meals aren't good for kids. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report this week that concluded that kids meals at fast food chains exceed the 430 calories-per-meal limit. Among the worst offenders, Chili's makes the list twice with kids meals at or over 1000 calories each. [via MenuPages Chicago]
• "Rock Star Chef City" alert: BOURDAIN is in town through next week finally filming for the No Reservations Chicago episode. He's got the venerable Louisa Chu in tow, who'll be escorting him to Calumet Fisheries, Burt's Place in Morton Grove and L2O, among other places. We're so stalking this weekend. [Food Chain]
• Lori Barrett writes about cold soups. [Drive Thru]
• An argument for frozen fish [Washington Post, via]

Dor the Downtown workforce, uFood Grill opens today at 200 W. Jackson. Founded by George Naddaf of Boston Chicken/Market fame, uFood follows that franchise's emphasis on healthy dining options, with menu items made from lean meats, natural and organic ingredients, fresh produce, whole grains, and lower-fat cheeses and dressings. Nothing is fried. more ›

To paraphrase Merle Haggard, "It's not close, but it's not bad." A Sonic Drive-In franchisee has chosen to set up the first greater Chicago area franchise of the venerable fast food chain in Aurora, in a retail development at Kirk and Butterfield Roads anchored by a Wal-Mart. You know, so the NASCAR set doesn't feel homesick. more ›

14th Ward Alderman Edward Burke is at it again, with his radical attempts to give you nutritional information and clean up your water! His proposal that restaurants should provide calorie counts on their menus, originally proposed 15 months ago, is back on the table. It’s been revised to only include chain restaurants (defined as having more than 15 locations nationwide), but really. How silly of him! No city would ever do anything like that! Oh, wait. New York’s version of the same ordinance takes effect on March 31st. And the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been trying to pass state laws along the same lines for 2 years now. more ›

We reported in yesterday’s Extra, Extra, that top cop Jody Weis -- a buff body builder married to a personal trainer -- wants to modify the current incentive for officers to stay healthy and fit. Instead of the $250 bonus payment for officers to run a timed 1.5 miles and meeting sit-up and bench-press requirements, Weis wants a program that offers a more holistic approach with good health being the ultimate incentive. more ›

In November we took a look at La-Van Hawkins, a Chicago-born restaurateur who made a fortune in fast food franchises. Hawkins was planning on opening a slew of Nancy's Pizza and Al's Italian Beef franchises on the South Side even as he was waiting to be sentenced to 33 months in prison on corruption charges. more ›