Schlotzsky's Offers a New Sandwich and Two Old Favorites

If you enjoyed the Albuquerque Turkey and the Windy City Pastrami, you're in luck. Schotzsky's is bringing them back along with a new sandwich, Buffalo Chicken. The sandwiches are described in the press release this way:

Buffalo Chicken - Thinly sliced roasted chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion, topped with Schlotzsky’s famous Louisiana hot sauce on toasted Sourdough bread and served with bleu cheese dressing on the side.

Albuquerque Turkey - Smoked turkey breast and crispy bacon with cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses layered with fire-roasted vegetables, chipotle mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, tomato on toasted Jalapeño Cheese bread.

Windy City Pastrami - Premium New York-style pastrami and melted Swiss cheese with Dijon mustard on our unique, toasted Dark Rye bread.

As part of their "hot hitz!" promotion, the sandwiches will be around until August 28th. You can check here to find a Schlotzsky's near you.

IHOP at HOME Now in Stores

Last month, IHOP delivered the first installments of their brand new line of IHOP at HOME frozen meals to Walmart stores across the nation. Among the items you can buy:

"Omelet Crispers: featuring scrambled eggs, potatoes and a choice of cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese and sausage or cheddar cheese and bacon in a crispy coating. 

French Toast Stuffed Pastries include golden, fluffy French toast pastries filled with either strawberry, sweet cream cheese, apple and cinnamon or strawberry cream cheese filling. 

The Griddle n' Sausage Wrap boasts a breakfast sausage covered in buttermilk pancake batter with a hint of maple syrup."

If you're interested, IHOP has put together a site for the new line where you can search for the nearest Walmart Supercenter carrying the items.

Is The Heart Attack Grill Closed, Remodeling, or Moving?

I came across a report by our local Fox affiliate here in Phoenix that mentioned the closure of the highly publicized Heart Attack Grill in Chandler. According to the report, the phone number to the restaurant is disconnected and the owner could not be contacted.

So, FOX 10 is reporting the restaurant closed two weeks ago, yet the website for the Heart Attack Grill claims the restaurant is closed until June 15th due to remodeling. After doing one last check, I've come across an Arizona Republic article posted a few hours ago which quotes the owner, Jon Basso, as saying he is fighting with the city of Chandler about the color of the building, which is alluded to on the company website. In addition, he claims he is negotiating with the landlord for rent and lease changes. In the article he criticizes the city of Chandler and says he may move the business to Phoenix or Scottsdale by the end of the summer.

"Chandler has threatened to seek criminal action against me because they don't like my shade of white," he said. "I bring more tourists to city of Chandler than any other business . . . .I don't need Chandler," he said. "The Texas business environment is so darned friendly that it makes me question the wisdom of ever returning to Arizona."

This all comes after the ABC affiliate in Dallas reported the botched opening day just a few weeks ago in the new Dallas, TX location, where an hour and fifteen minutes after opening, they had to close due to reported issues in the kitchen.

The Heart Attack Grill, known for its incredibly unhealthy menu and servers dressed up as nurses, was in the news recently due to the death of its 575-pound spokesman back in March.

LaMar's Donuts Giving Away a Free Donut on Friday (6/3)

Previously, the AZFoodDude reported about Krispy Kreme giving away a free donut on National Doughnut Day, which is Friday, June 3rd as well as Dunkin' Donuts doing the same with the purchase of a beverage. Now the AZFoodDude can report Colorado-based, LaMar's Donuts will be going the way of Krispy Kreme and giving away a free donut with no purchase necessary.

LaMar's Donuts only has one shop in the state. It is located at 2340 W. Bell Rd. #138 Phoenix, AZ 85023. With the hours of 5:30am - 2pm, you better get there early in the day if you want to take advantage of the offer.

I'm sure many Arizonans have never heard of LaMar's Donuts, yet with locations in six states, they have some impressive accolades. Jay Leno called the founder the "King of donuts" and Zagat described the donuts as "extraordinary; fit for kings."

The Food Pyramid is No More, Say Hello to MyPlate

The USDA unveiled new guidelines today for watching what you eat. Since 1992 we've had a food pyramid to guide what we eat and how much. Now we have a plate. MyPlate, as it's called, is being hailed by nutritionists as significantly better than the pyramid. They say the sectioned plate is a better visual for people who want to know how much of certain foods they should be eating during meals. The plate has four sections of varying sizes, grains and vegetables are the biggest along with the smaller fruits and protein sections. Also, next to the plate is a cup for dairy.

According to the new recommendations from the USDA, you should eat less by avoiding oversized portions, fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables (more vegetables than fruit), make at least half of your grain intake, whole grains, use skim or 1% milk, choose lower sodium foods and drink more water in place of high sugar drinks.

Do you think the plate is better than the pyramid? For more information, go to the USDA's MyPlate website where you can find more tips, read up on physical activity and learn about "empty calories."

New Jamocha Oreo Shake at Arby's

For a limited time, you can now get the Jamocha Oreo Shake at Arby's. The shake is simply described as "A layer of Oreo Cookies on top. Jamocha Shake. A layer of Oreo Cookies on the bottom." According to the Arby's website, the Jamocha Oreo Shake comes in at 630 calories with 20 grams of fat and 101 grams of sugar. 

Free Donut at Dunkin' Donuts With Drink Purchase Tomorrow (6/3)

Last week, the AZFoodDude reported about the free donut you can get at Krispy Kreme on Friday, June 3rd for National Doughnut Day. Now, I've also found out that you can get a free donut at Dunkin' Donuts on the same day, however, you must buy a drink first:

"On June 3, participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants nationwide will offer guests a free donut of their choice (while supplies last) with the purchase of a beverage (excluding bottled cooler beverages)."

Find your nearest Dunkin' Donuts location here. So where will you go, Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts? or Both? Quite a sweet predicament.

Fox Sports Grill in Scottsdale is Now The Canyon Club

According to AZCentral, a slow economy hurt the Fox Sports Grill in Scottsdale over the past few years. It was either close or change things up and the Fox Sports Grill is doing just that by becoming The Canyon Club. What's on tap for the changed spot? New California business partner, Lance Sterling:

"...eventually wants to transform the current sports concept to Far Eastern decor with a more loungelike setting, live entertainment and dancing - essentially, a spin-off of his California business"

While the name has changed and there are some new people involved, according to manager Chris Waters, "a slightly different menu and some furniture rearrangements are it for now."

This is the second Canyon Club to open in the country with the original being in Agoura Hills, CA. Scottsdale's Canyon Club is located at 16203 N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85260.

If you head over to the tickets section of the Canyon Club website, you can find some of the artists performing soon at the Scottsdale location. For now, it seems much of what you'll find on the main Canyon Club website is dedicated to the location in California.

Exploding Watermelons and Glowing Pork in China Spark Organic Craze

After a number of food scandals in China, an organic craze seems to be catching on where many Chinese are starting to grow their own crops on patios and balconies so they can be sure they have safe food to eat. The article by the UK Telegraph reports the 2008 baby formula contamination in which six babies died and around 300,000 became ill after ingesting formula contaminated with an industrial chemical known as Melamine. In April of this year, 40 tons of bean sprouts were found to have been treated with dangerous hormones and growth accelerating chemicals. Among the more odd contaminations:

"...watermelons started exploding in the fields because they had been treated with too much accelerant" and "In March health officials discovered pork that glowed and iridescent blue in the dark because it had been contaminated by a bacteria."

Just imagine being in the field and watermelons start exploding all around you. Scary, right? Naaaah, not with the pork glowing and lighting up the way to safety.

Tilted Kilt Opening at Phoenix CityScape in Late June

Tempe-based Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery is almost ready to open in downtown Phoenix at 2 E. Jefferson St. #22-217 Phoenix, AZ 85004. According to their Twitter feed, they are headed for a late June opening in the CityScape development.

Currently, Tilted Kilt has four valley locations with one each in Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe and Peoria. Never been to the one of their eateries? You can check out the large menu here, which includes Irish Nachos, Drunken Clams, roasted garlic fries, burgers, chicken, the Tilted Guilt dessert and plenty of alcohol.

Subway Features New $5 Footlong, Introduces Avocado Spread

Two quick stories about Subway today. First of all, the new $5 featured footlong for June will be the Chipotle Chicken & Cheese. Second, Subway is coming out with an avocado spread that can be added to any of the chain's sandwiches for an extra charge. To go along with the new avocado spread, Subway is putting avocado dedicated subs on the menu. The Steak, Egg and Cheese with Avocado Sub for breakfast, the Turkey & Bacon Avocado Sub and the Subway Club with Avocado. In case you were wondering, the avocado spread, added to a 6 inch sub would add 70 calories and 7 grams of fat to the sub.

Jamba Juice Launches Three New Beverages

Last week, Jamba Juice rolled out three new drinks using coconut water. Jamba Juice describes the three new drinks this way:

"Purely Pineapple is a thirst quenching blend of pineapple juice, pineapple sherbet, coconut water, peaches and ice. Strawberry Lemonade is a tart and fruity blend of strawberries, lemonade, coconut water, lime sherbet, sorbet and ice. Tropical Mango is an icy-cold, refreshing blend of mangos, passion-mango juice, coconut water, pineapple sherbet, orange sherbet and ice."  Jamba Juice will provide a special trial offer on Sixteen size Fruit Refreshers for just $2 at participating Jamba Juice locations (coupon required)

Also of note, through Wednesday, June 8th, Jamba Juice will be offering any of the above mentioned Fruit Refreshers in their Sixteen size for $2 with this printable coupon. To find your nearest Jamba Juice, check here.

Food Inflation Continues, Coffee Up 11%

Last month, the AZFooddude mentioned McDonald's forecast of higher prices for the year. Back in April, McDonald's predicted an increase of 4 to 4.5 percent for retail-food prices. This matches what some other economists are now predicting and even surpasses government forecasts:

"Retail-food prices will jump more than the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s estimate of 3 percent to 4 percent this year, said Chad E. Hart, an economist at Iowa State University in Ames."

In addition, the rate of inflation for groceries and in restaurants, through the first 4 months of the year, made the highest jump since 1990. To make matters worse, especially for coffee drinkers out there, the article reports:

"Yesterday, J.M. Smucker Co. announced an 11 percent price increase for Folgers coffee, the best-selling U.S. brand, after the cost of beans almost doubled in a year."

Here's to hoping in a month, I don't have to report on another increase.

You Will Want to Make These...

And if you don't want to it's only because you'll want someone to make them for you. Over at handletheheat.com there are plenty of interesting recipes that I could have chosen to showcase, but I chose one that just seemed too good to be true. Really the photo is what did it for me because sadly, I haven't attempted making them yet, mostly because I want someone else to make them for me. (Is anyone else a little intimidated by the idea of making pastries and sweets?)

Even though there's talk here and there about this particular pastry and its demise, I'm willing to bet it will be around for a long, long time, especially if people make them like this. So go ahead, there's really no reason for you to not check out these Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes.