When the Detroit Red Wings failed to score hat tricks (three goals by one player in a single game) for parts of two seasons, they weren't only failing to score points. They were disappointing fans who were promised a free box of curly fries from Arby's.
The fast-food chain has kept Detroit-area sports fans satiated with free grub by tying giveaways to sports feats. For Tigers baseball fans, it's a free roast beef sandwich for three or more home-game home runs, says Tina Hering, marketing manager for Arby's in Michigan.
The baseball team was able to achieve that goal 18 times this season. But it's been a waiting game for hockey fans who've dubbed the lack of hat tricks as "the Arby's Curse." The curse was finally lifted last week.
Wahoo's Fish Taco, the West Coast fast-food joint known both for its tacos and California surfer sensibility, celebrated its 20th anniversary in February with a party at its original Costa Mesa, Calif., restaurant. At the party they served 20-cent tacos and the first 200 guests won raffle prizes and an autograph session with professional skater Ryan Sheckler.
But the party isn't over yet. On Saturday, the company's beloved fish tacos will have their own 21st birthday shindig at all 38 California Wahoo's locations.
It's unclear what it means for a fish taco to turn 21, but customers who get free food and prizes, probably won't be complaining. (At 21, can fish tacos now finally be cooked with alcohol?)
The first 21 customers at each restaurant will get a swag box of prizes, including gifts from Tony Hawk Inc., the pro skateboarder's action-sports company. Everyone who eats at a California Wahoo's on Saturday will be rewarded with a free meal or gift card.
This hip-looking restaurant doesn't take reservations.
A redesigned McDonald's featuring free wireless Internet access, an art deco concept, flat-screen televisions and all-black-clad employees has opened in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood.
The restaurant is the first of its kind to open in the United States, following the success of similarly designed locations in Paris and London, officials say.
Yes, we covered up Bella with a burger. Photo: Rachel Been, AOL.
OMG!!! The latest installment of the "Twilight" saga, "New Moon," is nigh upon us! Will you be celebrating with fast food?
The folks at Burger King think so. They're marketing a special BK Burger Shots six-pack for all you werewolves and, ahem, blood-sucking vampires out there. The mini burgers come with a special "Gift of Holiday Value" -- coupons for "Twilight" merch masquerading as collector's cards. Think of them as a vampire Valpak of savings.
Is Ronald McDonald a beloved corporate mascot or a sinister huckster who gets kids hooked on junk food?
Corporate Accountability International, a watchdog organization based in Boston, claims that through television commercials and by appearing at schools, libraries, hospitals and McDonald's restaurants, Ronald is marketing directly to impressionable children. The result they say contributes to diet-related diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
As part of a larger initiative to fight fast-food marketing aimed at kids, the organization has started the "Where's Ronald" initiative, a Ronald McDonald scavenger hunt in which activists track down the clown by photographing or videotaping him at public appearances.
"We need your help to expose the near ubiquity of the clown and the ways it is used to hook our kids on food that makes them sick," CAI says. The grand prize? A gift certificate to a "sustainable, healthy restaurant near the winning participant's home."
Jamba Juice will be giving away free lunch on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to advertise its new California Flatbreads.
From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., participating Jamba Juice stores will give a free flatbread to the first 150 customers. The flatbreads come in four flavors: Tomo Artichoko, Smokehouse Chicken, MediterranYum and Four Cheesy.
Jamba Juice is also inviting customers to share their favorite "feel good moment" as part of a sweepstakes with a $10,000 grand prize.
Admittedly, we have mixed feelings on celebrating National Fast Food Day. But despite the merited fast-food backlash, there's something to be said for throwing caution and health to the curb and indulging in a fatty fast-food burger and fries once in awhile.
It's a sad state of eating affairs that today, 19 percent of American meals are consumed in the car, and fast food has become not simply a convenience or indulgence but the norm. That being said, fast food isn't all bad -- in a continuing trend, some chains are starting to take a markedly different route in fast yet conscientious cuisine, in the vein of Chipotle's "Food with Integrity" motto or Zankou Chicken's aim for freshly prepared fresh food.
Are you a discerning fast-food eater? Take our poll to reveal your fast-food eating habits, then spill your thoughts on fast food eating in the comments.
Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.
This year has been one of 40th anniversary celebrations. Woodstock, the NASA moonwalk and Sesame Street have all been commemorated as watershed moments in American history and popular culture in 2009.
But another iconic American institution has been celebrating its 40th with little fanfare. Wendy's fast food burger chain will officially turn 40 on Nov. 15; the day founder Dave Thomas opened his first restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. So why are they being so quiet about it?
On the company's Web site there's no mention of the anniversary and its television commercials avoid any reference to the big 40.
Kitty Munger, Wendy's director of communications, says the company decided it didn't want a flashy national campaign that would call attention to the anniversary.
These vibrant trays from Zankou Chicken has Beck singing their praises and the Los Angeles Times contending that there's "no better chicken anywhere."
As the fast food industry continues to expand, catering to more health-conscious foodies, Southern California chain Zankou Chicken is redefining the concept with its fresh Mediterranean cuisine. Renowned for its roasted chicken and pita bread baked on the premises, the chain also offers hummus, shawerma, falafel and a variety of kebabs, using 100 percent fresh products -- no cans, freezers, microwaves or preservatives -- and only the "finest ingredients."
But it's the secret Lebanese garlic sauce that's got Southern Californians hooked, a zesty combination of garlic, olive oil, lemon and potato, for texture, that has customers dipping in just about any item on the menu -- and proving that fast food may rise above the typical greasy-spoon burger joints of the past.
Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.
Burger King franchisees are fighting to have it their way.
The suit, filed against Burger King by the National Franchise Association, comes after Burger King required all franchisees to sell its double cheeseburger for $1. The suit, which represents 80 percent of all Burger King franchise owners in America, alleges that the Whopper chain doesn't have the power to set price ceilings on choice menu items.
The saga started back in July when we reported franchisees turned down an initial plan to sell the double cheeseburgers for a buck due to worries that another $1 offering could cause more customers to trade down from higher-priced menu items.
A fast food restaurant manager went to the extreme in training his staffers on how to handle a hold-up situation: his method scared paying customers and earned a serious reprimand from local police.
A manager of a Sonic in St. Joseph, Mo., recently staged a lunchtime mugging, recruiting someone to enter the restaurant with a real-looking toy gun and hold it to an employee's head. Problem was, employees weren't the only ones taken by surprise: When authorities received frantic reports from panicked customers of a potential hostage situation, they sped to the restaurant to resolve it.
"The officers quickly determined this was a training exercise," St. Joseph Police Department commander Jim Connors recounts. "We forcefully got the message across that's not expected behavior."
Parents of 25 Chicago middle schoolers are furious after a cafeteria food fight ended last week with the students' arrest.
The kids, aged 11 to 15, were arrested Thursday after the food fight at Perspectives Charter Schools Calumet Campus on Chicago's South Side, according to reports.
"I saw a tray fly up in the air, and then I saw an orange fly," student Jordan Grevious told CBS2Chicago. 'Then, I heard the words 'food fight.'"
Three people were injured in the food melee, but parents of the arrested children worry that their records will hurt their chances at higher education or a job, the station said.
"These kids are going to have records for things that they potentially did not even do," parent Monique Greene told the station.
The children were held for hours at the police station, charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct, the New York Times said. They've also been suspended for two days from school.
"They're all scared," parent Erica Russell told the Times. "You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn't had a food fight?"
Do you think the punishment fits the crime? Spill it in the comments.
Fast-food chain Carl's Jr. has stopped the ad campaign for its Chicken Parmesan Sandwich after Italian-American groups complained about the mafia-themed commercials.
The California Italian-American Task Force and the National Italian-American Federation praised Carl's Jr.'s parent company CKE for its decision not to buy more TV slots for the ads, which feature mobster and garbage man characters that critics said showed negative Italian-American stereotypes, Nation's Restaurant News reports.
In the ad, a man sits in his car eating the Carl's Jr. Chicken Parmesan Sandwich as marinara sauce drips out of his mouth and down his shirt. When two mafia goons approach the car, the man plays dead. Fooled by the sauce dotting his shirt like blood, they leave him alive assuming someone else killed him before they arrived.
"NIAF was pleased to see the positive steps taken by Carl's Jr. Restaurant to remove negative, inaccurate and unfair characterizations in their recent commercial advertisements," Jeff Capaccio, the group's regional vice president for the Far West, told the paper. "These advertisements only fuel further incorrect assumptions about an entire ethnic group."
Acknowledging that even the most fastidious foodies can't say no to Popeye's spicy fried chicken, Dirty South Wine'sHardy Wallace has made the dish the centerpiece of what he claims is the world's first-ever online food-and-wine pairing competition.
"There are a lot of online wine tastings, but no one ever does pairings," Wallace explains. "As much as I love wine, it's useless without food."
Wallace has recruited five respected wine experts to submit their picks for the best vino to sip with Popeye's celebrated chicken, Cajun-battered fries and red beans and rice. He and 50 friends will sample the selections at a party next Wednesday; While the festivities will be live-streamed from Wallace's house, he's also urging wine-and-chicken lovers to play along at home and report their findings via Twitter.
At stake is the title of Dirty Bird King (or Queen) -- and a lifetime of potentially enhanced Popeye's enjoyment.
Six people were hospitalized and 31 others injured Sunday after a hazardous chemical incident at a McDonald's in North Carolina.
The customers and employees were injured Sunday morning at an eatery in Knightdale, N.C. Fire Marshal Rusty Styons told the News & Observer that pepper spray or ammonia was likely to blame. The injured complained about burning eyes and noses.
"It appeared to be airborne," Eddie Ross, an official with Eastern Wake Emergency Medical Services, told the paper. "I don't think it was anything in the food."
An unnamed employee said someone left pepper spray on the hand dryer in the men's restroom and it spread after the dryer was turned on, the Associated Press reports.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
