We’ve been hearing rumblings of secret menu-items at various restaurants and fast food places. Here’s a round up of the most interesting ones:
• Jamba Juice has an entire secret smoothie menu. We remember that it used to be on Wikipedia, but has mysteriously vanished. All the smoothies are made from stuff in the store, but most aren’t as healthy as the ones the promote. They are, however, in the register. Some secret ones to try:
Strawberry Shortcake, White Gummy Bear, PB+J, Pink Starburst, Skittles, Red Gummy Bear, Sourpatch Kid, Now and Later, Push Pop, Fruity Pebbles. The consensus seems to be that “White Gummy Bear” is the most delicious substance known to man.
• In-and-Out Burger’s Secret Menu. This one is posted on their website
• Chipotle. According to Wikipedia a quesadilla is considered a secret item.
Now, we know you guys know about more of these “secret menus” from different restaurants. We want to put together a list. An ultimate guide.
Do you work at Jamba? Send the complete menu. Work somewhere else and know what’s up? Send it. Tips [at] consumerist [dot] com. Put “Secret Menu” in the subject.—MEGHANN MARCO
Secret Off-the-Menu Items [Buzzfeed]
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I don’t know if this works everywhere, but all non-chain diners I have ever eaten in will be super happy to make whatever your drug addled mind comes up with at 4 in the morning if you’re nice to the staff and polite to everyone.
Thing is, I have no idea if those things were on the menu or not.
*sigh*
The one thing that you can do at McDonalds is to ask for things like their double cheeseburger, that chicken snack wrap thing, or pretty much anything that contains meat, as a “combo”. The computer will do it, and you usually end up saving a buck or so compared to if you order everything separately.
I really want to try this double stack at wendy’s after reading this thread.
Wait, what? There are restaurants that serve fake eggs?
Most restaurants use powdered egg, its real egg, sorta, and for some reason it also tears up my stomach, I don’t know if its the milk added or something else. So I always order my eggs cracked on the grill, especially if I get scrambled eggs.
The portion isn’t nearly as large, which isn’t a bad thing, but they are way tastier and without the stomach upset.
major disaster: Wait, what? There are restaurants that serve fake eggs?
Most restaurants use powdered egg, its real egg, sorta, and for some reason it also tears up my stomach, I don’t know if its the milk added or something else. So I always order my eggs cracked on the grill, especially if I get scrambled eggs.
The portion isn’t nearly as large, which isn’t a bad thing, but they are way tastier and without the stomach upset.
All the military readers will know what an Early Bird is. (The AAFES snack bar version of an Egg McMuffin)
I got kicked out – yes, kicked out – of an AAFES snack bar for daring to order an Early Bird with no egg. Just wanted the bacon, cheese, and English muffin and offered to pay full price. The hairnet behind the counter had a coniption and started babbling about how when they got the hamburger bar there wouldn’t be “no more special orders.”
I said, “Just leave the damn egg off!” and that was it. “Damn” must be code for “I am a terrorist and will blow you up because I was then unceremoniously hustled out the door. Word to the wise: accept the standard issue Early Bird or end up in Guantanamo in a wire cage. Or end up on the street at 6am without your breakfast.
Well, I’ve worked at several chains (and a couple times on KP in an Army kitchen) and I can tell you that I’ve never seen a powdered egg.
Can you name a couple places that use powdered eggs?
@Kornkob: I did KP one time with a big ass bucket of powdered eggs. I once got a cook to crack me a real egg at Ft. Gordon, GA. It was the best Army egg I ever had.
But yes…the army doesn’t use real eggs…and McDonalds uses big bags of liquid egg stuff.
Soldier, if you didn’t need an egg it wouldn’t be included in the standard issue for deployment. Now pick your gear up and get moving before I issue your ass a Mark 1 LPC.
This is slightly OT, but apparently @ Burger King, the barbeque sauce they have back in the “kitchen” is Bulls-Eye, but the stuff they have in the packets up-front is some crappier generic sauce that’s not as good. So, if you want BBQ sauce on a BK item, you’re better off asking for them to put it on before you get your food.
chipotle actually has a cup fact (know what i mean?) about how they’ll make you anything you want, really, as long as they have the ingredients. i remember it said something about nachos…
I haven’t heard of egg powder. But I know Brueggers uses premade frozen egg product in their breakfast bagels. Little rubbery “fried egg” patties that are steamed to perfection before they land on your breakfast bagel. No grill there to do fresh eggs. Delish.
Oh, and that veggie whopper at Burger King someone mentioned above is great for another thing… it’s like $1. You can also order a veggie whopper junior. Just like the regular whopper jr, no meat, just veggies and condiments.
This is also on the standard menu, but you really have to look… Burger King has a vegetarian burger. Though it’s a safe bet the burger is heated up on the same surface as all the others.
I would guess that the scrambled eggs at McDonalds are powdered. I mean they look weird and I’ve never heard of a shell being in them.
Roy Rogers would still make the double-R bar burger even after it’d been off the menu for years. Haven’t seen a Roy Rogers in a long time, though, so I can’t guarantee they’ll still do it.
Chipotle is weird about their off-the-menu stuff – I always get plain beans & rice for my daughter, and have been charged anywhere from $1 to $4 for it, for varying quantities (that don’t necessarily correspond to the price – the best deal I got was $1 for a whole bowl of b&r, but I paid $3 for a little salsa cup of beans and another of rice at another store). I definitely give ‘em credit, though – you really can order any combination of ingredients they have. (As long as you’re not trying to pay a particular price for it.)
I guess if you don’t have kids, you’d think the Chipotle’s kids menu is chock-full of “secret items.” They don’t post the items on the big boards but they do on the take-out menus. @glitterpig: with prices. At least the ones I’ve been to in Portland (OR), SF, NY, and Boston…
A friend of mine always gets the “All-American Meal” at McDonalds, which I had never heard of before. It consists of a cheeseburger, small fry, and a small drink for $1.89 (in IA, your change may vary)
Apparently, it was on the menus awhile back, but they took it off a year later. She’s never had any problem ordering it since then.
…..I used to work at little BBQ franchise (Country’s BBQ, Auburn, AL, it’s still there!) 25 years ago that served up “frozen scrambled eggs” in the breakfast bar. These were basically a cinder-block of yellow mass that we slapped on the grill for a few minutes in a puddle of shortening to give it some cooked marks. We then shoveled it into a serving bin for the buffet. It was best to under cook the things, or otherwise they’d turn to leathery, slightly green flakes under the heat lamp. They tasted sort of vaguely egg-like, but without that good yolky taste of the real thing.
…..Most of the breakfast regulars knew to order eggs cracked on the grill. We did use real butter and shortening, which are essential for a good fried egg.
At most of the Taco Bells around here, the Tostada doesn’t seem to be on the menu board anymore, but I can still get one with no problem.
At most places I’ve worked, they didn’t use powdered eggs. Those inevitably turn out absolutely awful, sort of like trying to pass off reconstituted powdered milk as the real thing. Most of the time they use a carton of liquid eggs; the most common brand name I’ve seen is Easy Eggs.
Powdered Eggs:
Everywhere you buy “scrambled” eggs that are uniformed yellow. Its not real egg, its powdered egg, or liquid egg substance with citric acid added.
Think I’m lying? Go to IHop, or Denny’s or Bob Evans, order scrambled eggs, and then order scrambled eggs, cracked on the grill”. I guarantee they will be different. Most/all restaurant chains uses major food providers they pre-make and package as much of the food as possible. I know this because I use to work in catering, and more the once got the joy of mixing the powdered egg for a breakfast buffet.
Its like powdered milk, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and doesn’t perish.
Don’t believe me that it exists? Here you go: http://www.aeb.org/EggProducts/resource/handle_storage.htm…
No idea why, its suppose to be just egg, but if I eat it, it shreds my insides to pieces. I assume its the pasturization.
Some MacDonald’s do have hidden items! Like the two Cheeseburger Meal is not listed at some locations but can still be ordered with no questions asked. If an item that was currently on the menu is no longer there it is likely very much available.
Actually the eggs are pasturized the same way your milk that you drink has been. In doing this it prevents the bacteria from developing, with less possibility of making you ill.
Secret? I don’t know if it is, but you can get a grill cheese sandwich at any McDonalds. They’ll look at you funny, but they have it in the register and make it by taking two hamburger buns and flipping them, add some cheese, press it on the grill and like Phil Collins (Trailer Park Boys), baaaaaaammmm, grilled cheese sammich.
Not really a secret item, but just a suggestion. Get the Chicken Snacker at McDonalds, open it up and smother it with buffalo sauce, alot of ranch and wash it down with a wal mart energy drink called O’L Glory.
O’L Glory energy drinks have the pledge of allegiance stated on the can. Yeah.. it’s true.