Ooh, mentioning Starbucks reminded me. I used to be friends with a barista at a Barnes and Noble Coffee shop (those are operated by Starbucks now, I believe). He used to blend chocolate biscottis into our frappachinos, which was way tastier than the normal mocha frappachinos. If you ask the barista, he or she will do it for you for the cost of the biscotti.

How DARE you! I wake up in New York to read this only to now be controlled by a need to procure In-N-Out. I am seriously considering getting on a plane right now, or paying my mom to fed-ex me some. Bah!

Red Robin used to have "petite" burgers on their menu. They don't anymore, but you can still order them. Useful for when you're not THAT hungry!

Somewhere on the interwebs there is a photo chronicle of odering a 100x100 at an In-n-Out. I'm too lazy to look it up, but it does exist.

Unless things have changed at Popeyes in the past seeral months or so, the naked chicken strips are by no means "secret," they're right there on the menu above the cashiers.

OK, I felt bad for being lazy. The In-N-Out 100x100 -

http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/2006012505...

@muddgirl: Nope, BN cafe only serves Starbucks Coffee but they are not run by Starbucks Corp.

The Starbucks thing is true and same thing goes for BN Cafe. However here the thing, we charge for "extra" so if you want that extra syrup in whatever crazy drink you want us to make, beware.

I so wish we had a Jamba Juice here. We only have Smoothie King which is close enough.

When this story broke last week about Jamba, I went striaght down there to try the Pink Star, and he totally knew what it was, and it was oh so very good. I am so happy with my jamba list, I will be trying all of them. But the pink star was a wonderful start.

the 100 x 100:

http://www.foodfacts.info/blog/2006/03/in-n-out-100-x-100....

Oh your list is not the same as mine, here is my full Jamba list, I got.

Blue Gummy Bear

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Skittles

Bluetopia

Apple Pie

Fruity Pebbles

Strawberry Shortcake

White gummy bear

chocolate gummy bear

Red Gummy Bear

Pink Starbusrt

Raspberry Dreamin'

Pineapple Dreamin'

Sourpatch Kid

Now and Later

Push Pop

At Red Robin, their secret menu comes from their website. Basically they have a lot more ingredients than they actually list. You can go to their website and design your own burger and they'll have to make it.

What's the secret code at McDonalds to get a burger that hasn't been spit on?

I have been ordering veggie whoppers at BK for a few years, most of the time they get it wrong. The last time i ordered it they gave me a meat patty in a box, how wrong is that?! I always get them to fix it, and sometimes it's a dollar cheaper then a reg. whopper. Taco Bell will also replace the meat on the tacos with beans, but watch out for that extra charge.

Animal Fries ARE amazing. They're so delicious they make my tummy hurt. But it's worth it. /droooooool

I go to Jamba Juice ridiculously a lot, I'm gonna have to try out some of those secret items. Push Pop sounds tasty...

They used to have a "toasted cheese" sandwich at mcdonalds... (two big mac middles and cheese I think). I wonder if they still have the two cheeseburger meal... you used to be able to order it instead of the double cheeseburger meal back in the day.

McD's: 2 cheese burger meal. It's like any other meal (so it comes with fries/drink) and 2 burgers. It's cheaper than getting 2 burgers + fries + drink individually.

I've gotten the "white gummi bear" at Jamba Juice twice now, and as previously reported, it is indeed better than crack.

Try it now, thank me later!

Not that this is a huge deal, but at Chick-Fil-A you can get a chicken strips salad with nuggets instead of the strips. You just have to ask.

The secret ingredient for some items is apparently eye contact.

I thought I'd try the Wendy's doublestack at the drivethru, but all I got was a "we don't have that anymore." Then I suggested it's still in the register I got "no, you can't have that. Order something else or move on." unquote.

Chili's definitely still has chili on the menu. I just had it a couple weeks ago. Tasty.

There were a couple types of chili, for that matter -- a red and a white, as I recall.

This post could also be titled:

"How To Make The Life Of Someone With a Job They Probably Hate That Much Worse."

My fiancee is a four year shift at Starbucks, and if some jackass came in and demanded to put his own ingredients in a frappucino, I'd want to hunt the person down and pour an iced soy latte down their pants.

Ordering something that's not on the listed menu is fine, but wreaking havoc on someone that has to deal with obnoxious people all day, just so you can have your orange mocha frappucino is ridiculous. Buy a blender.

More of a local item rather than 'secret', but in Green Bay, WI, the BK's had a "Gilbert Burger", named for Packer's player Gilbert Brown. He told reporters he would order triple Whoppers with double toppings, so the stores began selling them by name.

I'm really impressed by all the "they'll make you X... they have the ingredients," because the Jack-in-the-Box near my husband's work "can't" make a double cheeseburger. I forget what the logic is - maybe something like 'uh, we don't know what to charge you for it'. So my husband buys two single cheeseburgers for 99 cents (or whatever the special deal is) and doubles up the meat and throws the buns away.

Starbucks has a short cappuccino that isn't on the menu, it's supposedly the best ratio of price/espresso shots. Same amount of espresso as a tall, but less milk. I've ordered it and sure enough, they have the cups for it and they know what it is.

I used to love the Classic Double with Cheese at Wendys before I became the food nazi. I went ahead and put together the essential nutrition info for the class double, triple, and quad:

burger | cal | fat | sat fat | carbs | sugars | protein
quad | 1240 | 79 | 34 | 38 | 10 | 92
triple | 0970 | 59 | 25 | 38 | 09 | 70
doubl | 0700 | 39 | 16 | 38 | 08 | 48

Ahh...to be young and fat again.

If you ask for a "spicy" or "green" bean burrito at Taco Bell, they'll put green stuff on it instead of red stuff.

Spanky:

So, instead of bleeding on it, they'll hock a loogie on it?

Chili's will also let you order the Guiltless Grill Chicken Pita even though it's not on the menu anymore. So much better than the Guiltless chicken sandwich!

Some Starbucks stuff (from a long-time barista who hasn't worked there in a few years): First, quoting the article--

You can even bring supplements from home and ask the barista to please include that in your drink.

This is only true in a few situations. If you bring something like your own all-natural sweetener in a packet (I used to have a regular that brought in stevia packets), the barista will probably put it in the cup before pulling your shots. But they will absolutely NOT put anything into a blender or otherwise contaminate the Starbucks equipment with whatever the hell you've got in your flask/bottle/pocket. There's no telling what that meth residue might do to the next little kid coming in for a venti mocha frappaccino and the lawsuits it might spawn.

Also, the "short" size is available for all hot drinks. It's 8oz. and does cost less. As of the last time I pulled a shift, it's on the register so you shouldn't get any weird looks asking for it.

OK, that said, here a few "off the menu" drinks well-known by Starbucks baristas:

Red Eye - a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso in it.
Black Eye - a cup of coffee with two shots of espresso in it.
Zebra (aka Oreo) - a mocha made with half regular mocha syrup and half white chocolate syrup
Chai Latte with a shot of espresso - no catchy name, but it is tasty and will keep you awake for days

I've been getting the Cheesy Gordita Crunch from Taco Bell for a few years now. One of the only foods I'll eat there.

There was a larger in-n-out Burger.
Some Caltech kids tried to order a 666x666, as satanism is common around Caltech. Because In-n-Out is religiously affiliated, they wouldn't make it, but instead they did a 667x667. there were boxes and boxes of meat and cheese, and the thing was re-assembled in the student dorms in all its glory. There are pictures floating around somewhere, but I don't happen to have them.

McDonald's is willing to mix things up a bit as well, Double BigMac, Mac Jr., etc.

My personal favorite is the Double BigMac with Quarter Beef, they'll throw a whole pound of beef on a burger for you.

For McDonalds:
/remembering things from when I worked at one... years ago
1) Triple Cheese Burger (duh)
2) Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Bun toasted sides out and cheese in the middle)

One thing people may not know, is that if you order something FRESH, they have to cook you a fresh one... But you will have to wait for it. (Burger patties about a minute. Quarter patties somewhere in the range of 1 and a half to two minutes. Fried stuff 3+ minutes.)

@OnoSideboard: Damn, I was just going to post that.

At a smaller chain coffee shop that I used to work for we could only add something that a customer brought with them if, and only if, it only needed to go in their cup. Any other way, like into the blender or steaming pitcher, would be a major health code violation. I'm sure Starbucks abides by a very similar policy.

Some good burger king tips:

You can order a burger "no steamer" which means it comes directly off the grill. It will take a bit longer but tastes way better. You can also order burgers cut into quarters. Why? CAUSE.

Chai Latte with a shot of espresso That sounds almost worth going to Starbucks for. I'm going to have to see if my local little café can do it for me.

I agree about considering the workers in this. Unhappy workers are slower and less willing to help you, so why go out of your way to make them more unhappy by pulling the "I know it's not on your menu but I'm the customer and you HAVE to" schtick. Trying to call down a manager on a barista because he doesn't know the right buttons to push to make you some fabulous crazy drink is cruel. You don't need it that bad. I promise. I'm not against trying to use the secret menus or anything, just don't have a fit if you're refused. Try again next time and suck it up for now.

OnoSideBoard: The chai latte with a shot of espresso is known as "Dirty Hippy" at the coffee shops around me (all local places in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan)

In Canada McDonald's offers a double Big Mac, it's not on the menu in the States, but I'm sure you could order one. Just so everyone knows, they're delicious.

sorry to be a jerk, but can someone describe the jamba flavors. thanks alot.

A friend of mine once ordered the a burger at Burger King and the person serving accidentally hit the CUT 1/2 button. He looked at his receipt and was asking us.. "CUT 1/2??" So one of the servers grabs a burger off the queue, and as he's watching, pulls out this huge knife and slices the still-wrapped burger in half. My friend was just, like, 'huh?' Then the server wraps it in yet another wrapper and hands it to him. The look on my friend's face was priceless.

After seeing that, another friend suggested maybe next time he could ask for one that was cut into thirds..

At a Canadian Dairy Queen I once ordered a Chicken Strip Blizzard, and to my surprise they agreed to make it after the Manager warned me that the result of mixing hot fried chicken and smooth ice cream would probably not be very palatable.

In the end, I chickened out (pardon the pun) and got something a little more sensible but it was liberating to know that I could get basically what I wanted if I was willing to pay for it and live with the results.

I always wondered why Burger King stopped cutting the original chicken sandwiches in half. You have to ASK for it now?

i work at mimi's cafe, and much the same applies to most sit down restaurants:

if we discontinue an item, but still have the ingredients to make it, we will, lack of computer buttons be damned.

just be polite, and don't be surprised if shows up under another name, or as 'open food' on your ticket, that's just the way we have to charge it.

again, the rule is, the customer is always right, however, we reserve the right to determine who's a customer;)

Chili's no longer has the "Blue Ribbon Salad", but I still order it and get it.

McDonalds will add or subtract meat patties to your liking. Personal favourite is the 'Pounder': the contents of 4 quarter pounders in the one burger. Mmmm..cholesterol.

" Starbucks corporate policy is that the customer is ALWAYS right"
While it is corporate policy to do so, a) being rude to the barista may get you decaf shots
and b) Food safety is taught at every level, and so making a "soy" frappachino is impossible, since the blender would have to be sanitized at the very least after adding your ingredients to it.
Note: you might be able to bully a manager into it, but again, I wouldn't suggest it.
You can also order a kids apple juice, or milk/flavored milk through starbucks with no problem. Should ring up for $1.05 or so.
Try not to ask for "red eye" or nicknames for your drinks, it's easier to just explain what the drink is, and results in less confusion. (Since each store has different names for these "special drinks" ex) a black and white mocha is called a tuxedo for us.)
If you're a regular at a particular starbucks, they're more willing to bend over backwards for you, for example one of the regulars always orders a "venti 2 splenda no water extra ice black tea and a grande 1 pump mocha"

Absolutely any concoction that you can think of (involving any type of milk, syrup, coffee, etc.) will be made for you. The limits to Starbucks "secret menu" are merely the limits of your imagination.
-This is really ONLY true with espresso drinks.

Please, Please, Please take into consideration your barista when ordering.
(and yes, I am a "partner" at SBux)

At the Brooklyn Diner on 57th St in Manhattan you can order the best turkey burgers in town, which are not on the menu.

At sonic, you can order a pink flamingo which is like pink limeade with lemons and cherries(It is awesome). They stopped promoting it after they changed their menus, but if you get a somewhat knowledgeable person they will know what you mean. When you get your receipt though the description will probably say "See Me" or something similar. My guess is that the smart person has to tell the newb how to make it.
-Matthew

Skyline - Secret menu item is the Chilito. It is a mini burrito filled with chili and cheese. You can add onions and sourcream for a truelly fantastic adventure :o)