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Posts Tagged “

Fast Food

sad

Tim Horton's Fires Single Mom For Giving A Free Donut Hole To A Baby

We pause this blog to bring you a message from Canada: A single mother has been fired by the iconic Canadian donut chain Tim Horton's for giving a free donut hole to a fussy baby. The chain said the worker was caught on video "stealing" the donut hole, which, in the mysterious Canadian language, is apparently called a "Timbit" and looks freaking delicious. Reader Chris, who alerted us to this story, explains: "It's important to understand that Tim Horton's is a Canadian national icon. That makes this story so much sadder." More »

breakfast large

McDonald's Won't Sell You A "Large" Coke Because It's "Breakfast"

Reader Rachael went into McDonald's today to get her usual morning Coca-Cola and was denied a large cup, despite the fact that she paid the "large" price, because it was "breakfast." Instead, Rachael ended up with a medium Coke which the McDonald's employee called a "breakfast large." More »

living wages

Burger King Investigating Email Shenanigans In Tomato Price War

Last week a Florida journalist busted Burger King VP Stephen Grover for using his tween-aged daughter's email account to slam a farm workers group—but that wasn't the only weird email event related to this story. Now Burger King is taking steps to officially distance itself from Grover's actions and the other internal emails by announcing it's launched an "internal investigation" into all three. More »

fast food

Blimpie, Please Put Your Nutritional Info Back Online

The new caloric information law in New York City has begun to show itself in restaurants—yesterday we decided against a fudge brownie at Starbucks because it was over 400 calories. A reader named Spoon wrote in to let us know that Blimpie, however, still hasn't bothered to put its nutritional information back on its website. They took it down last summer in a failed attempt to skirt the NYC law before it was rewritten. Now, ten months later, they're still keeping consumers in the dark and incorrectly blaming it on New York City. More »

new and exciting products

Starbucks To Offer Smoothies And Mysterious Fruity Italian Drinks

Watch out Jamba Juice, Starbucks is coming for you. CEO Howard Schultz announced yesterday that the company would "make our first significant step forward into this category with the introduction of a Health and Wellness beverage platform." That's CEO for "We're gonna make smoothies." More »

food

10 Things You May Not Know About The People Who Make Your Coffee

The Chicago Red Eye has a list of 10 things you may not know about the men and women who make your lattes and whatnot. This one is gross, but important:
Just because their finger is black doesn't mean it's dirty.
Many baristas get "espresso finger," which is when their index finger looks blackened because they've been leveling coffee grounds on the portafilter all day.
More »

fast food

NJ Gov Interested In Fast Food "Sin Tax"

Not being able to afford to eat at restaurants that don't have a dollar menu may become a sin in NJ, says the Associated Press. Jon Corzine, the governor of a state in which gambling is legal, is considering a suggestion to levy a "sin tax" on fast food in order to help save NJ's underfunded hospitals. More »

living wages

Burger King Exec Hides Behind Daughter's Email Account To Trash Talk Opponents

The next time Burger King VP Stephen Grover goes online to spread FUD about labor advocates, he should probably leave his daughter out of it. For one thing, she's a horrible accomplice and will spill her guts to the first reporter who calls. For another thing, this forthrightness clearly makes her too ethical to smear a group that's trying to bring pay for tomato pickers up to living wage levels. More »

crime

McDonald's Employee Won't Let You Have It "Your Way" -- Shoots You

The News On 6 in Tulsa, OK. reports that customer Jeff Cox was placed in intensive care after being shot by McDonald's employee Erick Thurman at a Tulsa McDonald's. The chain of unfortunate events began to unfold at approximately 2am on Sunday, April 13th. After waiting nearly an hour for her order, customer Makayla Hall returned to the drive-thru window to ask for a refund... More »

menugate

Poll: Consumers Aren't Very Good At Estimating Calorie Content

The Center for Science in the Public Interest and the American Heart Association recently conducted a scientific poll (unlike the completely unscientific one above) in which they asked a sampling of consumers to tell them which menu items had the fewest calories. The results? Consumers had no clue. One of the poll questions is reproduced above. If you like, you can take a guess and then head inside for the answer. (Peaking is easy, but in poor taste.) More »

menugate

Judge: Calories To Be Posted On Fast Food Menus In NYC!

The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog informs us that a federal judge has given the go ahead to NYC's new (rewritten) menu labeling law, thus ending (until the inevitable appeal) a fierce and sometimes weird battle between the fast food industry and NYC's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. More »

fightin' words

Starbucks CEO: McDonald's And Dunkin' Donuts Don't Sell "Premium Coffee"

Maria Bartiromo interviewed Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz about the "new" Starbucks and asked him the one question he probably didn't want to hear:

Earlier you said to me, the media has made such a huge deal about all of Starbucks' competition. So tell us straight out what the story is here. Have you been hurt by the premium coffee sold at McDonald's (MCD) or by Dunkin' Donuts getting more aggressive?

"First off, I don't think there's premium coffee being sold at those fast-food places..."

More »

changes

Are Starbucks Baristas Forgetting To Give You Your Free Refills?

The Starbucks card has some spiffy new benefits (including free refills on brewed coffee), but it seems that some employees didn't get the message. More »

coffee

Starbucks To Debut New "Everyday" Coffee Blend

The "something big" tomorrow at Starbucks is a new "everyday" drip coffee blend called "Pikes Place Roast." If you're feeling curious, free samples of the coffee will be handed out tomorrow at all Starbucks locations. Supposedly, the coffee will feature "subtle, rich flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts." Sexy. More »

changes

What Complaining About Starbucks Hath Wrought: Punch Cards?

We decided to check back in with Starbucks' social "idea" site to see what ideas they were thinking of implementing. More »

The Starbucks barista tip sharing lawsuit has spread to New York. [NYT]

lawsuits

Starbucks CEO Thinks Pesky "Laws" Don't Apply To His Company

In the state of California it is illegal for supervisors to share in employee tips. Starbucks recently lost a lawsuit brought by an employee who said he was forced to share a portion of his tips with his supervisor. The judgment awarded over $100 million in back tips and interest to the Starbucks baristas of California, and now several similar lawsuits are pending in other states. More »

The US Isn't the only wacky lawsuit country. In China, KFC won a defamation lawsuit filed by an elderly gentleman who accused the fast food chain of damaging his social standing, because he felt their "teadog set meal" implied that he and his grandson had become "dog friends." [China Daily]