Fast Food Solutions for Lent

Happy Mardi Gras!

I hope you celebrate Fat Tuesday in true fast food style today, but Mardi Gras, of course, also marks the beginning of Lent tomorrow.  And some fast food chains have dining solutions available for those observing Lent.

Lenten season menu items and specials include:

• Long John Silver's is, of course, a perennial go-to solution during Lent.  They are currently launching their new Crispy Breaded Pollock with the supporting Spin & Win Fish Fry online sweepstakes.
• Captain D's Seafood Kitchen has their new Butterfly Shrimp Dippers; the 15-piece meal is only $4.99.
• Jack in the Box will be offering their Fish Sandwich for just $1.49 during Lent.  They also have 2 other fish products: Fish & Chips for $3.99 and the Fish Pita Snack for $1.99.
• Dairy Queen has a Popcorn Shrimp Basket which includes fries, coleslaw and cocktail sauce.
• A&W Restaurants has brought back their 21-piece Shrimp and Fries.

Free Fish Taco at Long John Silver's 7/14

On Tuesday, July 14, every Long John Silver’s location will be promoting their new Baja Fish Tacos by giving away free Baja Fish Tacos from restaurant open until 2:30 PM. Limit one per customer; available to dine-in, carry out and drive-thru customers.

Long John Silver's new Baja Fish Taco is LJS's core batter-dipped Alaskan Whitefish with crumblies, lettuce and Baja sauce. (Love the crumblies! Excellent idea to include those!)

I love the tag line their using on the Long John Silver's web site for their new fish taco: "Sounds weird, tastes delicious!"

If you can't wait to try the fish taco for free on July 14, Long John Silver's new Baja Fish Tacos are available now for 99¢.

The Baja Fish Taco has 350 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 5 grams saturated fat. Here's the complete nutritional information:

"Fish tacos, a long-time favorite recipe in coastal areas, are rapidly becoming a passion for the rest of the country," said Ben Butler, president of Long John Silver's. "We're proud to be the first quick service restaurant to spread this latest food craze across the nation and meet the needs of contemporary taste buds. We've seen some of the most skeptical customers turn into fanatics after taking just one bite of our Baja Fish Tacos."

Long John Silver's Intros Freshside Grille

Long John Silver's, the fast food seafood chain, introduced a new menu concept today that they are calling "Freshside Grille." The new menu options are being promoted as healthy, premium seafood entrees.

The 3 new Freshside Grille entrees are (as pictured, top to bottom) Grilled Tilapia in garlic herb sauce, Shrimp Scampi in garlic butter sauce, and Grilled Pacific Salmon in a sauce of red bell peppers, black pepper, garlic and olive oil. Each entree is served on seasoned rice with a breadstick.

Long John Silver's and their nutritionist-for-hire are quick to point out that each of the Freshside Grille entrees have 10 or less grams of fat and no trans fats. But this is only true for the entrees, not the sides shown with them (rice, corn, veggies and breadstick)... the sides add more fat and do have some trans fat.

A statement from Long John Silver's "noted nutrition scientist, author and expert on seafood nutrition," Dr. Joyce Nettleton says, "Fish and shellfish are an important source of protein and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to have health benefits for the heart, eyes, brain, immune system, and for pregnant and nursing women and their babies. Long John Silver's has taken an important step in offering low-fat, non-fried seafood choices with the new Freshside Grille menu."

Fast Food News has the complete nutrition information for Long John Silver's Freshside Grille entrees and sides below, but be certain to take note that the nutrition information for the entrees is not the nutrition information for the meals you see photographed above. It is only for the entrees, not the additional side items.

Long John Silver's is proud to point out that the Gilled Tilapia entree has only 110 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, but if you dine on the Grilled Tilapia as it is shown in the photo, with the rice it is served on, the Vegetable Medley, Corn, and Breadstick you will be consuming 760 calories, 22.5 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of Trans Fat. That's a big difference.

The bed of rice under the entrees come with the entree, but is not included in the nutrition data for the entree. The Vegetable Medley, Corn and Breadstick, along with the Rice add 650 calories, 180 calories from fat, 20 grams of fat, 2.5 grams Trans Fat and 1495 mg of Sodium.

Long John Silver's hasn't updated their main website (www.ljsilvers.com) for a long, long time, but now, to introduce their Freshside Grille concept, they've launched a new web presence at www.freshsidegrille.com.

New Freshside Grille Commercial:

There's also a behind-the-scenes, making-of, video showing the people in the commercial getting hit by the big splash.

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Freshside Grille, complete nurtional information:

With rice and sides (as shown): 760 calories, 200 calories from fat, 22.5 grams fat, 2.5 grams Trans Fat, 1735 mg Sodium.


With rice and sides (as shown): 760 calories, 220 calories from fat, 24.5 grams fat, 2.5 grams Trans Fat, 2055 mg Sodium.


With rice and sides (as shown): 800 calories, 225 calories from fat, 25 grams fat, 2.5 grams Trans Fat, 1935 mg Sodium.

Yum!'s From Hunger to Hope

Yum! Brands has teamed up with the Friends of the World Food Program for World Hunger Relief Week.

Called "World Hunger Relief Week," the program supports the United Nations World Food Programme, the frontline agency in the fight against global hunger. During October 14-20, 35,000 company and franchised restaurants located in 112 countries will be participating in some way, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food.

The campaign, which will run from October 14th through October 20th, will increase awareness about hunger, engage volunteers, and raise critically needed funds to help WFP serve the world's areas of greatest need.

"This unprecedented and innovative campaign brings together the public and private sector to address one of the most pressing issues of our time: the world's hunger crisis," said Friends of WFP President and CEO Karen Sendelback. "Hunger is a global concern and an issue that faces each of us no matter where we live and work. Through World Hunger Relief Week, we can all make a difference to stop world hunger."

There's more information and you can donate at the "From Hunger to Hope" web site that Yum! Brands has set up.

Sure, Yum! is using a global tragedy to promote their fast food chains, but it is an important concern that needs awareness.

UPDATE: KFC announced one way their participating today:

The KFC "Honks for Hunger Relief" Tour begins on the East Coast on Oct. 11. The KFC Colonel will be driving cross-country to raise money for World Hunger Relief Week.

Each time the Colonel encounters a motorist who signals support for hunger relief with a honk of the horn, he will add a buck to the KFC bucket. Every honk means another dollar donated by KFC. The Colonel hopes to raise tens of thousands of dollars during his road trip.

Also, the From Hunger to Hope blog pointed out in comments to this blog entry that "we're not trying to promote our food in any way with this effort." I'm glad Yum! is doing something to promote awareness about hunger, but I still fail to see how The Colonel driving cross country with signs and a car plastered with KFC logos isn't promoting their food, too.