Jeebus. Yes, I know – I could’ve picked a better post to stage a comeback on Cheap Eats. You know how it goes, and so on and so on.

This Wednesday March 23, 2011, Popeye’s is offering their Payday Special where you can get 8 pieces of mixed fried chicken for only $4.99.

Am I going down to the closest one to check it out? Absolutely. Am I going to eat all that chicken? I highly doubt it. I’ll probably go pick it up, take it to our pickup hockey game, and then give it all away. Maybe I’ll eat a piece, especially if you hold me down and fart soliloquies in my face. You extra-talented sphincter. And so on.

Muggle buggle, I am done.

Editor’s Note: I hope that all the food blogger peeps in Japan have made it through OK. I have family in Japan, but they were all in the Tokyo area, so while times are a bit tougher, it’s not as bad. I feel terrible for the people in the north and near the coast – hope the recovery there goes quickly.

I’ve occasionally been asked why a lot of the food news and reviews I feature are “West-coast” oriented.

That would be because I live in California – home of the 42 billion dollar debt. Oh, and the Governator.

However. Just to show you I’m willling to give a shout out to companies east of the Rockies, I’d like to tell you about the Free Country Potatoes Day at Hardees tomorrow (Friday February 20, 2009). Yep, no purchase necessary apparently. You just walk in and they give you a free order of country potatoes.

Yes, I know we do have their sister chain Carl’s Junior in my neck of the woods. However, they aren’t serving up the free goods as far as I know. But I would, in fact, be willing to make a road trip to visit Hardees for the free potatoes. I’ve been known to do crageee things like that. (If eating potted meat from the dollar store doesn’t qualify as crageee, I don’t know what does.)

However, it appears that the nearest Hardees is 1063 miles away. In Casper, Wyoming, to be exact. I googlemapped it, and it’s a bit of a far drive even for crageee ol’ me. About 16 hours 27 minutes if I drove it straight.

So, I’m going to sit this one out. But I’d like to hear how the free potato event goes if you happen to have a Hardees near you.

Man. The sandwich shop chain wars continue. Not a millisecond goes by without me being bombarded with ads for Subway or Quizno’s. For what it’s worth, I eat at Subway occasionally. But less often now that their 5 dollar subs are for a limited selection of sandwiches.

I categorically DESPISE Quizno’s, but that is a long, long story for another bright and shiny day when I’m not still feeling the effects of a lingering cold.

But Togo’s – I was actually a huge, huge fan of theirs, especially in college. The sandwiches they made were always slightly better tasting and looking than Subway’s. My friend refused to eat at Subway even if they were closer. He always said “That’s nast…”. I guess he meant short for nasty. We always had to make the trek to Togo’s.

And noooooo, they did not give me the keys to the company lamborghini in order to say that.

But anyhow, the reason for this post is that they are having a special 1970s Flashback Wednesday deal where you can get a featured classic 6″ sub for $1.99. The only thing is that it’s good on just one type of their sandwiches per week. This Wednesday, the sandwich is the #24 Turkey and Avocado. I guess I should also mention that Togo’s will be making a donation to the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation for each Flashback 6″ sandwich sold. Admirable.

And yessssss, they did spam me and that’s where I got all this information.

I still would like a ride in their company car, however, if the higher-ups would not mind…

Dearest In-N-Out,

I would very much like to know whether or not the keeerazy internet rumor about the In-N-Out 60th Year Anniversary on October 22, 2008 is true or not. According to some many people, on that day you may be selling your hamboyggas for a quarter, your cheeseboyggas for 30 cents, your Freedom Fries for 15 cents and your carbonated sugar water for 10 cents. It is difficult to know what story to believe, and I would very much like to know.

You see, I have been feeling down in the dumps lately – what with the economy sitting in the toilet and people at the Big Lots buying all the Trivial Pursuit Pringles before I can get my hot little hands on them.

Also, I have recently come down with a sore throat and cold so I am bedridden. Thusly, if you are indeed having your 60th bash w/ the low prices – would it be too much trouble to ask if you could please have a courier deliver 10 of your delicious cheeseyburghers and 3 orders of your Freedom Fries to my house? I’ll leave the door open so they can come right in. I believe the total would be $3.45, with tax that comes to $3.73. I’ll put it on the table near the door, next to the life-sized photo of Richard Dean Anderson.

There is an “attack cat” by the door, but he will not attack if you give him 1 cheeseburger and say “YOU CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER LIL FELLOE!”.

Also, if you could please have the courier arrive in a cherry red 1957 Corvette with the In-N-Out logo painted on the side. I would also like the courier to wear a snakeskin hat, Sarah Palin glasses, and a bikini.

Sincerely,
the ill (not illin’) Cheap Eats Editor

Editor’s Note: Excuse the above, I’m not feeling myself right now…

Ugh… I’m back a little early. But no worse for wear in general. The painful finger issue seems to have gone away – somewhat of a mystery.

Anyhow, I wasn’t going to post until next week but I felt absolutely compelled to get the word out about the FREE IKEA BREAKFAST that is going to be happening this weekend Sept 19-21, 2008. Seize the day, indeed. O captain, my captain!

I actually like the food in general at IKEA and have been meaning to make a post about it since it’s fairly cheap. But this is for free breakfast, no strings attached. You don’t have to buy anything – but of course, how could you not go to IKEA and NOT buy anything, LOL. That’s what they’re counting on, of course.

There’s more info on the Ikea site (I didn’t link directly to the coupon page because they’ll probably take it down later.) Note, the free breakfast does not apply in several cities (also, I didn’t check whether it applies in other countries), so you should probably check or call before heading down there. I wouldn’t want you to get breakfast-blocked after driving all the way there.

The offer is one per customer and only good until 10:30am. You get a free small breakfast and one cup of coffee – total value is $2. But hey, every little bit counts – have you felt the wobbling crazy insane eeekconomy lately? I have… and speaking of which – I’m still working on that related side project which was part of the reason for the extended break / vacation. I was going to “announce” it next week on the blog. But you can probably find it earlier if you’re interested.

Man, I really apologize for yet another lame post. My sleeping schedule has just been zonked out lately, I feel like a zombie.

If you should decide to forgive me, here is a quickie on El Pollo Loco. Like nearly every fast food restaurant, they’re under the gun to promote some really cheap food to get customers in the door. I never saw so many 99 cent menus in my life. One day, I’m going to have to review them all (yeah, right).

However, EPL also has an under 4 dollar meal which is decent. There are 4 different choices. They are:

2 Pieces chicken leg/thigh, tortillas, plus 1 side
Crunchy Taco, BRC burrito, plus 1 side
Classic Chicken Burrito, Taquito, plus 1 side
3 Tacos al Carbon, plus 1 side

Lately on Wednesdays, I’ve been ordering El Pollo Loco to-go after the nightly rollerhockey game. I’ve been somewhat shocked to see the place jumping at 8:30 at night. It took nearly 20 minutes to get my food. It must be because it’s one of the healthier options for fast food. Maybe a lot of folks coming home after a late workday would rather pick that up than KFC. I dunno. I just know that the $3.99 meals are rather nice because you can pick the side. I usually get salad, or mac n cheese.

Their menu says the side is limited to Rice, Pinto Beans, or Mashed Potatoes and Gravy – but ours lets you order whatever you want. Sometimes instead of the 4 dollar meal, I mess around with their dollar menu which we’ve posted about favorably before. Or, I just get the 2 piece chicken / 2 side meal w/out the drink which comes out to about $5. I’ll probably do one or the other tomorrow – if I don’t fall alseep while waiting for the food.

Read: Four $4 Meals at E.P.L.

NOTE: Due to rocking and rolling and other earthquakedness, our regular Cheap Eats coverage will be postponed until such a time as the ground stops shaking. For now, please gaze fondly at this older photo of an enormous shrimp dumpling from the now defunct Won Ton Time on Garfield in Monterey Park.

Regular coverage will resume in a few days, or next week depending on schedule and Laziness Quotient™. Thank you.