March 28 (Geoff Herbertt / Syracause)
Look out, McDonald's, there's a new name in fast food before lunch time.
Taco Bell launches its new breakfast hours Thursday, March 27, opening at 7 a.m. at most of its 6,000 stores nationwide. In the Syracuse area, five locations will now offer a breakfast menu from 7-11 a.m. at 3179 Erie Blvd East in Syracuse, 3500 W Genesee St in Syracuse, 3716 Brewerton Road in Syracuse, 7881 Brewerton Rd in Cicero and 8095 Oswego Rd in Liverpool.
And while Taco Bell fans have been dreaming about waffle tacos and A.M. Crunch Wraps since the news spread earlier this year, the Yum Brands chain has another unlikely supporter: Ronald McDonald.
McDonald, of course, is the name of McDonald's famous clown mascot -- but it's also the name shared by some 400 real-life Americans, according to the Associated Press. A handful of those men appear in a new series of commercials promoting Taco Bell.
"I'm Ronald McDonald," a smiling Rochester, N.Y. man says in one spot. "Got an A.M. Crunch Wrap here." He and other Ronalds then describe the grilled tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheddar cheese and a sausage patty.
"Wow," upstate New York's Ronald concludes with a mouth full of food.
At the end, there's fine print explaining the obvious: "These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald's Corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast."
The AP reports the name-borrowing advertisements are meant to draw attention away from those golden arches. McDonald's leads all fast food restaurants with 31 percent of the breakfast market, and the Egg McMuffins and other early-morning menu items account for 20 percent of the company's U.S. sales.
But what are people who aren't being paid to taste the new Taco Bell breakfast menusaying about it?
"I will be brutally honest - the Waffle Taco is not the prettiest breakfast sandwich around," a PennLive food critic wrote. "[It's] not bad. But not extraordinary, either. This is fast food, after all."
"The A.M. Crunchwrap was our favorite by far," a Business Insider review said. The crispy hash brown and grilled tortilla provide nice textures, while the cheese and sauce provide the right amount of richness."
And Geekosystem suggested skipping the Cinnabon Delights as a side order, and instead get hash browns -- "unless you're the kind of person who wants to start their day off with some sugar-coated, deep-fried spheres filled with hot goo and regret."
But if you like Doritos Locos Tacos, you'll probably want to try Taco Bell's breakfast menu for yourself. Still, check Taco Bell's nutrition tidbits before committing to living mas every morning. The Waffle Tacos range from 260 to 370 calories (the sausage version is worse for you than the bacon!), the A.M. Crunch Wraps have 38 to 41 grams of fat, a bacon breakfast burrito contains 490 calories, and a 12-pack of Cinnabon Delights has 13 grams of saturated fat.
And keep your expectations realistic -- as Huffington Post points out, the real photos of Taco Bell breakfast menu items do not look the same as they do in the drool-inducing ads. (Syracause)
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