Tag: Jack in the Box

My closest Jack in the Box is right next to a Popeyes. If I’m craving burgers, I can go to Jack in the Box. If I want red beans and rice or mashed potatoes, I can go to Popeyes. If I desire a crispy chicken sandwich, I’ll flip a coin, call heads for Popeyes, and then go to Popeyes because I used a two-headed coin. But, if I yearn for chicken wings, I can now go to either. Yup, Jack in the Box is now in the chicken wing game for a limited time. Yes, bone-in chicken.

Jack in the Box’s Crispy Chicken Wings are available in six- or twelve-piece orders and three varieties: Classic, Buffalo, and Garlic Parmesan. They also come with containers of buttermilk ranch sauce, but I don’t think they’re necessary after trying all three.

Before I go into flavors, I want to mention how surprisingly crispy these are. Okay, they’re not teeth rattling crunchy, nor are they as crispy as what you’d get at Popeyes, but they have a pleasant audible crunch that food ASMR listeners would love. Maybe I shouldn’t have had low expectations because these are from a burger joint. I also anticipated that these chicken wings from a burger chain would be dry within their crispy exterior, but I’m happy to report that the meat was surprisingly moist. I’m sorry for doubting you, Jack. I’m also sorry for using the word “moist,” everyone.

The Classic version isn’t tossed with any sauce, but unlike Jack’s nuggets, which NEED some kind of sauce to make them decent, these are actually good sans sauce. There are some mild flavored seasonings that I can’t really distinguish what they are, but they do make the wings tasty.

If you’re hoping the Buffalo ones have a spicy kick that’ll make you reach for the buttermilk ranch sauce to temper the heat in your mouth, I’m about to douse those expectations with a dipping sauce container of reality. While they are somewhat spicy, it’s more like a spark than a flame, but the sauce did have all the pepperiness and slight butteriness that I’d associate with Buffalo sauce. Despite the lack of heat, these were extremely tasty, and I found myself trying to nibble every bit of non-bone I could get my teeth on.

Finally, we have the Garlic Parmesan Crispy Chicken Wings, which, according to Jack’s app, is tossed in a garlic and herb butter sauce and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. As you can see in the photo below, the seasonings were applied liberally to most pieces, but I didn’t get a blast of that gar-parm love (trying to make gar-parm a thing). They were slightly garlicky, but the cheese was most noticeable thanks to the thick parmesan layer. I wish the garlic stood out more since I love garlic and how it keeps the introvert in me happy by keeping others away.

While I found the chicken wings’ flavors good, I wish the sauced ones were tossed better. I’m not sure how they’re made, but even with the Buffalo ones, I noticed that the sauces weren’t coated evenly over all the pieces.

Since I got a molehill of buttermilk ranch sauce containers with my order, I tried them with all three wing varieties. After dipping them into the white creamy sauce, I must say it doesn’t necessarily make them better. It’s a tasty addition to whatever seasonings and sauces that are already on the chicken, but as I mentioned at the beginning of my review, the ranch isn’t necessary to make these tasty.

Should I be surprised by how good Jack in the Box’s Crispy Chicken Wings are? After all, McDonald’s did a great job with its Mighty Wings over a decade ago. So, I guess burger chains can do wings well. If I had to flip a coin between Jack in the Box and Popeyes for chicken wings, I’d be fine with either result.

Purchased Price: $8.99 each
Size: 6-pieces
Rating: 8 out of 10 (all)
Nutrition Facts: (6 pieces) Classic – 440 calories. Buffalo – 470 calories. Garlic Parmesan – 670 calories. No other nutritional information is available on Jack in the Box’s website.

Jack in the Box’s Cinnamon Sugar Churro French Toast Sticks are a tasty way to start your morning, or because the menu item is available to order any time of day, they’re also a tasty way to begin or end an afternoon or evening.

The limited time offering features three or six French toast sticks dipped in sweet vanilla batter that are deep fried and then rolled in cinnamon sugar. It also comes with a container of syrup.

The description makes it sound delightful, but including “churro” in its name is kind of a stretch. I mean, deep fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar is almost the textbook definition of a churro, but part of the experience is its star shape. These look like Jack’s Classic French Toast Sticks, but maybe slightly darker. I’m not sure if adding “churro” was necessary because calling it Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Sticks would’ve excited me enough to try it over Jack’s Classic version. But I guess churro is the flavour du jour at the moment. (Also, pickle for some reason.)

These French toast sticks are as crispy as they look, but the interior is a bit dry. However, that dryness is less noticeable when they’re dipped into the provided syrup. While I enjoyed all three pieces, I wish they were rolled in cinnamon sugar longer, creating a thicker and sweeter sugary crust. The cinnamon sugar flavor is there, but I want it to stand out more to make these taste outstanding without some syrup, like an actual churro. Of course, that might be my sweet tooth doing all the talking.

But overall, they’re good enough that I’m kicking myself for not getting a six-piece order instead, and they’re definitely an upgrade over Jack’s Classic French toast sticks, which are the same price.

So, whatever time it is, it might be worth your time to get Jack in the Box’s Cinnamon Sugar Churro French Toast Sticks.

Purchased Price: $2.50*
Size: 3-piece order
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories (no other nutritional information is available on Jack in the Box’s website).

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

While Jack is known for his huge head, Jack in the Box has a history of mini-ing things. If I had a dollar for every time the fast food chain called something “mini,” I’d be able to buy a Sourdough Jack. There have been options like Mini Corn Dogs, Mini Churros, Mini Cookies, mini chicken sandwiches, and mini cheeseburgers. Oh, and let’s not forget about other finger foods, like Jack’s Brownie Bites and Pizza Bites. The latest are these Mini Cinnis, a name I’m surprised no one has trademarked.

Available in five or ten-piece orders, the treat features bite-sized classic cinnamon rolls served warm and topped with icing. Jack in the Box says they are the “perfect end to a meal, or start, no judgment.” Perfect? They are not perfect.

Don’t get me wrong, I like them. So much so that I’ve ordered these Mini Cinnis twice. But some of the dough in a few of the pieces in both of my orders were dry, which might not be an issue with a huge honking Cinnabon or Costco-sized cinnamon roll, but with one that’s the width of a half-dollar, it’s a slight issue.

I say “slight” because there’s more than enough cinnamon and sugary icing to make me almost forget about the dry dough. Also, that dryness isn’t preventing me from wanting to dip these into one of Jack’s shakes. They are significantly better than a pre-packaged convenience store cinnamon roll that has been microwaved for seven seconds but pale in comparison to anything a particular cinnamon-scented mall food court staple offers.

Jack in the Box’s Mini Cinnis aren’t going to make you wonder if you accidentally stepped into a Cinnabon or make your stomach feel as if you’ve eaten a whole Classic Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll. But they are a sweet end to a meal or start, no judgment.

Purchased Price: $2.50*
Size: 5 pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 290 calories (No other nutritional information is available on Jack in the Box’s website).

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

If you traveled back in time and told me a year ago that Jack in the Box would be selling boba drinks in 2023, while I was drinking a boba drink, you would have boba flying towards you from my spit take because that would be extremely surprising and laughable. But here we are with Jack in the Box’s Iced Coffee and Milk Tea with Boba.

The iced coffee version features High Mountain Arabica coffee with sweetened cream and vanilla, served over ice with brown sugar boba, while the milk tea one comes with freshly brewed tea with sweetened cream and vanilla, ice, and brown sugar boba. If you’re unfamiliar with boba, they’re chewy tapioca balls that give the drink its other name, bubble tea.

And it’s those dark-colored bubbles in these fast food drinks that make it hard for me to recommend them, especially if you’ve never had boba drinks before. They’re described as brown sugar boba, but they’re more like bland sugar boba because they have a nondescript flavor that’s not even sweet. But I was not too fond of their texture. Chewing on them was like mashing my teeth on clumps of hard raisins, which are too chewy for boba. These issues make them weird compared to other boba I’ve had, which have better flavor and texture.

While the tapioca texture was weird, I will say that the milk tea by itself was tasty, and I wish Jack in the Box offered on its own. According to the app, I could customize it to not include boba, but the price wouldn’t change. It’s sweet, creamy, and tasted like the canned and bottled milk teas I’ve had from Japan. As for the iced coffee, if you’ve had Jack’s iced coffee, it tastes the same, but I prefer the milk tea.

Part of the boba experience is the use of a wider straw that allows the tapioca to be sucked up, and Jack in the Box does provide it. But with my iced coffee one, for some reason, most of the balls had difficulty going up the straw, even after shaking and stirring the drink. Eventually, I gave up and left most of them in the cup.

If Jack in the Box’s Iced Coffee with Boba or Milk Tea with Boba is going to be your introduction to the popular Asian drink, I can’t recommend it, even if you live in a boba desert without a place that sells the drink for hundreds of miles. While the base drinks are fine, they contain the least satisfying boba I’ve ever had in terms of taste and texture.

Purchased Price: $4.99 each
Size: N/A
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Milk Tea), 5 out of 10 (Iced Coffee)
Nutrition Facts: 280 calories (other nutritional numbers aren’t available on the Jack in the Box website).

If you can’t wait for McDonald’s Shamrock Shake season in February and March, you can get your green minty shake fill this fall with Jack in the Box’s Girl Scout Thin Mints Shake. The frozen treat features Jack’s ice cream with chocolate mint flavoring and Thin Mints bits mixed with whipped topping and more Thin Mints crumbles on top. Also, sorry, maraschino cherry fans. There is no cherry for you on this shake.

It looks less fun than the bright Shamrock Shake. When everything is mixed up, it has a green-gray color that a paint company would call Aloe Fog, Melted Clovers, or something like that. But it’s as enjoyable as a Shamrock shake with its strong minty flavor. But perhaps it’s a bit too strong. If I drank this shake blindly, I wouldn’t be able to determine that it’s specifically a Girl Scout Thin Mints Shake because it lacks the chocolatey notes that the actual cookies have.

The mint flavoring in the ice cream is so strong that it overwhelms the cookie bits and whatever chocolate flavoring. It also doesn’t help that the larger cookie crumbs provide an additional minty burst without cocoa flavor. Having two types of cookies would be weird, but maybe the chocolate would’ve had a stronger punch if Oreo crumbles were added. It’s an ingredient that every Jack in the Box location has, so it wouldn’t be difficult to add.

Most of the cookie crumbs are tiny enough that they succumb to the milky mess they’re sitting in and become soggy bits or not noticeable at all. But my teeth were rewarded with some crunchiness when they captured more significant Thin Mints bits.

If you want a tasty shake that’ll make your insides as nippy as the weather outside this fall, Jack in the Box’s Girl Scout Thin Mints Shake will help you accomplish that. But if you’re hoping for a bit of chocolate to cut through that mint, you’ll be disappointed.

Purchased Price: $6.69*
Size: Regular
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 780 calories (no other nutritional information was provided on the Jack in the Box website).

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.