After this McDonald’s Angel Reese Special Meal, I hope there will be a Caitlin Clark McCrispy Cheesy Special topped with a feverish chipo-trey sauce, three bacon strips, and three cheese slices on a half courtato bun. (Yeah, I shoehorned that into the word “potato.”)

The headliner of the Angel Reese Special is the BBQ Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or as McDonald’s also calls the meaty burger, the QPC, which is an acronym that has never crossed my lips. I don’t say it because I fear things could get confusing when I want to point out a particular Japanese mayonnaise on a burger, “It’s Kewpie, see?”

Speaking of condiments and toppings, Applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, pickles, onions, and a tangy, sweet barbecue sauce top the cheeseburger with a 1/4 lb beef patty and sesame seed bun. The meal also comes with a medium fries and drink. Because the Orange Hi-C is being promoted with the celebrity special (you can get any soft drink you like), and it’s been a while since I’ve had one, I ended up with the basketball-colored drink.

Peeling back the bun reveals a hodgepodge that, at first glance, could be mistaken for a skeleton driving a car with a pickle steering wheel and secured in the automobile with a bacon strip seat belt. (You don’t see it? Well, the HFCS in the Hi-C could be making me imagine things.) Despite the number of loose toppings, the steering wheel and skeleton, the BBQ sauce and cheese act as glues to prevent the vegetation from falling out. Also, with the onions, pickles, and BBQ sauce, I can’t but help think of the McBeloved/McDespised McRib.

Of course, this burger’s flavor doesn’t remind me of the McRib because the sauce is noticeably different. It tastes like something I’ve had from Sweet Baby Ray’s — sweet, tangy, and with a mild spicy kick. But its overall flavor is reminiscent of many other “bacon western BBQ” cheeseburgers I’ve had, which all have a flavor dominated by the sauce followed by the beef, bacon, and cheese. As for the plant-based toppings, the pickles make their sour sides known with bites that end up with them, and the onion slices are a bit muted when up against the sauce.

I wish the BBQ Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese was a permanent menu item. However, I’m not saying that because it’s a mind-blowing burger. It’s just good. But I really want to have the option of having a tasty bacon barbecue cheeseburger whenever I go to McDonald’s, which is something the menu will lack when this goes away.

Purchased Price: $12.99* (Angel Reese Special Meal)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 630 calories, 35 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 115 milligrams of cholesterol, 1460 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 36 grams of protein.

*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.

I could’ve sworn we’ve had the Chicken Big Mac in the United States before. Or maybe I’m confusing it with a menu hack I’ve seen online. Or perhaps I was thinking of Burger King’s version of it from years ago. Or maybe I’m confusing it with the international McDonald’s locations that offered it. Or perhaps I had a vivid dream about it after falling into a McDonald’s-induced food coma?

Anyhoo, finally, the Chicken Big Mac is an official thing in the US, and it features two all-chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, no onions on a sesame seed bun. The breaded poultry appears to be the same one used in the McChicken, which makes sense because using the McCrispy fillets, which aren’t as uniformly shaped, would’ve made it harder to wield and much messier. (Update: Via the comments and the press release, I learned these tempura battered chicken patties were specially made for the Chicken Big Mac.) Yes, much like the iconic original, the shredded lettuce and secret sauce can get everywhere with this sandwich. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some sauce on my chin or hair right at this moment.

Unsurprisingly, the Big Mac components work well with the chicken patties. As someone who has probably eaten his weight in McChickens and Big Macs over the past two decades, I think it tastes exactly like I expected. The breaded coating has a slight pepperiness, the American slice adds a slight cheesiness, and the sauce and pickles give the sandwich a jolt of tanginess. The crispy coating also adds a little more crunch on top of what the lettuce provides. With that said, while this sandwich is tasty, there’s something about the all-beef patties that makes the original taste better.

While the Chicken Big Mac is good and is definitely worth a try, it hasn’t got me completely yearning for another one. Instead, while I ate it, it made me wish more for an opportunity to always be able to customize any sandwich with the special sauce in the McDonald’s app. I’d love the option to add it (along with some pickles and cheese) to a McChicken and turn it into a version of the Mac Jr. without beef. Or add it to a McCrispy sandwich. Or create a Filet-O-Fish Big Mac.

Purchased Price: $5.99*
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 700 calories, 37 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 1410 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar (including 6 grams of added sugar), and 25 grams of protein.

*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.

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McDonald’s in the US is dipping its toes again in the pulling from the international product pool with the release of its Special Grade Garlic Sauce, inspired by the Black Garlic Sauce offered by McDonald’s Japan. Or, perhaps I should say dipping its fingers? If you’ve watched the anime Jujutsu Kaisen (or read the manga), which is the tie-in with this sauce, you’ll understand why fingers might’ve made more sense.

The only way to obtain it is through the McDonald’s app. Why? To encourage you to download the app. But, if you do order it, you’ll get a free 30-day trial of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, which has Jujutsu Kaisen in its library.

McDonald’s says the limited time offering is a savory and tangy black garlic sauce with hints of black pepper. Another description says it contains notes of garlic and soy sauce, balanced with a slight tangy sweetness. With its combination of black garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce, I thought its color would be tar black or Black Flash black, but it has a clear reddish hue.

As expected, the sauce has a strong garlic smell, and the garlic and soy sauce flavors are the most prominent. I can’t say I’ve ever had black garlic, so I can’t compare. The ingredient list includes black garlic puree and regular garlic, but I didn’t taste anything about the garlic notes that made me think something was different. However, the whole thing tastes a bit too umami-y to me. (Try to say umami-y 10 times really fast.) Even the sauce’s slight sweetness was not enough to cut through that. There was also a peppery warmth that built up, but it stayed quite mellow.

McDonald’s Special Grade Garlic Sauce is okay enough that if I had to eat one of Sukuna’s fingers (or anyone’s), and if it was my only option, I’d be fine with using it. But I won’t be getting it again with my McNuggets.

Purchased Price: FREE (comes with order of McNuggets)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 45 calories. No other nutritional information is available on McDonald’s website.

If you want a fast food crispy chicken sandwich with Cajun flavors, you can, of course, get one at Popeyes. But you can now get one at McDonald’s for a limited time because it has rolled out a new Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy.

McDonald’s newest chicken sandwich features a crispy chicken fillet, crinkle cut pickles, three half strips of applewood-smoked bacon, and a Cajun ranch sauce on a potato roll. There’s also a deluxe version that includes lettuce and tomatoes. It’s a slight variation of last year’s limited time only McCrispy offering: the Bacon Ranch McCrispy.

The headlining ingredient, the creamy Cajun ranch sauce, is more spicy than flavorful, but that heat ain’t ragin’. I’d put it at a three on my personal 10-point spicy scale, which is below the Spicy McCrispy. Though the sauce is applied to both buns, I wish the spices used had a bit more punch because the Cajun flavors aren’t too noticeable when eating the sandwich as a whole, especially when I get a bite of the crinkle cut pickles. After trying the sauce on its own, I thought it might’ve been better as a fry or McNuggets dipping sauce instead of a sandwich condiment.

As for the other ingredients, if you’ve had a McCrispy, you know what to expect. The chicken fillet has a pleasant thickness, and most of the chicken’s crispiness is at the edges. The crinkle cut pickles have a tasty tang, and the potato roll adds some sweetness. I’m also glad this sandwich includes bacon, not only because of its salty and meaty flavor but also because its addition allows some rhyming in the menu item’s name. We need more rhyming in product names.

McDonald’s Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy is a somewhat satisfying twist on the original premium chicken sandwich, although now that I think about it, more specifically, the Spicy McCrispy. While it may not outshine Popeyes’ chicken sandwich, the addition of bacon and the new sauce does help elevate it to a tastier option than the original McCrispy.

Purchased Price: $7.59*
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 630 calories, 33 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 1650 milligrams of sodium, 49 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 33 grams of protein.

*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.