hello everyone this is Running on Empty Food review well hello ladies gentlemen and everyone
watching welcome one and all to this newest edition of The Running on Empty Food review
series I'm your host the report of the week thank you for checking in so sometimes when I
do these introductions for the uh items I there's plenty of time actually where I could be a bit
sarcastic I could be a little bit exaggerative you know I'll have fun with it when I say what
I'm about to say I'm being dead serious here and I don't know if it's just me because sometimes
there are those situations where it's like I might just be interpreting something one way
but that's not really how the public at large may see it I'm not sure if it's one of those
situations or not but we'll just run over this and uh personally I'm curious what you think if
you have the same impression of this that I do so Taco Bell has just released a new item and
there's been a lot of talk about Taco Bell lately about how they're making some uh changes to their
menu and how they're going to be adding a lot of new items for 2024 and this is one of those items
so they have just released the cheesy chicken Cris panada it's available at the price of $350
and it is essentially a fried outer shell and then inside the fried shell is a mixture of
shredded chicken a three cheese blend and then it comes with ranch sauce on the side that it can be
dipped in so it's a pretty basic item I think it's pretty straightforward if you ask me price again
$33.50 you don't have to do this but it's up to you if you want to take a moment right now
to just take a look at the Taco Bell website or an ad or if you just you sort of have an
understanding of what this item already looks like just imagine it or just go look at it and
see how it's portrayed online I was genuinely shocked as far as the disparity is concerned
between how I imagined this item being versus what I actually got now I am saying that in a
negative light the item itself can be totally fine and if it's good it's good but as far as
I suppose the expectations versus reality I was uh I was genuinely shocked to the point
when I actually got this item I looked in the bag and for a moment I was convinced I got the
wrong item because if you look at the way this is portrayed in the ad and even for the price $3.50
because sometimes we know Taco Bell could actually have some pretty good deals I was expecting this
to be of a decent size I was expecting something that might be the equivalent of maybe a uh a taco
siiz thing I was expecting it to be probably about maybe this this uh long and having sufficient you
know width and breadth and was going to be a full meal so I'm expecting that I look at
the pictures that's what it portrays and I'm thinking this might be a real good deal this
might be uh this might really be something and then I I get it comes with the sauce as you could
see I look in the bag and I see this I think wait a minute did did I get the wrong thing you know
did I get someone else's order by mistake I'm looking at this I think there is no possible
way that it could actually be the small I look in I think no they must have gave me like some sort
of fried dessert or something by accident but no this is actually it it's um very small compared
to again how I imagined it being uh you could see again on the size of the plate I was expecting it
to be like this big and it's it's appetizer size it's tiny really for for what it is now
maybe it's a bit oldfashioned to expect you know a larger portion but I don't know I just saw the
marketing and I thought it was going to be way bigger than it actually happened to be because
this is very small it's uh not quite bite-sized but you know it's it's it's small that's all I
could really say the ad I'm just giving you a heads up will make it look like it's probably
three to five times bigger than this they're going to make it seem like this is an entire meal when
it's just an appetizer essentially now nonetheless if it's good then it's good and yeah I'll still
talk about the size difference but if it tastes really good you know and it is what it is it'll
still be regarded as a good item but it was just a big surprise to me I was I couldn't believe it
I was so shocked nonetheless now you could see that's the M right there it's like a cave like
a Cave System right there but you can definitely see the sort of greasy you know crispy exterior
and inside again the chicken the shredded chicken and the three cheese blend and then right here
is the
Elixir AKA Ranch but in this part of the country we all call it Elixir you know what it looks like
and it's at the price again of $3.50 so all I can really say is if you went into this expecting
something bigger as I did and again maybe I'm just out of touch I don't know what do you
think you're going to be let down immediately but if it tastes really good maybe they could
get a little bit of a could forget about all that so we'll see you know what's in it I know
what's in it we all know what's in it so let's see how good it is might be small but is it real
good hey it might be let's try it out the cheesy chicken crisp banata from Taco Bell it's going
in
I wanted to make sure I had enough time to give a proper and formal assessment of this and when
I try it out with the ranch I'll leave that eating segment in for the heck of it so let
me get the focus adjusted there we go took a few bites of it and first and foremost I
want to show you the crosssection because I think very importantly you can't really
see what the interior looks like when you're just sort of holding it up so this is what it
looks like on the inside right there and um I might take a quick thumbnail shot just in
case thumbnails are an important thing but you could sort of see the still very crispy
uh exterior obviously very very firm the interior sort of looks like this orange you know mush for
lack of a better word and some will probably find that appearance more appealing than others but as
far as how it appears versus how it tastes I'll say this you have to understand going into this
that this is an item from Taco Bell that they call a crisan it's the $3 item you're not going
to be getting a gourmet meal out of this you have to just go in with that expectation you
have to know what you're going to be getting out of this going in essentially so the quality of
this is by no means the highest in the world uh really far from it but is it something that
I would consider to be acceptable I would say so this is one of those items and never plenty like
it but this is one of those items where when I go into it and I'm taking bite after bite I'm
thinking all right does it taste all right is it something that is satisfactory even if it's to
you know let's say a lower extent is it something that's like acceptable it's like yeah I could eat
this yeah it doesn't taste horrible or anything I would say so is it one of those items though that
blows me away and makes me think wow you know this might be a little small but this is really good
and uh I'm they really really redeemed themselves with this I can't wait to get it again not one of
those items now maybe the the ranch will change everything I I'm somehow doubtful of that though
but you never know there's not a lot to it so I'll keep this brief you have to just understand that
going into this the quality quality of all of the ingredients is far from top of the line and
I think that pretty much says everything you need to say need to really say about this I take the
bite you're going to notice immediately a very very strong Divergence as far as the texture of
everything is concerned wherein the shell is oily it's not very flavorful it's like one of
those where it's just like a sort of fried dough that's just saturated in oil that's the first
thing it just mostly holds everything together and it provides again Oily to it but mostly a
very noticeable Crunch and crisp and almost a sort of hardness to it not to the point where you know
my my measly little teeth shattered or anything because they thankfully didn't but to the point
where you're really going to notice that and it's going to be crunchy and um very firm but then on
the inside you have the blend of the cheese the three cheese blend and the shredded chicken and
that on the other hand is extremely extremely soft to the point where it's not quite a liquid but
it's really not I wouldn't really describe that as solid you know sort of mushy is the the best
word for it it's not even you know cheesy to the point where the cheese has that sort of elasticity
to it and uh you know you and then there's the whole string of cheese or anything like that
that doesn't happen you bite into it and it's really just sort of like a sort of semi liquid
state that it's in now it does taste cheesy don't get me wrong if anything the cheese blend is more
analagous not quite to the nacho cheese but it reminds me more of a cheese sauce I would say as
opposed to an actual formal three cheese blend now I didn't see them make this so I'm not sure what's
really in that but based on what it tastes like even if it actually is a real true three cheese
blend the consistency of it reminds me again more of a cheese sauce that was inserted into
it and the pulled chicken it it leaves a lot to be desired it's you know low quality as far as uh as
far as I see it it's not all that flavorful you know you could taste it a little bit but there's
nothing about the pulled chicken that makes me really think this is delicious and you know it's
just packed with flavor it's sort of just like physical matter to give the cheese sauce blend
something to essentially cling to and that's about it you know you really can't taste the
chicken all too much and uh it's cheesy and you could taste the oily nature again of that shell
and the hardness of it but the chicken just isn't all that flavorful if you ask me it's definitely
more cheese than it is uh flavorful chicken wise so if you want to get this and you're hoping for
like a giant meal that's going to be I don't know something revolutionary you're going to be let
down if you're looking for a a cheap $3 fairly cheap small little appetizer size thing that it
is actually pretty easy to eat it's not despite the consistency on the inside it's not terribly
messy it's something that you could probably eat on the go with a relative ease you know it holds
together then that might be something for you but it definitely is not something that for most would
constitute a full meal and that might disappoint you because the advertisement paints a very
different picture of how this really is you'll get this you'll think that it's the size of like
a big sort of calone sort of thing and instead it's tiny just 200 calories in it appetizer size
and the quality quality is acceptable don't get me wrong but um not something that really motivates
me to go get it again it's like I don't hate the thing you have to understand that I don't hate
it am I let down because I thought it was going to be different than it really was yes do I wish
the quality could have been higher yes but at the end of the day is it something that I think okay I
I could eat this yeah am I necessarily going to really enjoy this probably not but is it
acceptable yeah yeah it is let's see finally the ranch sauce does it make any difference
see
the ranch sauce definitely helps make sure when you get this that you get it with the ranch sauce
included now it comes with the ranch sauce you don't have to pay any extra for it but just make
sure that it is there when you get it look in the bag verify that you see this because this
is one of those items that the quality is fairly low but the ranch sauce really helps particularly
that sort of sharpness and a little hint of spice actually that's in this particular Ranch blend uh
really really does help here and it's able to cut through the oiliness of the shell and just
otherwise just the overwhelming cheap cheesiness and you can't really taste much else at least
this provides it with a nice sharpness and a little hint of spice as well that definitely
helps give it a little bit more flavor does it necessarily completely Salvage this and make
this all of a sudden something excellent no it doesn't but it is better with the ranch sauce
than without so this is one of those items I would say when you get it understand it's not going to
be the best thing in the world it's a novelty maybe to try out here and there but make sure
you get it with that ranch sauce and heavily utilize it too it's one of those items where
you need the sauce probably just use the ranch sauce in every single bite because it will make
it uh quite a bit better so the ranch sauce is a must but otherwise you could still taste the
sort of stringiness of the chicken which just I don't know it's just not I taste it and it's like
it's is low quality chicken what could you do it's just a tad disappointing in that regard so final
note 350 it's a novelty wish it were bigger wish it were slightly higher quality but is it barely
acceptable yes and does the ranch sauce help it most definitely so factoring all this in out of
10 therefore I'm going to give the cheesy chicken crispata from Taco Bell I'm going to give this a
six out of 10 could most definitely be better but could it be worse absolutely and get that
ranch sauce with it because it needs it and it will help but will'll make it more enjoyable and
I just understand that you know as far as the size of this goes it really what it reminds me
of is like if you ever go to Epcot to the Food and Wine Festival and uh if you know what I'm
talking about you'll know exactly how it is you could go and get like a tiny little rib for like
$8 and it's like what is this you know because you think in your mind that the quality of it
and the size and the portion is so much more than what you're actually getting you know especially
for the price and and I just cannot emphasize that point enough that it's so it's it's just
much smaller than I think that that it's it's Le you're led to believe that it is that's what I'm
trying to say so that's the final Point most importantly bear that in mind but it's a snack
an appetizer a novelty maybe get it once then see how you feel after it and that's all that
I have for you thank you for watching and until next time I'm your host the report of the week