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Those of you in Whoville, and the underwater denizens of Bikini Bottom, there’s news for you: McDonald’s and Burger Kinglong-time fast food rivals, go head-to-head. Or, to be more precise, a scary clown head with a red wig and painted on his face versus an equally scary clown head with a red beard and wearing a crown.
Tuesday, McDonald’s introduced the Grinch mealOn the same day, Burger King launched its product SpongeBob SquarePants List. So, if you’re tired of Thanksgiving leftovers and want some fast food instead, you can decide whether your taste buds align with the annoying green Grinch or with the always cheerful SpongeBob.
Both are limited-edition offerings, so visit your local McDonald’s or Burger King soon if you want to try the meals.
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McDonald’s Grinch Meal Review
Frankly, the McDonald’s Grinch Meal isn’t as innovative as BK’s offerings — where are the green-dyed donuts, green shakes, or McRoast Best burgers? Essentially, the Grinch is an adult Happy Meal, consisting of your choice of a regular Big Mac or a 10-piece Chicken McNugget, fries, and a medium drink.
French Fries with Grinch Salt (Dill and Pickle Seasoning)
McDonald’s regular fries come with a bag of Grinch Salt, which is simply dill and pickle seasoning. You’ll also get a lunch bag-sized bag to scoop in your fries and condiments so you can shake them together.
McDonald’s offers one unusual food item with its Grinch meal, which is a French fries accessory. They come with a little bag of tangy dill pickle seasoning, called “Grinch Salt,” which you’re supposed to shake over your fries for an extra crunch. Pickles, like the Grinch, are green and sour, so I think that’s the connection here.
My review: How did they taste? very good! I’m a fan of pickles, and once I shook them up, the fries were sour, salty, and generally enjoyable. Two excellent green furs. I wish there was a pickle flavored dipping sauce too.
degree: A-.
No Grinch toy, but… socks?
Happy Meals always come with a bonus toy or prize of some kind. But no Grinch stuffed animal or Cindy Lou figurine is included with the McDonald’s Grinch meal, even though the box it comes in is all cute and Grinch-themed.
Each McDonald’s Grinch meal comes with one of four different pairs of Grinch socks, each with a written message from the Grinch.
Instead, you’ll get the one Christmas gift that’s so corny and there are endless jokes about it: a pair of socks. There are four different Grinch-themed socks featuring The Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, Max the dog, and some McDonald’s logo decorations. Each pair also includes a large, hand-lettered message from the Grinch.
On the blue socks was written: “These socks stink.”
On the yellow socks was written: “Danger to the nose.”
The red socks were written: “Property of the Grinch.”
On the green socks was written: “The Grinch was here.”
My review: I ended up with a pair of yellow socks. They seem to be of good quality, and considering how poor the fast food awards are, this was a hit for me. I might actually wear it.
Socks are a funny gift for the holidays, but for a fast food prize, they’re not that bad.
degree: A
Burger king spongebob squarepants menu
If the McDonald’s genre has gotten suitably stingy for the Grinch in its Grinch offerings, Burger King has gone Sponge Bob overboard with its generous SpongeBob SquarePants menu. SpongeBob fans, you can also go all out and order the Bikini Bottom set, which gives you all four themed items in a pineapple-shaped box.
King Junior Kids Meal in Pineapple Can
The Spongebob figurine that came with the kids meal was very cute, for a fast food toy.
There is no adult meal, but there is a King Jr. meal. For children, in a box shaped like SpongeBob’s underwater pineapple house. Includes one of six SpongeBob toys.
My review: My toy was a little Spongebob figurine wearing a pirate hat and holding a ship’s wheel. There was supposed to be a Burger King SpongeBob crown too, but my site must have forgotten to hand it out. SpongeBob was pretty cool as a kid’s game. And the pineapple can is nice.
degree: A-
Krabby patty? barely!
As every Spongebob fan knows, the cheerful sponge is a Cook fried food at The Krusty KrabHe serves Krabby Patties all day long, so he knows his fast food. Burger King has a lot of themed menu items, much more than McDonald’s Grinch offerings.
SpongeBob Krabby Whopper
SpongeBob’s Krabby Whopper doesn’t have crab (or lobster), thankfully. However, the yellow square cake looks rather elegant. This is not a bite I took from her, the edge of the cake was kind of broken that way.
SpongeBob’s Krabby Whopper is the closest thing to a Krabby Patty from the show. (Wendy had Crabby Patty and Pineapple Frosty You may remember last year.) It looks like a pretty ordinary Whopper cake until you get to the cake, which is square and yellow, just like our squishy hero. the Yellow pigment Burger King says it’s made with natural seasonings. Otherwise, the Whopper is just a regular Whopper.
My review: The Whopper isn’t my favorite burger, but I have to say the bright yellow, square bun looks pretty good. It didn’t taste any different, but I appreciated that.
degree: for
Mr. Krabs Cheesy Bacon Tots
Mr. Krabs Cheesy Bacon Tots were as lovable as Scrooge Mr. Krabs himself. That is to say, not at all.
Mr. Krabs Cheesy Bacon Tots are crispy, coin-shaped potato chips filled with cheese, bacon bits and potatoes, and served in a treasure chest-shaped cardboard box.
My review: Ah, pass this one. The artificial bacon taste is so terrible, it dried out in about 3 seconds.
degree: C-
Patrick Star Berry Shortcake Review
Patrick’s Star-berry Shortcake Pie was one of the best fast food desserts I’ve ever tried.
Patrick Star is SpongeBob’s best friend, and in his honor, you can order the Patrick Star Berry Shortcake. It’s a slice of strawberry shortcake pie featuring creamy strawberry and vanilla flavored layers, a crunchy cookie crumb crust, shortcrust crumbs, and pink star sprinkles.
My review: Yum! I’m usually not a fan of any fast food dessert, but this was sweet and creamy, and the crust was delicious, too.
degree: A
Pirates frozen pineapple float review
The pirates’ frozen pineapple float was fun. Think Pineapple Slurpee, but better.
In honor of SpongeBob’s pineapple house, you can order Pirate’s Frozen Pineapple Float, which is described as “an icy, refreshing drink flavored with frozen pineapple and topped with cool, tropical-flavored foam.”
My Rating: This was my favorite item out of all the meals. I didn’t really detect any tropical flavor in the Cold Foam, but the drink was kind of like a seeded pineapple drink, refreshing and sweet.
degree: A+
Which is better, the Grinch meal or Spongebob’s menu?
Junk food is what it is, but the design of the Spongebob and Grinch boxes was very cute, and the Spongebob figurine and Grinch socks were better than most items included in this type of meal.
Is it wrong to say that I liked the inedible parts of both meals almost more than the food? The Grinch socks were good quality and cute, and the Spongebob figurine was fun.
Food-wise, Burger King gets points for its delicious pineapple float and Patrick’s Pie. McDonald’s Meal is just McDonald’s food with dill and pickle seasoning added to the fries. That’s good as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go that far.
So my vote is if you’re only going to visit one of these chains before the limited edition meals are gone, go to Burger King and try the Bikini Bottom range. Unless you’re a massive Grinch fan, pickle lover, or really need some new socks.