A Fistful of Dollar Menus

Starved for business in a weak economy, America's fast-food restaurants are wooing customers with bargain burgers, tacos, fries, pies and other goodies. For consumers, this "value menu" showdown can be confusing. Which is best — say, Burger King's Double Cheeseburger, Wendy's Double Stack or McDonald's McDouble?

Seeking enlightenment and a cheap lunch, we visited eight fast-food chains and ordered every item priced at $1 or less. Soon we had a full notebook, an overfull stomach and ... a fistful of dollar menus.

Burger King

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Believe the hype ... on Planet Dollar Menu, the BK double cheeseburger rules. Quarter pound burgers have fresh-from-grill flavor.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Spicy Chick 'n Crisp Sandwich tastes like cardboard fried in Tabasco — and packs more sodium than two packets of fries (810 milligrams to 680 milligrams).

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Bang-for-buck, BK double cheeseburger is a bargain: 770 calories for $1. But it's larded with 51 grams of fat and 1,480 mg of sodium.

Del Taco

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Classic Taco is mediocre, but better than oily glop sold by BK and Jack in the Box, while slightly ahead of Taco Bell's version.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Nachos feature stale chips, bland cheese sauce and more fat than two half-pound burritos (21 grams to 20 grams).

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Macho Value Menu is lean, in a good way: bean and cheese cup has 4 fat grams, taco 7 grams, the half-pound bean and cheese burrito 10 grams.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — No surprise: KFC Snackers are the tastiest fast-food chicken sandwiches. Tangy surprise: delightful Honey BBQ Snacker.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Biscuits and mini-brownies make lackluster sides. Hey, value menu, where's the corn-on-the-cob?

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Ready to splurge? Some of KFC's best value menu items sell for $1.49 or $1.99.

Jack in the Box

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Junior Bacon Cheeseburger lacks lettuce or tomato, but the bacon imparts a nice smoky flavor.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Mini-churros, stuffed with sugar-and-cinammon paste, have twice the fat of Del Taco's regular churro (18 grams to 9 grams).

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Fries start at $1.49. Why? Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King and Sonic all sell $1 fries.

McDonald's

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Fries are fast-food gold standard; coffee ($1 at breakfast, more later) rivals Starbucks.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Yogurt parfait with strawberries and blueberries is a sweet winner. Ditch the granola packet for a skinny 130-calorie treat with a scant 2 grams of fat.

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Value of a dollar: side salad with herb vinaigrette, 85 calories, 0 grams of fat. Or McDouble burger, 390 calories, 19 grams of fat.

Sonic

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Junior Fritos Chili Cheese Wrap. Tortilla filled with so-so chili is snapped awake by crunchy corn chips.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Order a fresh banana in its own peel, sweet proof that nature rocks. Vanilla ice cream cone also relatively healthy (60 calories, 6 fat grams) but lacks flavor.

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — Only chain to charge for cup of ice water. But 30 cent bought a large cup with plenty of ice, a straw and a mint.

Taco Bell

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Beefy Five-Layer Burrito (89 cents): tortilla, cheese, sour cream, beef and bean in one filling wad. For maximum flavor, soak in hot sauce.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Dessert? Skip the gooey caramel apple empanada (89 cents) — cinnamon twists have more flavor, 140 fewer calories and less than half the fat (7 grams, compared to 16 grams).

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — New Fresco menu has nine items, each with under 9 grams of fat. Fresco crunchy taco (7 grams) was fine, with 30 percent fewer calories than regular crunchy taco.

Wendy's

THE OK-OR-BETTER CORRAL: TOP TASTES — Five piece Spicy Chicken Nuggets are triangular, zesty and (unlike too many nuggets) clearly related to the avian family.

HEALTH: HEROES AND VILLAINS — Sweet and tart, Mandarin oranges contain no fat or cholesterol. In contrast, almost half the calories in the Junior Bacon Cheeseburger come from fat.

SHOT FROM THE HIP: RANDOM NOTES — We liked the spicy chicken nuggets, but what happened to the crispy chicken sandwich? Yet another processed meat disappointment.

Peter Rowe writes about food for The San Diego Union-Tribune. COPYRIGHT 2010 THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM Photo: