Latest Junk Foodity Review: Flamin' Hot Dill Pickle Chips, Hot Heads Burritos

[Al Doggity]

Sorry for the delays on getting this one out, but this is the two-fer that I teased in the newsletter.  If you're a fan of this series, don't forget to smash that subscribe button and support my patreon.


Now, this series gets a lot of flack and when you're dealing with a product called flamin' hot dill pickle chips, you've gotta admit it might be deserved.  They sound  disgusting, but they also sound like the best things that have ever been made. I love heat, spice, bitterness, etc and I love the handful of other snacks that combine all of these flavors.

I first saw these when I was at a Walmart in Massachusetts over the holidays, but I didn't take the opportunity to buy them then. New York doesn't really get a lot of  experimental mid-market snack food (it's usually tested in smaller markets) , so I was surprised to  see four bags of these sitting in a deli near 81st and 2nd over the weekend. I bought all 4 bags and had extremely high hopes.

These babies did not disappoint! All of the advertised flavors were pronounced and distinct. At the same time they all melded perfectly. You're first hit with the sourness of the pickle seasoning, the the flamin' heat kicks in which overbalances the sourness just a little with some sweetness. Part of the charm of these chips is just that it's such a unique taste. The flavors alone aren't new, but i don't think there's really anything else comparable on the market.

I sometimes recommend a carbonated drink to go with chips. I had a pepsi with the first bag I ate , but I think anything fruity or citrussy would  pair well with these. Though these aren't easy to find out and about in NYC, I am glad to report that they are still available for order from some places. I would like to see this flavor added to Lay's regular rotation.  A quick look around the internet shows that this favor has a lot of passionate fans.  And I now count myself among them.

Junk Foodity Extra- Hot Head Burrito
While I was in Massachusetts, I tried a regional burrito chain called Hot Heads for the first time. I had seen this chain in a few other places around the country, but never had a desire to try them.  The branding just felt like a lower quality chipotle to me. We tried it based on our hosts' recommendations and boy do I regret not trying it sooner. I would definitely put it up there with chipotle, in some aspects, I'd say it was superior.

The first thing that jumped out at me about  Hot Heads was that the ordering experience was nowhere near as streamlined and elegant as most of the other burrito chains.  They offer a lot of pre-defined selections and daily deals, which is nice in theory, but it slowed down the line and made it a little chaotic. That aside, one of the more favorable differences was their choice of proteins and topping. The options were a lot different than any of the other burrito places and you get a ton for the money. The prices aren't necessarily lower, but they definitely don't skimp on what they give you.   One small detail I  noticed was how well seasoned the rice was and they probably have the best queso of any chain.

I ended up getting a pork verde bowl and a southwest ranch pork burrito (I love pork.) I initially planned to save one for lunch the next day, but I scarfed them both down that night.  If you're near this chain and have the opportunity to try it , I highly recommend it.

[Irongrip400]

Love spicy snacks. Mouth watered reading about this shit. I’ll see where I can get them local. Good looking out Al.

[SOMEPARTS]

Another one of these? Where can you get them? Haha, ever heard of WalMart or any gas station?

[Al Doggity]

Another one of these? Where can you get them? Haha, ever heard of WalMart or any gas station?

Yeah, but you sure stay in these threads, regardless.

As I said in the opening post, I initially saw these at Walmart in a city i was visiting. I live in new york city and we don't have a walmart here. If I just need to go to walmart, the closest ones are in jersey. The targets in manhattan are smaller than other parts of the country and have limited shelf space. We have one costco and they stock stuff differently than other box stores. Most of the the places in NYC where you would get pre-packaged snacks don't regularly stock experimental stuff.

Also, the stuff I cover in these reviews is typically new or limited edition. So, the point is not that the stuff is exclusive, but that it's novel and frequently temporary. On top of usually only being available for a limited time, it often sells out quickly.

But more importantly, these threads are largely tongue-in-cheek. I'm not sure how this goes over your head or how I could make it any more obvious- from the topic itself to the tone of the reviews, I'm not sure how someone could  take these threads seriously enough to consistently be bothered by them. Yes, I do genuinely get a surge of excitement when I see a new snack food has been released, but these are quite obviously just meant to be light, fun, non-controversial topics. I don't actually eat that much "junk" food (my diet would probably be considered largely "clean "or "healthy", even though my sweet tooth is my weakness), but I unreservedly will make an exception when I see something that is new or looks interesting. These threads are basically just me saying "Hey, this new thing I tried was better than I thought it would be. It's worth checking out if you like this kinda shit" Or "it actually wasn't that good. Don't bother." And at times in the past, posters who get what these threads are about have either played along or said "thanks for the heads up. If I see it at the grocery store the next time I'm there, I might check it out."

Feel free to continue posting in these threads, but maybe now that I've posted this [tl/dr] primer on how this series works, it won't angry up your blood quite so much.