This past week, Qdoba added bacon jalapeno queso to its queso lineup, and I was invited to give it a try. It’s a winning formula: hard wood smoked bacon and jalapenos mixed with creamy queso. I ate a spoonful (yes, a spoonful) and was impressed–lots of bacon and a good kick.
Inside a steak burrito, the bacon jalapeno queso was more subdued and cleaner to eat, but I recommend if you want to experience the full flavors, order it smothered on top of a burrito. In the case of the latter, I thought the bacon jalapeno queso enhanced my chicken burrito so well that I’m surprised Qdoba didn’t develop this earlier.
On my next visit, I’m going to try adding guacamole to the queso to make a super dip for tortilla chips. Yum!
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Keeping on the topic of bacon, Pizza Hut offered for a limited time the cheesy bacon stuffed crust pizza ($11.99 for one topping, but it’s now gone). I’ve never been a fan of the stuffed crust, as usually by the time you get the pizza (carryout or delivery), the cheese has solidified. Adding bacon was thoughtful, but it didn’t wow me, though I did appreciate the generous portions of bacon.
What’s still on the menu are the sauce drizzles–balsamic, honey Sriracha, BBQ and buffalo. Although it looks pretty as a swirl in advertisements, in reality the sauces just get absorbed into the pizza. So while I couldn’t see my BBQ drizzle, I could still taste it (BBQ was a bad choice on a pepperoni pizza).
Also new to Pizza Hut are crust flavors, such as toasted cheddar and salted pretzel. I was excited to try the garlic buttery blend, but I could barely discern it was there. Maybe I’ll ask for the toasted parmesan next time.
I’ve always been a fan of Qdoba, so I jumped at a recent invitation to try its new smothered burritos. They come in three flavors–bold red chile, smoky chipotle cream and tangy verde.
The bold red chile is made with toasted red chiles and has a strong flavor of chili powder and paprika. It can overwhelm the burrito a bit, which is why you may want to cut it with some sour cream. On the other hand, the smoky chipotle cream is very mild in flavor, and any smokiness is quite subtle. When choosing between the two, you have to ask yourself, do I want the smother to be the flavor of the burrito or simply complement it?
I was disappointed to see La Guanajuatence close, what with its salsa bar and delicious tacos. But just in a matter of weeks, 
Fortunately, items from the Authentic Mexican Dishes section were better prepared. I’m a fan of molcajete, which is a stone grinding bowl filled with pork, steak, chicken, shrimp and chorizo. I would rank Taqueria El Jalapeno’s version ($16.99) second to Cuco’s in Verona, mainly because the large petals of onions clumped together (which weren’t properly sliced) became filler over more meat, and the vast majority of the meat was chorizo; I would have preferred a better balance.
