I thought I would be immune to being surprised by Taco Bell, but its Naked Egg Taco ($1.99) was a bit of a shocker. Yes, the shell is made up entirely of a fried egg, and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. It’s a little greasy to the touch, which is why it comes in a carton sleeve. Inside you’ll find seasoned potatoes, shredded cheese, nacho cheese and your choice of bacon or sausage (you’ll get a generous portion of each).

I guess the main benefit of this taco is that you omit the carbs from the tortilla shell. For example, if you order the Naked Egg Taco with sausage, it has only 9 g. of carbs, yet oddly it’s only got 11 g. of protein.

Taco Bell also has an alternate version of this taco called the Dressed Egg Taco ($1.99), which is the Naked Egg Taco wrapped in flatbread. I also liked this taco, as the flatbread made it a little bit more hearty. The nacho cheese in these tacos added depth to the flavor (weird of me to say this, I know).

Both tacos are available for a limited time.

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Lucky Charms or Froot Loops? I ended up choosing the latter for my shake ($3.69) at Burger King. The flavor is surprisingly good, as you get the creaminess of the vanilla shake itself alongside the sweetness of the Froot Loops. However, the grounded pieces of Froot Loops were super soggy inside the shake.

In case you wanted to know, the shake is 720 calories, with 126 g. of carbs.

Burger King is offering a couple of limited-time chicken sandwiches, too. I selected the crispy chicken parmesan sandwich ($5.09) over the buffalo chicken sandwich. There’s just the right amount of marinara sauce so that it’s not dripping out the sides. The shredded pieces of Parmesan weren’t as melty as they should have been, but overall it was a satisfying sandwich.

This year has become the year in which you can eat very cheaply at fast food restaurants, as several of them have enhanced their value meal offerings. Let’s take a look at each of them. You’ll see that KFC offers the most choices (five), while Hardee’s offers the most calories for each dollar you spend.

DQ: $5 Buck lunch

• What you get: Regular order of fries, medium drink and small sundae, along with either two crispy chicken wraps, three chicken strips or a deluxe cheeseburger.
• Calories: 290 (fries) + 300 (sundae) + 650 (wraps) or 360 (strips) or 460 (burger) = 1,240 or 950 or  1,050.
• Calories per dollar: 190 to 248

Wendy’s: 4 for $4

• What you get: Four-piece chicken nuggets, small fries and small drink, along with either a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger or Crispy Chicken BLT
• Calories: 180 (nuggets) + 320 (fries) + 390 (Jr.) or 440 (chicken) = 890 or 940
• Calories per dollar: 222.5 to 235

KFC: $5 Fill ups

• What you get (excluding the pot pie and Famous Bowl versions): Cookie, biscuit, “larger” mashed potatoes and medium drink, along with either three chicken tenders, chicken breast, or drumstick and thigh
• Calories: 170 (cookie) + 180 (biscuit) + 150 (estimate for “larger” mashed potatoes) + 410 (tenders)  or 320 (Original Recipe breast) or 420 (Original Recipe drumstick and thigh) = 910 or 820 or 920
• Calories per dollar: 164 to 184

Burger King: 5 for $4

• What you get: Cookie, four-piece chicken nuggets, small fries, small drink and bacon cheeseburger
• Calories: 160 (cookie) + 190 (nuggets) + 340 (fries) + 290 (burger) = 980
• Calories per dollar: 245

Hardee’s (Carl’s Jr.): $4 Real Deal

• What you get: Small fries, 16-oz. drink, spicy chicken sandwich and double cheeseburger
• Calories: 300 (fries) + 490 (chicken) + 850 (estimate for burger) = 1,640
• Calories per dollar: 410

Note: McDonald’s just ended its McPick 2 (was two for $2, then became two for $5).

Earlier this year, KFC released the limited-time Nashville Hot Chicken in bone-in and tender form. This red-orange-colored, extra-crispy chicken is actually spicy (maybe a 6 out of 10), unlike KFC’s hot wings. The restaurant claims “you are about to taste the best spicy chicken you’ve ever had,” and I don’t totally disagree. That’s because the Nashville recipe isn’t just spicy, it also has a touch of sweetness to give the chicken more depth.

Each order comes with a slice of pickle, which is meant to be a lozenge, according to KFC. You should note that the chicken is immensely greasy; I mean, it’s bathing in a pool of grease, so have 2-3 napkins ready. Although I didn’t do this, you could always sop up the grease with your cornbread or biscuit if you liked it that much.

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I had low expectations for the Jalapeno Fresco Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s, only because its Spicy Chicken Sandwich is a joke. It turns out, I actually like this new entry, which is around for a limited time. The fresh, diced jalapenos are the only thing that makes the sandwich spicy, but it’s an enjoyable heat.

The crispy chicken holds up well under a blanket of tasty, gooey ghost pepper sauce and pepper jack cheese, all inside an jalapeno bun (no discernible spice in the bun). The sliced red onion was superfluous in this otherwise enjoyable sandwich.

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Burger King is coloring its buns again, and this time they’re bright red. The Angriest Whopper has hot sauce baked into the bun; however, similar to black buns in the A.1. Halloween Whopper, the red buns taste like any regular bun.

In fact, the entire sandwich is a disappointment. The spicy angry sauce is more like a tangy BBQ sauce, the sliced jalapenos (likely from a can) were flavorless and both the angry onion petals and bacon were soggy from the sauce. On a spice level, I’d give the Angriest Whopper 2 out of 10.