D&D Sausage Bites

I first heard about the Dunkin Donuts Sausage Bites from the commercial Dunkin airs on TV.  In the commercial, some annoying guy is talking to a stranger on an escalator about how much he loves the new Dunkin Donuts Sausage Bites.  It’s pretty much a one way conversation as the stranger leaves in the opposite direction as the protagonist in the commercial.  My initial reaction was what I typically have when a fast food establishment introduces a new item: “That looks kind of gross… I can’t wait to try it!”.  The Hall of Fame for this reaction was when I first heard about the KFC double down. 

As time went by, I kept on holding off on purchasing the Sausage Bites.  They are clearly a breakfast item, and I’m too drawn in by the egg sandwiches (If I’m feeling hungry) or the wake up wraps (if I just want a small snack) when I go to Dunkin Donuts.  Note:  If I really feel like spoiling myself, I get the bacon or sausage egg and cheese on a bagel or croissant with a side of hash browns.  My partner in crime on most Dunkin Donuts new taste tests is my friend and co-worker, Micah.  We have gotten the Pumpkin Coffee together, the Maple Cheddar Breakfast sandwich together, as well as other various Dunkin items.  For some reason, our schedules have conflicted going to work and we haven’t had a chance to sample the Sausage Bites.  Time went by, and my trial of the Sausage Bites went by the wayside.  It was just never a priority to try them. 

However, in the past weeks, I’ve started hearing inklings of positive reviews for the Sausage Bites.  The first was from a highly trusted outside consultant who is also a fast foodie.  This review certainly perked my interest in trying the “Bites”.  The second positive review came from quite an unexpected source.   A pretty and friendly girl upstairs in legal, who I’ve never spoken to about my love for fast food, heard from someone how much I love Dunkin Donuts.  She came up to me and raved about Sausage Bites.  That was it.  I was SOLD.   I decided to go on a solo mission this morning to try the Bites. 

I went to the Dunk Donuts on Stuart Street in Boston on my way to work.  It’s well staffed and much faster than the one on the Dunkin in the Back Bay Station.   Don’t get me started on the quality of different Dunkin Donuts establishments.  I’ll save that for a different posting.

So I order the 3 piece Sausage Bites.  It comes to $1.59 which is pretty reasonable.  I also order a small coffee.  I take them back to my desk without looking at them.   At first glance, they are larger than I expected.  I thought they would be munchkin sized but they are actually a bit larger.  

(Attached is a picture compared to my ChapStick.  No one likes chapped lips.)

The first bite is pretty good.  The flavor goes from salty to sweet.  There is actually more sausage than I anticipated which is great.  I don’t know why I expected Dunkin Donuts to skimp on the sausage.  They’ve rarely disappointed me before.  The sausage is not the same as the sausage Dunkin uses in its egg sandwiches.  Typically, fast food chains just mix and match ingredients from different items on their menu for what I’m assuming, is cost efficiency.   Some examples of this are like when Burger King uses onion rings to add to their Rodeo Burger (a top 10 dollar menu item for me) or when Wendy’s swaps in their spicy chicken sandwich patty into the Bacon Blue Burger sandwich for the chicken version of the Bacon Blue Burger.  In this case, Dunkin uses what seems to be a sausage link instead of a sausage patty.  Upon chewing, the initial salty taste of the sausage dissipates and the sweetness of the pancake wrap comes to life.  It is not too sweet in maple syrup flavor like when Mcdonald’s gave us “Mcgriddles”, but just the right amount.  Upon further chewing, a cornbready texture is introduced.  I finished my Bites in 2 bites and was thoroughly impressed.  I could have easily eaten about 10 more. 

Another point I’d like to make about the Sausage Bites are how accurate they are to their advertisements.  Usually, I find that fast food joints overly exaggerate how awesome their items look.  I then find myself being extremely disappointed with the actual item I purchase.  The biggest offenders are Subway and Burger King.  In this case, I was very impressed with the actual Bites to the ones in the commercial. 

In conclusion, I highly recommend trying the sausage bites.  They grade very well in taste, value, and actual to advertisement.

Ratings:

Taste:  A

Visual Appeal:  C-

Value: A-

Actual to Commercial: A