Chain also adding Snapple Lemonade to frozen drink menu
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Taco Bell will launch a new Sriracha Quesarito next week, along with a new Snapple Lemonade Freeze frozen drink, company officials said Tuesday.
The Sriracha Quesarito, scheduled to launch on Feb. 26, is one of a number of menu items featuring the popular Asian hot sauce that have been in test.
Details on the Sriracha Quesarito — essentially a burrito but wrapped in a quesadilla — were not available Tuesday, but it is expected to be one of a number of menu innovations on deck this year at Taco Bell.
A growing number of restaurant chains are highlighting Sriracha, which has become the flavor du jour, described by some as an elixir that attracts Millennials in droves.
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen has bottles of Sriracha lining its restaurant walls, and Sriracha-spiked items have popped up on the menu at Pizza Hut, Subway, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, California Pizza Kitchen and others in recent years.
The original Sriracha is made by Irwindale, Calif.-based Huy Fong Foods, which reportedly never trademarked the name. Both Heinz and Tabasco are reportedly developing their own versions of the chili pepper sauce. Taco Bell will use its own proprietary Sriracha for the new Quesarito.
The new Freeze is the latest in Taco Bell’s co-branded collaborations, the best known of which includes its wildly popular Doritos Locos Taco line.
Taco Bell has a long history of incorporating other brands into its Freeze frozen drink platform, including Starburst Strawberry Freeze, Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze and Dr Pepper Vanilla Float Freeze.
This story has been revised to reflect the following updates:
Update: Feb. 17, 2015 This story has been updated with information about the Sriracha Taco Bell plans to use in its Quesarito.
Update: Feb. 18, 2015 This story has been updated to clarify that the Sriracha Quesarito is not a co-branded item.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
