Some say the best things in life are free. But that can’t really be true, because food is one of the best things in life and it is rarely ever free. And when you really think about it, is anything really ever free? I mean, maybe it doesn’t cost you money, but it could cost you time, or effort, which are sometimes costlier than actual money. But I digress, this is not a philosophy blog (or IS IT?!), this is a food blog of the highest standards, which is why when Jack in the Box said they were giving away their new sandwiches for free yesterday I took a ride to try them out.

Of course, this wasn’t completely free. To get my sandwich, I had to order a large drink. The cup was about the size of my head and liquid that would fill it could probably also fill the bladders of two adult men. Nevertheless, the $1.99 for the drink was a small-ish price to pay for a sandwich ordinarily priced at $3.99. Of the two sandwiches available, I went with the Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar. This came with those three things, plus a sun-dried tomato sauce. Rather than order without the sauce because of the tomatoey name, I hoped this would be more sauce than tomato so it would meet my unvegan standards.

The sandwich was ready by the time I filled up my giant cup with Strawberry Fanta and I already knew this would be no ordinary sandwich. True to its fast food roots, the grease was already penetrating the wrapper. I tore it open to get a good look at the thing for the first time. The first thing I noticed was the intense, yet saliva-inducing scent. Then I saw that the sun-dried tomato sauce was more of an afterthought and not tomato sauce in the traditional sense. It was hardly even red in color and more like a pink cream sauce. I bit in and was actually surprised. This fast food sandwich reminded me of how I used to make grilled cheese in a pan on the stove. The bread was totally loaded with butter or some buttery substitute, but was still nice and crunchy. The inside had a nice blend of ingredients without shorting any of the elements.

I wouldn’t substitute this sandwich for anything gourmet or unique, but for a fast food place, they actually did a pretty decent job of putting together a sandwich. My main issue was that this sandwich could easily be made at home. Usually when I go out to eat, I try to get food that I couldn’t whip up in my own kitchen, which is quite limited due to my unfortunate cooking skills, yet does include sandwiches of this sort. But hey, they could have done a whole lot worse.

While not one of my preferred restaurants (if you can call it that), Jack in the Box recently had a promotion for free medium curly fries, so I took a ride down Sepulveda to take advantage.

Knowing the fries wouldn’t be enough, I got myself a few extra items from the menu. The first choice was two tacos for 99 cents. zenescorts.ch. The value in this is unbelievable, even though I had to get them without lettuce. The meat is certainly not of the highest quality and they use melted American cheese, but still, 99 cents.

On top of that, I got the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. Another great value. Trying to mix up the meats, I added a chicken sandwich to the load, completing my multi-ethnic, multi-meat meal. The chicken sandwich usually comes with lettuce, so I had to make a special arrangement to get it without.

The food was about as cheap as could be, and it showed with the taste. Jack in the Box passed the vegetable test with flying colors by not accidentally getting any veggies in my food. This is no small feat for a fast food place.