As of last Thursday, fast-food chain Jack in the Box began testing out their own version of "croissant donuts," a confection craze launched and invented by the Dominqiue Ansel bakery in Manhattan under the name of "cronuts."
If the cronut were a cool tiny indie band you got into early on, this is equivalent to the moment when you started seeing their CD's for sale at Best Buy.
That's right, the beignet born in the Big Apple pastry shop that had lines of people 200 deep waiting at 6 a.m. for their chance to get one has finally hit the mainstream.
Calls to Jack in the Box's consumer helpline and a store confirmed the pastry made of fried laminated dough was for sale, although in a limited test area. Currently you can only get them at the 108 Jack in the Box locations in San Diego County in California, where the chain is headquartered.
They're available for $.89 for one or $1.99 for three, and apparently selling well. An employee at a store in Romona, California said customers were coming in both specifically asking for them as well as discovering them on the menu on their own.
The question is, would you eat a knockoff cronut from Jack in the Box?