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Taco Bell is pretty sneaky. The brand is constantly shifting its menu around, adding new things, and ditching classics only to bring them back. And you know what? It works. As frustrating as this strategy is for a consumer, Taco Bell always seems like it’s doing something fresh and it makes each menu change feel like an event. This is why we were psyched when Taco Bell announced that its Grilled Cheese Burrito would be joining the menu as a permanent staple, where it belongs.

But that’s not the only new thing at Taco Bell this month, the brand has also teamed up with the delicious hot sauce brand Yellowbird (a favorite of Sean Evans) for a new spin on their Nacho Fries. And for breakfast fans, Taco Bell is also experimenting with a Breakfast Crunchwrap. The latter dish deserves its own review (it’s coming), but since the Grilled Cheese Burrito and Yellowbird Nacho Fries are more like menu remixes rather than altogether new dishes, we’re going to hit those two first.

Let’s eat!

Grilled Cheese Burrito

The Burrito:

The Grilled Cheese Burrito has long been a fan favorite and this month Taco Bell has finally made it a permanent menu option, which means now it’s easier than ever to sub that ground beef out for steak. Don’t do that.

Sure, it sounds like a great idea, who wouldn’t want steak over low-quality ground meat? We get that, but if you’ve had Taco Bell’s steak you’d know that it is some of the worst on the planet. It’s rubbery and chewy as if it’s been steamed. It’s abhorrent. So we ordered the burrito the classic way — the only way you should order it if you want to enjoy your meal — with ground beef.

Inside this burrito are seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, a three-cheese blend, seasoned rice, sour cream, chipotle sauce, and crispy fiesta strips, wrapped in a tortilla that is grilled with a layer of cheese under one of the flaps (the burrito’s best feature), adding just the right amount of texture to the soft flour tortilla.

Tasting Notes:

Altogether this provides a burrito with a great mouthfeel, it has a crispy and crunchy outer that makes way for an explosion of salty and savory flavors on the inside. The texture doesn’t stop either, the crispy fiesta strips add an additional layer of crunch once you break through the surface and keep this burrito from ever getting too mushy, despite the soft ground beef inside.

As delicious as it is, I’d make a few changes. Namely, you don’t need the cheese sauce. All it does is add an overly salty top note and a bit too much moisture for the burrito’s own good. I’d sub the nacho cheese sauce for more of the three-cheese blend, which still has salt, but also adds a lot of creamy and nutty notes to the finished product.

The Bottom Line:

It’s been added to the permanent menu for a reason, Taco Bell’s Grilled Cheese Burrito is a top-five dish at Taco Bell.

Yellowbird Nacho Fries

The Nacho Fries:

I know this is going to be hard for Taco Bell fans to hear so brace yourself. Taco Bell has some of the worst hot sauces ever. I don’t care if you ride hard for mild, hot, or diablo, it’s all watery garbage and an insult to hot sauce everywhere. I’m not just saying that as a person who has access to many great taquerias that serve premium salsa either. I’m saying that as someone who just last week tried 62 different fast food sauces in one sitting. 62! And not a single Taco Bell sauce reached the top 30.

All of that is to say that this new Yellowbird collaboration remedies one of Taco Bell’s greatest weaknesses. On a bed of delicious crispy fries, you get steak (sub for beef), tomatoes, sour cream, nacho cheese sauce (ugh), cheese, and Yellowbird sauce.

Tasting Notes:

Each forkful ignites your tastebuds, adding a citrusy habanero pepper heat to a salty mix of flavors that finishes with a zesty tang. The more you eat this dish, the more the heat builds. About five forkfuls deep, my whole mouth was tingling and my salivary glands had kicked into overdrive. That Yellowbird hot sauce helps to make this dish all the more addicting than it already is. This is the hot sauce that Taco Bell deserves.

The Bottom Line:

Taco Bell’s Yellowbird Nacho Fries are essential eating. This dish is only available for a limited time, so you don’t want to miss it because who knows if you’ll ever be able to enjoy Taco Bell with a hot sauce this good again. Just be warned, it might forever change the way you taste Taco Bell’s stock hot sauce.

Last month, Charlie Puth shared “That’s Not How This Works,” an emotional song with Dan + Shay, along with a short film of the same name featuring Sabrina Carpenter. Now, he’s unveiled a remix of that song with Carpenter.

Carpenter’s vocals are a great addition to the song as she sings about a failing relationship: “Stop remindin’ me of when we said ‘forever’ / I know exactly what you’re doin’ / Oh, when you say you need to drop off all my sweaters / It’s just one of your excuses.” Their voices harmonize perfectly; the chemistry is palpable.

The Emails I Can’t Send performer recently made headlines after she canceled her show in Portland on Tuesday, April 11 due to an anonymous threat against the venue where the concert was previously scheduled transpire.

“Portland — I can’t tell you how much it breaks my heart; this is the last thing I wanted to do, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not be able to perform tonight,” she wrote. “You will be refunded.” She added, “I am so sorry. I love you very much.”

Listen to “That’s Not How This Works [Sabrina’s Version]” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Diversifying your income is great. Oftentimes, most financial professionals will go above and beyond to encourage their clients to do so. But Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is taking it to the next level. Taking to Twitter, the musician revealed that all of the time he’s spent in Italy has given way to a new professional endeavor, and it has nothing to do with their recently teased forthcoming album.

In a statement uploaded to his professional page, the guitarist revealed that he is now the proud seller of freshly pressed olive oil thanks to the band’s online store, W.A.S.T.E. (We Await Silent Trystero’s Empire).

“The W.A.S.T.E. store has started selling the oil from the olive farm in Italy where I now spend all my time outside of music,” the composer wrote, referring to the farm in the Le Marche region of the country.

Greenwood also revealed in the post that fellow artist and longtime collaborator of Radiohead, Stanley Donwood, also had a hand in the project as he “has kindly designed the label.”

The venture was a massive undertaking, but Greenwood noted, “It’s only a few bottles, but I’m really proud of the final product; for all that, this is what rockstars of a certain age* seem to drift into doing.”

As for the process, he wrote, “It’s an addictive thing though, harvesting and pressing this glorious fruit,” adding the sweetest reward was “spending more and more time with Italian friends in this beautiful country.”

Fans are hoping Jonny Greenwood doesn’t take a page out of Rihanna’s book and that he doesn’t wait nearly seven years until he drops a new project.

(Spoilers from The Walking Dead will be found below.)

Out of all the The Walking Dead spinoffs, news of AMC finally being able to move on Rick Grimes (and what he’s been through under CRM control) generated the most fan excitement. However, that response was somewhat muted by some uneventful promotional images but perked up a bit by a bloody photo of Andrew Lincoln posted by Danai Gurira.

Ideally, this spinoff will inform us of how Rick Grimes has been coping for these years away from not only his larger adopted family but, more importantly, Michonne and Judith “Little Ass Kicker” Grimes. He made another terrible decision with a horse and paid the price after Jadis swept him away with the helicopter people, and in The Walking Dead series finale, Michonne set off to find Rick after discovering his possessions. There’s a lot that fans want to learn, in other words, beyond seeing a reunion, and we’re probably not going to receive those answers until 2024. For the moment, however (and via Comic Book), cast member Lesley Ann Brandt is teasing the barest minimum (with emoji intact) on Twitter: “Just read the final episode.”

Brandt is portraying a character named Pearl Thorne, who is new to the universe. The spinoff will, however, include Jadis/Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh) from both The Walking Dead and The World Beyond. Other than that, everything remains necessarily vague, including from this AMC synopsis:

The series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?

The Walking Dead‘s Rick and Michonne party arrives in 2024.

(Via Comic Book)

It’s been a fantastic season for the Sacramento Kings. With Coach of the Year favorite Mike Brown at the helm, the Kings snapped an unimaginably long playoff drought, making their first playoff appearance since 2006. For their trouble, Sacramento earned the No. 3 seed in a highly jumbled Western Conference, and the Kings’ prize is a first-round matchup… against the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

The best-of-seven showdown begins on Saturday evening, and it is arguably the most interesting battle of the entire first round. Golden State enters as the betting favorite despite the No. 6 seed, and the crowds project to be extremely lively on both sides of Northern California. Now, let’s dive into what is on the agenda that can swing this series one way or the other.

Keys for the Warriors

So, what are the Warriors? Golden State won only 44 games and never seemed to find its full footing this season. For one, the Warriors were virtually unable to win away from San Francisco, posting a hideous 11-30 record on the road. That is a mark that would spell doom for any team under normal circumstances but, with Stephen Curry playing only 56 games and Andrew Wiggins missing more than half of the season, there are rational excuses for at least some of what transpired.

On offense, the Warriors are what they are, in the best possible way. Golden State led the league with 16.6 three-pointers per game, with Klay Thompson (not Steph!) leading the league in triples. Of course, Curry is the straw that stirs the drink, but that pairing is as scary as ever on the perimeter, and the Warriors led the league in assists (29.8 per game) and assist percentage (69.1 percent). Things can spiral while Steph is off the floor, but Golden State might be able to sustain high-level offense given this opponent and relatively positive health luck.

The defensive end is the bigger question, particularly in this setting. Golden State has dominated (and I mean dominated) with its best five players on the court with a +21.9 net rating behind Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney on the floor together. That isn’t realistic for any unit over a large sample, but Golden State isn’t the deepest team and there are questions on whether Wiggins will be the same player from 2022. With Wiggins coming back as a bench player on a minutes restriction to start the series, how Golden State handles the Kings high-powered offense looms large.

Keys for the Kings

The reason the Kings are in the 3-seed is that they just posted the best offensive rating in league history, scoring more than 1.18 points per possession over 82 games. Sacramento’s free-flowing style is dynamic to watch, and the Kings have an interior fulcrum in Sabonis and a perimeter stalwart in De’Aaron Fox who is among the league’s best attacking downhill. The Kings surround that pairing with shooting, headlined by Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray, and as a unit they shot almost 59 percent from two-point range to lead the league. The key for the offense is whether it can adapt to the gauntlet of the postseason against a defense that was formidable enough to win a title less than a year ago. If they are to win this series, they’ll likely need to continue operating at least close to their record-setting pace.

That is because the biggest question about Sacramento’s ability to be a real contender: Defense. Plainly, the Kings are not very good on defense, ranking No. 24 in the league in defensive efficiency and giving up more than 49 percent shooting to opponents. From a personnel standpoint, the Kings don’t have a ton of fantastic options in the backcourt, and Sabonis can be exploited in space. If things slow down, that probably isn’t good for Sacramento, so the Kings need to get things moving and keep it that way. The best way to do so is to keep the Warriors off the offensive boards, meaning they are going to need to be very attentive on long rebounds given Golden State’s propensity to bomb away from deep. A bad defense can mitigate its issues by limiting opportunities, but if they give the Warriors extra looks at the rim, then they only compound their problems on that end.

X-Factors

The Warriors are the fourth-biggest betting favorites in a series without homecourt advantage over the last three decades. That is notable on its own, but the other three situations had odd circumstances, ranging from Michael Jordan coming out of retirement in 1995 to an injury for Luka Doncic in 2022. In short, this is a situation without much precedent as most of the basketball world believes Golden State is far more likely to advance than to have its bid for back-to-back titles evaporate in round one.

With that backdrop, there is an intangible factor in play here that is two-fold. How “real” are the Kings? And how real were the Warriors regular season struggles? Sacramento’s offense is clearly fantastic, but the Kings don’t have the traditional top-10 player in the league to bank on, and they are facing a potent and established defense. The bigger issue is on the other end, with the Kings struggling mightily on defense. That said, Golden State’s full-season offensive metrics don’t fully match the perception and background history of their usually dynamic team, but with a full-season sample of inconsistency, it’s a genuine question of whether they can simply flip the switch once again.

Can the Kings keep Steph and Klay in check? How does Wiggins look? What can Draymond do against Sabonis? These are all valid questions and this is a series that is far more based on feel and history than a traditional matchup. In trying to narrow it down, Wiggins is perhaps the swing player for Golden State, both in this series and potentially beyond, and for Sacramento, shotmaking will be paramount from supporting pieces like Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, and rookie Keegan Murray needing to keep up regular season form throughout the series (not just at home).

The Kings have been better than the Warriors over 82 games this season. The Warriors have enjoyed a dynastic run with the best offensive player (Steph) and the best defensive player (Draymond) to go along with pedigree, experience, and everything else. It will be fascinating at the very least.

Abel Tesfaye — better known as The Weeknd — might be the most popular artist in the world by the numbers, but he isn’t immune to criticism — and he certainly seems not to be ignoring it, at least when it comes to the pending release of his hotly anticipated HBO show The Idol. After Rolling Stone published an investigative piece in which the show’s troubled production was castigated by crew members and Abel himself was indirectly blamed for the show’s revamped, controversial direction, he responded by posting a scene from the show in which his character derides the magazine as “irrelevant.”

It looks like he isn’t done addressing the drama just yet, either. Speaking to playwright/filmmaker Jeremy O. Harris for Interview magazine, Tesfaye defended the show and his collaborator Sam Levinson (of Euphoria fame/infamy), arguing that “you can’t please everybody” and blaming the show’s preemptive reception on hurtful rumors.

That’s what I’m learning about the film business, is that when people start rumors, it really does hurt a lot of other people,A lot of people work hard on these projects. When I’m in my world, and you guys are coming at me, it’s like, alright, cool. I’m a big boy. I can figure it out. But you have 200 people working hard on a project like this, that hurts. Especially when what they’re saying is far from the truth, but, what can you do?

While he didn’t quite get into what parts weren’t true or why, he did explain that his “thick skin” helps him to deal with the critics.

I’m used to it more than someone like Sam, who’s probably a little bit used to it now. And I’m sure Lily, definitely—Lily’s stronger than both of us. But I’ve been judged since the beginning. My stuff’s always kind of been provocative. I understand it’s hard for people to separate that sometimes and that some people want to have an opinion about you, even if it’s not true. As an artist, you have to know that you can’t please everybody, and you have to accept that it comes with the job. You have to remind yourself that everybody that knows you, knows you’re a good person. If you’re going out there trying to prove to people you’re a good person all the time, then it becomes like a dead end. But what I’ve learned is, with time people will learn to understand. But I have thick skin. I’m used to it.

The Idol is scheduled to premiere out-of-competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, so perhaps the show really is finished after all — and we’ll start to get some sense of what its “real world” reception will actually be.

There are a handful of video game adaptations set to debut this year, and unfortunately, none of them include Detective Pikachu 2, but that’s neither here nor there. The long-awaited animated adventure The Super Mario Bros Movie hit theaters earlier this month, and has already made enough mushroom coins for Mario to retire from his stressful plumbing gig and live a life of luxury.

Variety reports that the video game-inspired tale has earned $260.3 million domestically and $248.4 million internationally after being out in theaters for just two weeks. For anyone who doesn’t have a calculator on deck, that brings the worldwide total to $508.7 million, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023. Sorry to Ant-Man, but maybe he should have tried a little harder.

Not only did the Chris Pratt-led movie surpass this year’s blockbusters, but it’s also the biggest video game adaptation in history, speeding right by Warcraft and Detective Pikachu. That is until Ryan Reynolds decides to actually move forward with a Pikachu sequel that the world has been asking for. And by “world” I mean Me.

The movie has already been a financial success compared to its $100 million budget, which is surprisingly small for an animated feature. Detective Pikachu, for example, had a pretty high budget of $150 million in 2019. That’s about 30 million packs of Pokemon cards, in case you were keeping track.

While no sequels have been announced, there will likely be more Mario adventures in the future, perhaps with Pedro Pascal on board. Or Danny DeVito, depending on who you ask.

(Via Variety)

The Dallas Mavericks turned heads in the final week of the regular season when they completely punted on their chase of the Play-In by sitting everyone against the Chicago Bulls in the second-to-last game of the year. Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, and Josh Green all sat for rest and various ailments, while Luka Doncic started but sat after the first quarter in a premeditated move that Jason Kidd openly explained in pregame was at the direction of management — with the only reason Luka played in the game at all being that it was a Slovenian heritage night promotion in Dallas.

The NBA, unsurprisingly, didn’t take kindly to that and launched an investigation into the Mavs actively tanking out of the Play-In in such dramatic style. The Luka Doncic part, in particular, was extremely brash and Kidd’s pregame remarks certainly didn’t help the Mavs’ case. As such, on Friday, the league announced a $750,000 fine to the organization for “conduct detrimental to the league,” explaining what they did “undermined the integrity of our sport.”

The Mavs certainly weren’t the only team to do some aggressive end-of-season tanking, as the Blazers pulled the ripcord with about a month to play and managed to bottom out to a bottom-five record in the entire league. The Jazz also began resting people in the final couple weeks when they slipped behind the Thunder and Mavs in the battle for the 10-seed. The Mavs will certainly point to those example and wonder why they were punished, but they attracted the league’s attention for a couple of unique reasons.

For one, Kidd’s commentary before the game raised everyone’s eyebrows, as he laid out how it was management’s decision to shut things down for the season — something none of the other teams did explicitly, instead relying on various injuries and ailments to sit players. On top of that, the Mavs were just a couple weeks removed from calling the league’s integrity into question with their protest of the outcome of a loss to the Warriors, when Mark Cuban launched into his latest tirade against NBA referees for what was ultimately deemed to have been a correct call that was communicated to both sides upon league review. While the league certainly would never admit it, I find it hard to believe this wasn’t at least in some small part a message to Cuban following the protest to replay that game and his antics afterward. In any case, Cuban will pay the hefty fine and won’t exactly be hurting in doing so.

After Bud Light unveiled a new ad campaign featuring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, MAGA world went wild calling for boycotts. Travis Tritt refused to serve Anheuser-Busch products at his concerts while Kid Rock posted a violent video of himself shooting Bud Light cans with an AR-15 because, in case it isn’t clear, many conservatives do not support trans rights.

However, a surprising voice of reason has emerged amidst the chaos: Donald Trump Jr. During the latest episode of his web show, Triggered with Don Jr., the heir to the Trump throne called on his fellow conservatives to pull back on their rhetoric.

“I’m not for destroying an American, an iconic company for something like this,” Don Jr. said. (Note: Anheuser-Busch Companies is now a Belgium-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev.) According to Junior, there are far worse beer brands out there, so everyone should take a breather.

Via The Independent:

“The company itself doesn’t participate in the same leftist nonsense as the other big conglomerates,” he said. “Frankly, they don’t participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer [industry] actually do, who are significantly worse when I look into it.”

Don Jr. coming to Budweiser’s aid is a surprising development considering how much of MAGA world has gone hard on boycotting the beer company. However, those protests have also been pretty embarrassing. Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw attempted to jump on the viral craze by posting a video of himself proudly opening a fridge full of Karbach beer.

There’s just one small problem: Karbach is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the makers of Bud Light. Whoops.

(Via The Independent)

When the premise for Barry was first announced, the idea of a professional hit man looking to go straight felt a little stale. But in the hands of Bill Hader and Alec Berg, it turned into anything but. In fact, some would say the series is downright revolutionary.

When we last left Barry Berkman/Barry Block (Hader), the professional killer/aspiring actor’s world was crashing down all around him — somewhat literally. While he’s ready to flee Los Angeles with his girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) in tow, he gets waylaid by the police. (Hey, it happens!)

Now Barry is returning for a fourth and final season, and will deal with the fallout of his arrest. So just when will that happen?

Barry will make its triumphant return to HBO on Sunday, April 16, airing just after Succession. Like the previous three seasons of the series, it will run for eight episodes, putting its last-ever episode on May 28. Just as fans are sad to see Barry’s story end, so is Hader.

“It’s been an amazing journey making this show, and it’s bittersweet that the story has come to its natural conclusion,” Hader said in a statement.

New episodes of Barry will air each week at 10 p.m. EST on Sundays.