Lay's to Debut Hot Chicken & Other Flavors Inspired by Famous Restaurants

Grab your Grimaldi’s pizza at 7-Eleven.

 Lay's chips/Thrillist
Lay's chips/Thrillist
Lay's chips/Thrillist

In a ranking of Lay's chips, the original comes out on top, in the same way that the Necco Wafer sometimes comes out on top of candy rankings despite its obvious inferiority. People love the classics, but Lay's novelty flavors usually don't fit the bill... Until now. Enter: Lay's chips inspired by America's most cherished restaurants.

If this concept sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the snack company's limited-edition "Taste of America" line, which featured New England Lobster Roll, Deep Dish Pizza, and Cajun Spice varieties. This line, which will be rolling out in stores nationwide starting on July 13, is fashioned after five individual restaurants across the US that are known and loved for nailing regional dishes.

Here they are:

  • Kettle Cooked New York Style Pizza inspired by Grimaldi’s in New York City
  • Nashville Hot Chicken inspired by Party Fowl in Nashville
  • Philly Cheesesteak inspired by Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia
  • Wavy Carnitas Street Taco inspired by El Torito in Los Angeles
  • Chile Relleno inspired by Cocina Azul in Albuquerque*

The biggest standouts for me here are the cheesesteak, chile relleno, and hot chicken flavors, since Lay's has already released a pizza flavor, and you can already buy a crispy taco flavor at Walmart. In any case, you're probably way better off getting the NY Style Pizza chip than going to most pizzerias outside of the city, so there's definitely value in these customized creations.

*The Chile Relleno flavor will only be available at Walmart and 7-Eleven.

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Ruby Anderson is a News Writer at Thrillist. Send your tips to randerson@thrillist.com.