Even the rainbow gods crave Krystal every now and then.

What’s better than a pot full of gold at the end of the rainbow? How about the promise of the world’s best burgers at the very next exit?

Check out this prophetic photo that Robert Kolsch took while heading down I-95. Even Mother Nature can’t resist how delicious a little Krystal action would be right now, and neither should you. Take the hint, follow the rainbow and get your grub on with a tasty Cheese Krystal, Corn Pup or Krystal Chik.

Besides, how are you going to lift a real pot of gold into your car anyway?

We’re excited to announce that Brad Wahl (@krystalbrad), The Krystal Company’s VP of Marketing, has been selected as one of the five panelists to discuss word-of-mouth tactics and social networking marketing strategies at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago. The panel will be held on May 16 during the Restaurant Executive Breakfast. The conference is the largest single gathering of restaurant, food service and lodging professionals in the world.

Wahl was chosen for spearheading some of Krystal’s most notable and recognizable branding campaigns, including the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship, which receives over 100 million free media impressions each year. Wahl has also leveraged new media tactics as a way to promote brand affinity and propel word-of-mouth. Social media initiatives executed under his direction include the creation of an online-entertainment community at Krystal.com; daily engagement on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr; and an active company blog, Krystalist.com – which you are reading here!

The Restaurant Executive Breakfast will be held 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Additional panelists include:

• Billy Dec, CEO and founder, Rockit Ranch Productions
• John Moser, marketing and brand officer, Denihan Hospitality Group
• Margie Myers, senior vice president of communications, Dunkin’ Brands (Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins
• William Whitman, Jr., vice president of communications, McDonald’s USA LLC:

For more information, visit the Show Web site at www.restaurant.org/show or read more on Drinks Media Wire.

There seems to be no end to the great photographs Krystal guests take and post on the photo sharing site Flickr.

The one above is an Apple iPhone photo taken by Glenn Harper of Texas on New Year’s Day. His subject’s name is Quincy, and he told us that he snapped the photo of her at the Krystal restaurant in Ft. Worth, which coincidentally is the same restaurant this photo was taken. Some great photographers in Ft. Worth apparently. Must be something in the Krystal Freezes there.

Check out Harper’s entire photostream on Flickr here. His wake surfing ones are our favorite.

We love checking out Flickr for Krystal photos, and this fisheye lens shot taken by Jose Gonzalez really ‘hooked’ our eyes the other day.

The lens not only gives it a cool, wide-angle, depth of field but really captures so many details at the table and restaurant, making it fun to let your eyes wander the image to see what you can discover. Some things we noticed were the other lens on the table, the “Snack the Gap” on the drink cup, the cashier behind the counter who seems to notice she’s in the photo and the Krystal Pups (we think) container to the right.

We tried to guess which Krystal restaurant this is from just looking at the photo. At first we thought it was taken at the Krystal in North Houston on FM 1960 because of the newspaper article, but it’s not. But there are some clues to tell you where it’s located. See if you can figure it out, and post your guess in the comments section. For a larger, higher res version, click here.

For more photos by Gonzalez visit his Flickr photostream here.

We come across a lot of great Krystal-related photos on the photo sharing site Flickr, like the feast photo by Curt McAdams and “Nothing But Blue Skies and Krystal” by Brian Hart. And of course, there are the photo series we post, like our Holiday MilkQuake one and the hundreds of shots from Krystal Square Off V.

Most recently we noticed the photo to the right of a Steamer Pack with the intriguing caption:

“What did they think when the boys walked in and ordered 72 Krystals? Thanks for hauling these to Iowa from Tennessee!”

From Iowa to Tennessee? 72? We had to ask what the story was…did they pack them on dry ice? And who are “the boys?”

Well, the person behind the photo, Flickr user “vanhookc,” got back to us with the following account:

“Do you just love the fact that our boys stopped at the last Krystal’s restaurant before crossing over into Kentucky and brought us cases of Krystals. The store workers were a bit surprised but accomodated! We had great eating around Thanksgiving! Gives that ole turkey a real rival.

Wonder if I have any of those Krystals left in the freezer. Pretty good about dropping them in the microwave with a few drops of water on the meat side and cooking for 1/2 minute!”

And according to vanhookc, they didn’t use dry ice. “Just the tempting smell of three cases of these in their car,” she explained.

Sounds like a Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame story in the making.

Check out vanhookc’s photostream on Flickr here.

Curt McAdams over at the Bucky’s Barbecue and Bread blog has a great post today, including some excellent photos, about his recent visit to a Krystal restaurant in Atlanta. A self-described foodie and avid outdoor cook who competes in KCBS barbecue competitions, McAdams currently lives in SW Ohio but has had family ties to Atlanta all his life, and whenever he is in town he makes sure to stop by the nearest Krystal.

Since McAdams doesn’t get to Krystal often he makes sure that when he does, he orders up a great variety of Krystal’s signature menu items. On this particular visit, it looks like he hooked himself up with a couple of Double Cheese Krystals, Krystal Chiks, a Corn Dog, a Chili Cheese Pup and some fries. Yes, the guy knows what he’s doing. And by the looks of this photo, he enjoys it.

As Curt puts it, his only complaint on this visit was that “[Krystal] used to have a spicy version [of its Chik sandwich], but they did away with it!  It was Krystal Chik squared, and it’s not available anymore!!!  I love the regular Krystal Chik, but I LOVE the spicy Krystal Chik!”

Well Curt, guess what? You just missed the launch of our new Spicy Southern Chik Basket with Fiesta Waffle Fries by a week or two. The new meal just hit stores on Monday and is already a hit. So get back down here because these Chiks are even better than the original Spicy Chik, with a southern-style breading that gives it a lighter, crispier texture but the same hot sauce flavor you love about the Spicy Chik.

Check out our post and video about the new Spicy Southern Chik Basket here.

To our readers, be sure to head over to Curt’s blog for his latest musings on all things food and more. Also be sure to check out his Flickr photostream. Not only is he pretty handy around a grill, he’s also pretty good with his Nikon D40.

We realized yesterday that whenever we talk about the new Krystal Holiday MilkQuakes we always use a photo of the Pumpkin Pie MilkQuake because we have yet to snap shots of either the Mint Chocolate Cookie MilkQuake or Eggnog MilkQuake. So yesterday we fixed that.

We had one of the interns pick up a few of the premium ice cream treats at the Krystal on the corner of 14th Street and Northside Drive so we could fire off some shots before rapidly consuming them in the office.

Yep, tough job we have here, we know. Just think of the dangers involved, like suffering from a bout of sphenopalatineganglioneuralgia. Good thing we know what to do when that happens.

We posted the photos we took on the Krystalist Flickr Page. Check them out here or click below.

Got your own Krystal MilkQuake photos? Share with us and we’ll post them on Krystalist.com.

We’re in more of a “treat” than “trick” mood today so to celebrate Halloween we’re going to give away a $50 Krystal Gift Card to the person with the best Halloween costume. The only requirement is that you snap the photo while in costume at a Krystal restaurant tonight and email the photo to us by Sunday to info@krystalist.com.

You can also upload the photo to your Flickr, Facebook or MySpace page and send us a link to it.

The more original the better which means dressing up as The Joker or Sarah Palin like everyone else is this Halloween may not cut it unless it’s really, really good. Like Tina Fey good. Bonus if you dress up in something Krystal-related like, say, a Krystal Chik.

Happy trick or treating tonight. Be sure to be safe, and most of all, have fun!

Meet Ashley, our Krystal Chik for the month of October.

Don’t mess with this Chik.

Ashley from Orlando, Fla., is here to protect and serve as our Krystal Chik for the month of October.

Ashley is a graduate of the University of Florida and dreams of one day becoming a homicide detective.

And while she’s currently busy training to be a police office, whenever she’s off duty you’ll find her at the Krystal on Gray Highway in Macon, Ga., ordering her favorite meal of four Krystal Chiks, plain with cheese.

For more photos of Ashley, visit krystalchicks.com or our Flickr page.

Humble Bob Shoudt takes Chattanooga with 58 Krystal Burgers

Humble Bob Shoudt took the Krystal Square Off Chattanooga Qualifier on Saturday, downing 58 Krystal burgers in eight minutes.

Although Shoudt was disappointed with his performance, he did earn the first seat to this year’s World Hamburger Eating Championship, which will take place back in Chattanooga on September 28.

Head over to the Krystal Square Off Blog for complete coverage of this past weekend’s hamburger happenings, including photos on our Flickr page and a video blog of Humble Bob after the contest.

Remember, you can also sign up to receive Live Twitter coverage of each event at Twitter.com/ksquareoff.

Next stop on the hamburger competitive eating tour: Jacksonville.