While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a Krystal Hamburger taste so darn good, many would argue it’s the steamed-in onion flavor that gives it its “nothin’ like it” edge. Now, what would happen if the onions weren’t just steamed in but also served crispy on top? That’s what we found out today when we made our weekly lunch run to our local Krystal at 14th and Northside Dr. to try The Crispy Onion Krystal.

Picture Krystal’s famously small, square burger with all of its regular fixins’, except one twist. Instead of it just being layered with square-cut white onions, the burger patty is also topped with long, thinly sliced crispy onions that you would normally expect to see on a steak sandwich. You know those crispy, flavorful onions with the deep golden color that have that wonderful crunch and not-too-heavy fried taste? Yep. Those are the ones we’re talking about.

So, what’s better? The Famous Krystal or the Crispy Onion Krystal? The verdict is still out with our group. It’s always hard to top the original but we’re always excited to taste something new and delicious.

Photo above of Crispy Onion Krystals shot in our office before some serious devouring took place.

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.

San Antonio area Krystal restaurants will host their final “Sample Saturday” event tomorrow.

Just stop by one of the three San Antonio Krystal restaurants (10531 Culebra Rd, 6446 NW Loop 410 and 7953 Pat Booker Road) between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to try any of the exciting new menu options at Krystal for free, including.

• Krystal Toaster Sandwiches® – a variety of Krystal-sized sandwiches served on toasted bread including Philly Cheesesteak, Turkey Club, Grilled Cheese, BLT and Grilled Bacon and Cheese.

• Hot ‘N Country Wings® – chicken wings covered in a deliciously crispy and spicy breading.

• Krystal Smoothies® – a line up of all-natural, all-fruit smoothie beverages.

• Mac ‘N Cheese Wedges® – small, tasty wedges of fried mac ‘n cheese bites.

• RockSlides® – a line of ice cream-based beverages that include mix-ins such as M&Ms, Butterfinger and Snickers.

• MilkQuakes™ – Krystal’s lineup of premium milkshakes made with real ice cream. Flavors include Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry, and for a limited time Pumpkin Pie and the new Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie and Eggnog.

If you’re following Krystalist on Twitter and make it to one of the Sample Saturday events, tell us what you think of the new menu offerings by sending a tweet to @krystalist. We’ll share your first-hand experience here on the Krystalist blog.

We’ve been Twittering here at Krystalist.com ever since we launched this blog, but we’re about to turn up the Tweet-notch a tad so you can keep up with the absolute latest Krystal news, even before it shows up here.

Yep, sign-up to follow our Twitter feed at twitter.com/krystalist, and you’ll be the first to know about new menu items, like seasonal MilkQuake flavors or new Krystal Chik offerings, weeks before they make it to the menuboard at your local Krystal restaurant. You’ll also be the first to hear about special promotions and the latest from the Krystal test kitchen.  We’ll also ask trivia questions via the feed, and if you’re the first one to answer, we’ll send you Krystal merchandise or Krystal Gift Cards.

Finally, you can use Twitter to share with us a Krystal story, send us suggestions or tell us how you just spilled your Krystal Freeze on your laptop while using the free Wi-Fi in our restaurants. Just don’t blame it on us.

Don’t know about Twitter? Read about it here.

Valentine’s Day may still be months away, but now is the time to let your taste buds be heard by voting for the Valentine’s MilkQuake flavor you like best. Your votes will help decide what MilkQuake you’ll see in your local Krystal restaurant when Cupid starts flinging his arrows this February. Head over to the Official Krystal Lover Community on Facebook and make your pick.

The choices are:

• Chocolate Truffle Shake
• Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Shake
• Red Hot Cinnamon Shake
• Sweethearts Shake (Conversation heart pieces)

Yum, makes us hungry just typing those choices.

Right now the Chocolate Truffle Shake leads with 38.46% of the vote, and the Chocolate Covered Strawberries is in a close second with 30.77% of the vote.

Can’t wait until February 2009 to get your hands on some chocolate covered strawberries? Check out eHow.com to learn how to make your own. Just save some for us.

Not to be outdone by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship will host an Opening Ceremony today in downtown Chattanooga. The ceremony will start up at 1:00 pm EST with the official lighting of the Krystal Square Off Grill to signify the beginning of this year’s Krystal Square Off Qualifying Tour.

After the lighting, Chattanoogans are invited to join the first ever “Running of the Grill” down Chestnut Street, complete with a police escort, parade of vehicles with local dignitaries, the Krystal cycling team on bikes and a host of Krystal employees.

The procession will end down at the Riverfront, where Krystal’s VP of Marketing Brad Wahl and George Shea from Major League Eating will host a press conference to set the stage for this year’s competitive eating contest, and immediately afterwards, Chattanooga’s most popular news personalities will compete in a 2-minute Krystal burger eating contest.

Head over to our sister site, the Krystal Square Off Blog, to find out which media personalities are competing and for more details. They’ll also have updates throughout the day, including photos, video and more.

Looks like it’s going to be another beautiful spring day across most of Krystal country, so we thought this great photo posted by Flickr user Brian Hart was appropriate. Enjoy.

We stumbled across this Krystal photo today, which was posted by Flickr user ajpresto714. The photo was taken in Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park at the Wall of History, a 1,400 ft. long granite wall etched with dates and information detailing a historical time line of Tennessee. Pretty cool, huh?

We snagged this photo from our marketing department’s blog.

We’ve already posted pictures of the Burger King and the Chick-fil-A cow showing their preference for Krystal, and now Hardee’s is in on the small, square action.

Maybe those Thickburgers just aren’t cutting it, or perhaps this employee was hit with the irresistible Krystal craving.

We understand and know how it is. When you gotta have Krystal, you just gotta have Krystal.

Thanks to our good friend and Krystal Square Off competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt for the May edition of the Eater’s Poll. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Eater’s Poll rankings are determined by a group of competitive eaters and media that cover the sport. They basically vote to determine who they think make up the Top 25 in Major League Eating.

There aren’t really any surprises with the rankings as you can see from the top five, which we’ve listed below. It’s always good however, to see our Krystal competitive eaters remain on the top.

For the complete poll rankings, visit Hunt’s blog.

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut

2. Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti

3. Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi

4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt

5. Tim “Eater-X” Janus

Below is a video of Chestnut breaking the record for the most Krystal burgers eaten in two minutes. Just in case you needed a reminder as to why he’s ranked number one.