Naked chicken gets Taco Bell all excited

Weird food is becoming a thing at fast-food restaurants.

Taco Bell just sold 25 million Naked Chicken Chalupa tacos, which feature a shell made entirely of fried chicken, in a mere five weeks earlier this year, the company said on Wednesday in announcing its firstquarter results.

The incredible popularity of the naked chicken helped the chain, owned by Yum! Brands, blow the doors off Wall Street’s performance expectations for the quarter just ended.

Yum! said that Taco Bell rang up a same-store sales gain of a whopping 8 percent.

“The average fast-food chain in the first quarter grew by about 1 percent,” said Nomura/Instinet analyst Mark Kalinowski. “We were forecasting a 3 percent rise.” Taco Bell was caught off-guard, too. The chain isn’t even selling the tacos anymore — it was a limited-time promotion — but is rushing to get a copycat item, Naked Chicken Chips, on its menu by May 11.

Because the chalupa “exceeded expectations,” the company said, “we’re confident it will return to the menu in the future.”

In the meantime, hoping to build on that success, the Louisville, Ky.-based company has been quietly testing $1 Nacho Fries Supreme in Bakersfield, Calif., and in the Charleston, W. Va., area.

In other weird food news from the fast-food front, McDonald’s on Friday will give away a french fry-fork, which it has dubbed a “Frork,” to customers who buy a newly introduced sandwich.

Last September, Burger King introduced Cheetos Chicken Fries.

And last fall, Arby’s, which is generally known for its beefy sandwiches, went upscale with a venison version.

The moves come to counter a general drift away from fast food by consumers.