I was craving a junky snack and perusing the Big Lots chip aisle when I came across a 5 oz. back of Wise BBQ Flavor Corn Chips retailing for just a buck. After much mental debate as to whether or not I wanted to force-feed myself that much sodium for just a snack, I finally relented, and bought a bag. The following are my thoughts on this particular product.

I didn’t do a side-by-side taste test, but from what I recall, these taste pretty close to the national brand, which is to say that they’re incredibly salty with a slight barbecue tang in there somewhere. In the realm of all things barbecue, these chips, like the main brand counterpart, are pretty bad; they only slightly resemble the titular condiment. And yet they’re one of my favorite salty snacks (along with the equally mislabeled ‘Chili Cheese’ version, which tastes nothing like either chili or cheese and yet I can down a bag with minimal effort). The texture is spot on, and there’s a generous helping of “barbecue” seasoning covering each chip, to the extent that most of them are covered in a red hue.

If you like the national brand corn chip, and stumble upon these at your local Big Lots, I recommend you pick these up. They’re very similar, and quite a bit cheaper, too, which is all you can ask for in a knockoff. Wise products also appear at Dollar Tree, and some of their chip offerings can be hit-or-miss, but these are definitely a “hit”.

Overall: 8/10. A solid knockoff of the name brand barbecue corn chip, Wise’s version is almost exact in every way, from appearance, on down to taste.  Of course, these are pure junk, loaded with sodium and God only knows what else, but they’re one of the few salty things I could eat all day. And with a 5 oz. bag retailing for just $1 at select Big Lots stores, it’s nice to know that high blood pressure can be so affordable!