No - it doesn't taste like a fig newton, because it doesn't have cake/cookie wrapped around it. It's a fruit, and it has the seeds in it that you taste in the fig newtons. It's a sweet fruit, and I can eat them like candy. Sadly - they have a very short season in the summer (like only a few weeks), so I stalked Whole Foods until they had them.
Now, however, one of my best friends planted two fig trees, and it was already producing fruit this summer, so I can't wait for next year when I can pick figs to my heart's content!