With October over, holiday-inspired items are officially making their return to menus.
Baskin-Robbins debuted its November flavor of the month: Turkey Day Fixin’s. The limited-edition flavor includes a mix of sweet potato and autumn spice ice creams, with honey cornbread pieces and swirls of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce.
Caribou Coffee announced the return of its holiday menu, which features both new and returning items. New items to make their debut on Caribou Coffee’s menu include a mint mocha espresso shaker, a vanilla oat nog latte, an iced vanilla oat nog crafted press, and a cranberry orange muffin.
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is also bringing back its limited-time holiday menu, which includes a French onion steakburger and an Oreo cookie peppermint shake. The French onion steakburger features two ground beef steakburger patties topped with Swiss cheese, caramelized grilled onions, crispy onions, applewood smoked bacon and French onion sauce. The Oreo peppermint shake is a blend of chocolate and vanilla frozen custard, peppermint syrup, Oreo cookie pieces and peppermint candy pieces.
Sweetgreen launched new protein plate options, including miso glazed salmon, Southwest chicken fajita and hot honey chicken.
“We’ve always believed you don’t have to be a salad person to be a Sweetgreen person,” said Nicolas Jammet, co-founder and chief concept officer at Sweetgreen. “Today, around 35% of our customers order Sweetgreen for dinner. With our protein plates, we’re tackling dinnertime, bringing Sweetgreen fans new chef-crafted, protein-forward options with unmatched heartiness and value we know they’ll love.”
Smashburger is bringing back its Mac & Cheese burger and introducing a Scorchin’ Hot Mac & Cheese burger. The burgers are topped with angus beef, American cheese and either an original or spicy mac and cheese.
“At Smashburger, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of taste innovation with the highest quality ingredients, while maintaining a pulse on the desires of our guests,” said Toni Bianco, senior vice president of global operations at Smashburger. “After the Mac & Cheese burger became one of our top performing LTOs of all time, we knew we had to bring the beloved dish back to satisfy our guests' cravings and turn up the heat with the new Scorchin' Hot Mac & Cheese burger.”
Sonny’s BBQ introduced a BBQ tour sampler, inspired by regional barbecue styles and dishes. Included in the sampler is Carolina pulled pork, Memphis dry-rubbed ribs and smoked wings in either an Alabama white sauce or a Florida citrus sauce.
"Sonny's Pitmasters have been traveling and touring some of the most celebrated regions for BBQ to learn their stories that have led to the development of these distinct flavors," said Shannon Snell, pitmaster at Sonny's BBQ. "We're excited to share this new offering with all of our barbecue loving fans, and to give them a taste of some of the amazing regional barbecue that inspires us every day."
Long John Silver's is bringing back its Wisconsin white cheddar cheese bites. The cheese bites feature a white cheddar cheese, coated in a homestyle breading and fried.
“After making a splash with our guests in 2022, Wisconsin white cheddar cheese bites are back," said Christopher Caudill, senior vice president of marketing and innovation at Long John Silver's. “These crispy, cheesy and undeniably delicious bites are bound to take guests on a flavor adventure where they'll treasure every bite.”
BurgerFi International is adding three seasonal chicken wings flavors and four varieties of BurgerFi bowls, which will be permanent menu items. The chicken wings, which will be limited-edition items, are available in seasoned original, Memphis sweet BBQ and Frank’s RedHot buffalo.
“Our chef-crafted and sensationally indulgent menu strategy makes our new chicken wings the perfect side to accompany our 100% all-natural Angus beef burgers,” said Carl Bachmann, chief executive officer of BurgerFi International. "America loves burgers, wings, and beer. And now you can get them all at BurgerFi.”
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill is adding two new menu items featuring Nashville-style hot sauce. The Nashville hot chicken burrito is made with crispy chicken that was tossed in Nashville hot sauce, with Baja rice, roasted vegetables, jack cheese and chipotle aioli all wrapped in a flour tortilla. The Nashville hot chicken taco combo includes two flour tortillas, filled with crispy chicken that has been tossed in Nashville hot sauce, lettuce, avocado slices and chipotle aioli.
“There are so many variants of Nashville hot chicken, but we wanted to put an unexpected spin on it by incorporating it into two of Baja Fresh's favorite dishes for a welcome burst of flavor,” said April Fogle, brand leader of Baja Fresh. “Our aromatic seasoning blend and hot sauce combo has just the right amount of heat we know our guests will love.”
Pizza brand Marco’s Pizza launched the Pizzoli, a handheld dough featuring meat and melted cheese. The Pizzolis are available in four varieties: pepperoni, Buffalo chicken, pepperoni and sausage and chicken bacon ranch.
“At Marco's Pizza, we believe in delivering flavor in relevant ways with innovative new menu items that offer consumers greater variety and choice," said Denise Lauer, chief marketing officer, Marco's Pizza. "By tapping into the emerging handhelds category with the launch of our new Pizzoli, we can offer even more craveable options for consumers. Our Pizzoli is perfect for every eating occasion at home, at work or on-the-go — as a sidekick for pizza, as a grab-and-go lunch alternative, as a satisfying late-night snack, or as a convenient catering option for a gathering or event.”
Nov
2024
Holiday-inspired items make their debut across menus.
Limited-time offerings feature holiday flavors and format innovations.