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Menu Tracker: New items from Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and SubwayMenu Tracker: New items from Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and Subway

Plus innovation at &pizza, Baskin-Robbins, Bojangles, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, Burgerville, Carvel, Condado Tacos, Del Taco, Evergreens, Fajita Pete’s, Friendly’s, Island Fin Poké, Jason’s Deli, Krispy Kreme, Lazy Dog Restaurants, Newk’s Eatery, Noodles & Company, Outback Steakhouse, Pret A Manger, Sonic Drive-In, Starbucks, Taco John’s, Tacodeli, TGI Fridays, Velvet Taco, Whataburger

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

April 5, 2024

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There’s a lot happening on the beverage front these days. Burger King is the latest chain to add cold foam as a beverage option, and it’s also rolling out a cotton candy flavored slush. Chick-fil-A has added cherry berry option to its springtime drinks, Pret A Manger has a new dragon fruit-mango compote to add to iced tea and lemonade, Jack-in-the-Box has a new pineapple shake, Del Taco has a snickerdoodle one, and Sonic Drive-In has one with Oreo cookies and cheesecake. Lazy Dog and TGI Fridays both have new tequila cocktails, Burgerville has a new cold brew coffee flavor, and Starbucks has another lavender drink, leaning into the fact that the flower goes well with oat milk.

Speaking of flowers, Baskin-Robbins is using marigolds in its latest Flavor of the Month.

Bruster’s Real Ice Cream has banana pudding and berry cheesecake ice cream flavors and Carvel is reviving an orange-flavored option and also rolling out ice cream pops.

Friendly’s is continuing its monthly sundae tradition, this time with one meant to look like a turtle.

There’s also movement in the world of sauces. Bojangles is bringing back one that it discontinued a couple of years ago and Fajita Pete’s has a new chipotle aïoli.

Taco John’s has a new taco pizza, and &pizza has a pie with pickles on it.

Related:Chick-fil-A is testing a Pretzel Cheddar Club Sandwich

Subway has wraps now, Condado Tacos has launched a burrito line, and so has Evergreens, a chain in the Pacific Northwest.

Jason’s Deli has a new wrap, too, among other things, and Island Fin Poké’s has introduced a plant-based version of tuna.

Tacodeli has new items with pistachios in them, Noodles & Company has brought back Steak Stroganoff, and Outback Steakhouse has new surf & turf option.

Krispy Kreme has an eclipse-themed doughnut for the next few days, Newk’s Eatery has some salads (and a sandwich), Whataburger has a big new burger, and Velvet Taco’s Weekly Taco Feature is inspired by Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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