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Menu Tracker: New items from McDonald’s, Panera Bread, and Taco BellMenu Tracker: New items from McDonald’s, Panera Bread, and Taco Bell

Plus innovation at Biggby Coffee, Black Bear Diner, Carl’s Jr., Charleys Cheesesteaks, Clean Eatz, El Pollo Loco, El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, Ellianos Coffee, Ford’s Garage, Gong Cha, John’s Incredible Pizza Company, Krispy Kreme, Moe’s Southwest Gill, Panda Express, Pilot Flying J, Rachel’s Kitchen, Ruby Slipper, Snooze A.M. Eatery, Taco John’s, Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill , True Food Kitchen, Velvet Taco

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

July 19, 2024

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McDonald’s is bringing back a smoky version of its Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and introducing a new McFlurry flavor.

McDonald’s is bringing back a smoky version of its Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and introducing a new McFlurry flavor.

Panera Bread is continuing its menu innovation following its large-scale revamp in April, including new avocado toast and the return of its sesame and blueberry bagels.

Speaking of bagels, sort of, Carl’s Jr. is testing the trendy Everything bagel spice blend (granulated garlic and onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and coarse salt) at its locations in Palm Springs, Calif.

And speaking of bringing things back, Panda Express is reprising the Hot Orange Chicken that it just introduced as a limited-time offer in May, barely giving its fans enough time to miss it.

Taco Bell has new versions of its Chalupas and Nacho Fries and both El Pollo Loco and Taco John’s have new burritos.

Charleys Cheesesteaks is adding kimchi to its namesake item, and True Food Kitchen is using Korean barbecue sauce on one of the new items featuring its brand new True Crisp’d Chicken, which has gluten-free breading and is baked — er, “air fried.”

There are new spirit-free cocktails at Biggby Coffee, Black Bear  Diner, and Ruby Slipper, but not El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, which has a bunch of new traditional boozy cocktails.

Ellianos Coffee has a new sandwich, Rachel’s Kitchen has a new salad, Ford’s Garage has a red, white, and blue shake, and Gong Cha has new drinks that somehow tie in to Final Fantasy XIV Online.

Related:McDonald’s has a very busy week planned

Krispy Kreme has new doughnuts celebrating the Paris Olympics, and Moe’s Southwest Grill is letting guests squire Mike’s Hot Honey over everything.

Thirsty Lion has a bunch of new items, including cedar plank salmon. Remember that?

Clean Eatz has something called turkey burnt ends, among other new items, John’s Incredible Pizza Company has a spicy pineapple pie, Snooze has what its marketing people are calling a deconstructed yogurt parfait (it’s a bowl), Pilot Flying J has new mac & cheese bowls, among other things, and Velvet Taco’s Weekly Taco Feature is inspired by poke.

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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