Sponsored By
Menu Tracker

Menu Tracker

Menu Tracker: New items from Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, and SubwayMenu Tracker: New items from Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, and Subway

Plus innovation from Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, Farmer Boys, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Fogo de Chão, Friendly’s, Häagen-Dazs, Honeygrow, Hot Head Burritos, IHOP, Little Caesars, Nordstrom, Panera, Peet’s Coffee, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Starbird, Studio Movie Grill, Sweetgreen, Velvet Taco, and Voodoo Doughnut

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

March 31, 2023

22 Slides
menu tracker

Already have an account?

If you like Piña Coladas then you’re in luck, because the flavor combination of pineapple and coconut is trending, and probably will be at least through the summer. Early versions can be found at Häagen-Dazs and Voodoo Doughnut.

Pineapple without coconut is to be had in drinks at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and Fogo de Chão, both of which also have spirit-free drinks, because they’re trending too, and probably will be for years.

Speaking of trends, Arby’s has a new sweet and spicy sauce and two sandwiches plus loaded fries to promote it, and Subway is planning to launch a sub in celebration of pickleball.

Hot Head Burritos has three new tacos, and Nordstrom (yes, the stores have restaurants) has two new items with Alaska pollock.

Chick-fil-A is anticipating the summer with watermelon-mint beverages, Bruster’s has banana nut bread ice cream, Friendly’s is launching the first of a line of special monthly sundaes (stay tuned for specials landing in May and June), which this month also has bananas. 

IHOP has a bunch of new items in what it says is its biggest revamp in years.

Peet’s Coffee has new lavender drinks, and Studio Movie Grill has its version of a Mint Julep.

Honeygrow has a new pesto stir-fry, Sweetgreen has new salads among other items, Panera has a new salad and is reprising and old favorite, and Little Caesars has brought back its pretzel crust.

Starbird has orange chicken, Popeyes has strawberry biscuits, 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

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.