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Menu Tracker: New items from Burger King, Starbucks and Krispy Kreme

Plus innovation at Auntie Anne’s, Blaze Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Casey’s, Cinnaholic, Condado Tacos, Corner Bakery, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Denny’s, Genghis Grill, Happy Joe’s, IHOP, Juice it Up!, Long John Silver’s, Mooyah, Native Grill & Wings, O’Charley’s, On the Border, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Red Lobster, Robeks, Smashburger, Twin Peaks and Velvet Taco

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

June 24, 2022

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Some chains have rolled out plant-based substitutes for meat or dairy with great fanfare and then gradually phased them out as initial enthusiasm by customers to try them didn’t result in trying them again.

But others have doubled down and added new animal-free items, such as Carl’s Jr.’s Beyond Wraptor Burger, introduced as part of its tie-in with the film Jurassic World Dominion.

And now Burger King, the first national quick-service chain to roll out a burger made from the current generation of plant-based protein, has added new items made with Impossible Burger.

Cracker Barrel has a new plant-based sausage.

Smashburger is also entering the plant-based arena with a line of dairy-free shakes.

Krispy Kreme, on the other hand, is plunging into dairy with a new line of soft-serve made with the same ingredients as its glazed doughnut.

Speaking of swerving out of your lane, Starbucks now has a breaded chicken sandwich in the United States for the first time.

And speaking of chicken, Buffalo Wild Wings serves tenders in hot dog buns now.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen doesn’t have a new chicken item, but it is bringing back its Cajun Rice, which it discontinued last year, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration.

Auntie Anne’s has new dragon fruit beverages, Corner Bakery has berry drinks, Juice it Up! has a watermelon smoothie, and so does Robeks, and Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes has a peach cobbler shake.

O’Charley’s has peach cobbler.

Condado Tacos has new Margaritas.

Blaze Pizza has a berry salad.

Its Seafood Summerfest time at Red Lobster, and coconut shrimp season at Long John Silver’s.

Genghis Grill has a new bowl based on the seafood boils of the Low Country.

Denny’s has the latest installment of its Social Stars Influenced Menu that features meals inspired by popular TikTok performers, and IHOP has a bunch of items tied into the release of the Universal Pictures film Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Twin Peaks has new ribs, On the Border has tlayudas, Native Grill & Wings has new Buffalo-themed items, Casey’s has brisket pizza and Happy Joe’s has pizza with three shapes of pepperoni.

Cinnaholic has new sweet rolls and Velvet Taco is continuing its offerings of Weekly Taco Features based on salads with a Chicken Caesar Taco.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@informa.com 

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.

Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications. 

He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, 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: bret.thorn@informa.com

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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