It has been a heady year of menu innovation as many operators, struggling with declining traffic, rolled out an ever-broadening array of new menu items to attract an audience of Americans, many of whom showed increasing budget consciousness and limited attention spans. Influencers and other celebrities were recruited to help promote some items, while other items were based on events of the day, from the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants to the 65th anniversary of Barbie.
Video game launches got new menu items, as did movie releases.
So did Tax Day and 4/20.
There was chicken disguised as pizza, zero-proof hop water cocktails, cheeseburgers with peanut butter, and a cinnamon roll with bacon.
Obviously the autumn was full of pumpkin spice, but vanilla with orange was the combination of the summer, and there were lighter items, of course, as well as super-indulgent ones.
Read on to look at some of the highlights of menu items introduced over the course of 2024.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
