Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, recently attended a milestone event for the town of Seguin, Texas: the debut of the first Applebee’s-IHOP cobranded restaurant.
With around 110 items, the menu is about as large of those of Applebee’s and IHOP individually, featuring their greatest hits alongside collaborative mashups, like a Buffalo Chicken Omelet that Pat particularly enjoyed.
Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, remarked that, although Buffalo chicken is everywhere, and spicy breakfasts are now quite commonplace, this is the first Buffalo breakfast item he has seen.
He and Pat also discussed menu items that debuted at other chains, including caviar service that is now available at Sullivan Steakhouse and sister brand Eddie Merlot’s. At $110 it’s a premium offering to say the least, but the co-hosts observed that if there weren’t demand for it they wouldn’t have added it to their menus.
There were also some interesting new collaborations this week, most notably Taco Bell introducing Birthday Cake Churros developed in concert with the New York City-based pastry shop Milk Bar. A couple of doughnut chains also introduced collabs of different sorts. Duck Donuts rolled out Sonic the Hedgehog-themed treats in celebration of the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on streaming service Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Krispy Kreme rolled out more broadly movie-themed items, such as a Caramel Popcorn doughnut and a Blue Raspberry Slush doughnut in partnership with Hulu, apparently encouraging people to snack on the movie theater concession-inspired treats while watching their favorite shows at home.
Bret also interviewed Sarah Thompson, executive chef of Casa Playa, a coastal Mexican restaurant at the Wynn Las Vegas, who discussed her approach to procuring top-notch ingredients and elevated cuisine while also appealing to the many guests who just want tacos and queso fundido without a lot of fuss.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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