While St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated for eons, Pi Day is a more recent calendar addition. Marketers jumped on turning 3/14 into a day to eat pie, based on 3.14 as the value for Pi in the math world, and pizza and bakery concepts didn’t hesitate to join in. Here’s what some of them are offering this year, while other restaurants are embracing St. Patty’s Day-themed drinks and eats. Plus, banana is showing up everywhere.
North Italia brings back its Local Legends promotion beginning Saturday, March 14, and running through April 10. This month-long event includes 17 new limited-time, regionally inspired pizzas and one national pie, created by the executive chefs at the restaurants’ locations. The pizza variations include Nashville Hot Chicken, the Elote, the Cubano and the Alabama White BBQ. Each pizza is priced at $23, and North Italia has pledged to donate $1 for every Pi Day pizza sold to local organizations throughout the country with the mission to provide hunger relief.
Pi Day promo at Blaze Pizza.
Fast-casual Blaze Pizza has a BOGO deal for guests on March 14. Those who purchase one 11-inch personal pizza with any toppings can get a second one for $3.14 of equal or lesser value. This is the 13th year Blaze is celebrating Pi Day with a special deal.
Pi Day at Polly’s Pies veers towards the sweet side. The chain’s 12 locations are offering whole apple pies with the pie symbol baked into the top crust. Along with the Pi Symbol Apple Pies for sale, dine-in customers can get a free slice of apple pie with the purchase of any entrée, and Polly’s Perks members can score a free slice without purchase on March 14.
Pi Day is also being commemorated at Schlotzsky’s Deli, but it extends to a pizza deal every weekend—not just March 14. Every Friday-Sunday after 5 p.m., participating locations are offering any core pizza (Double Cheese, Pepperoni & Double Cheese) for $5 and any premium pizza (Meaty, Supreme, Veggie, BBQ Chicken and Jalapeño) for $7.
&pizza is celebrating pizza and protein with a new customizable $12 Protein Pie. Guests can build their own GLP-1-friendly pie with lean proteins and fiber-rich vegetables. The fast-casual pizza concept also introduced a $14 Protein Salad that combines chickpeas, a double portion of grilled chicken, goat cheese, roasted corn, pickled red onions and drizzles of basil pesto and fig balsamic.
A quartet of Strawberry Hibiscus beverages at Chick-fil-A.
The Jalapeño Ranch Club Chicken Sandwich made its debut at Chick-fil-A Monday along with four new Strawberry Hibiscus Beverages. The sandwich features a choice of an original, spicy or grilled chicken fillet on a toasted buttermilk ranch bun with pepper jack cheese, caramelized onion-flavored candied bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickled jalapeños; creamy jalapeño ranch sauce is served on the side. Strawberry Hibiscus is the chain’s spring beverage flavor profile, available in Sprite, Lemonade, Frosted Lemonade and Sunjoy, the last an iced tea-lemonade blend.
Two St. Patrick’s Day LTOs launch at Dutch Bros. The lucky duo includes the Stout Kicker, a beverage infused with Irish cream flavor and Soft Top and drizzled with brown butter chocolate chip, and the Emerald Rebel, a drink blended with blue raspberry, kiwi and sweet cream combined with Dutch Bros Rebel energy.
Benihana doesn’t sound like an Irish concept but the chain is leaning into St. Patrick’s Day with limited-time elevated St. Patty's Day-themed cocktails at the happy hour price of $7. Three drinks are on offer: the Lucky Margarita with a green sugar rim and splash of Midori; the Benihana Mojito with rum, sake, sour mix, soda water, fresh mint and lime wedges; and the Cucumber Collins with gin, vodka, elderflower, lemon, soda water and cucumber. The specials run from March 14-22 and guests who dine at Benihana during that time receive a free scratch-off for a deal on a food item on a future visit.
Voodoo's shamrock-shaped doughnuts
For those seeking sweets rather than drinks for St. Patty’s Day, Voodoo Doughnuts offers up the Shamrock Shake Cheesecake Doughnut from Thursday through next Tuesday. It features a shamrock-shaped doughnut stuffed with seasonal mint cookies and cream cheesecake filling and dipped in lucky green “voonilla” frosting.
Nick the Greek's Spanakopita.
Traditional Spanakopita has arrived at Nick the Greek. The savory pastry is made with flaky phyllo baked around a filling of spinach, feta and fresh herbs. The handheld can be ordered as an appetizer, snack or side to complement the fast casual’s street food-inspired menu.
Boba is popping up in two new acai bowls at Tropical Smoothie Café. The Mango Tropiboba Bowl has an acai base topped with granola, fresh pineapple, banana, mango-flavored popping boba, freeze-dried dragon fruit, CocoWhip and honey drizzle, while the Berry Tropiboba Bowl is topped with granola, fresh strawberries, strawberry-flavored popping boba, dark choco chunks, CocoWhip and honey drizzle. Both are on the menu through May 5.
Birthday cake is the inspiration for a couple of launches at several chains. Portillo’s is celebrating the birthday of its first Dog House hot dog stand this year and is commemorating the occasion with a new Birthday Cake and Cake Shake. Available through April 6, the dessert taps into classic birthday cake flavors with rainbow sprinkles, vanilla frosting and an extra burst of colorful sprinkles. Guests can enjoy Portillo’s Birthday Cake by the slice, as a whole cake or blended into a signature Cake Shake.
Portillo's new birthday cake flavor.
Limited-time Cake Treats rolled out at Andy’s Frozen Custard in celebration of the chain’s 40th anniversary. Leading the lineup is the NEW ANDYversary Chocolate Cake Concrete, a blend of vanilla frozen custard with a slice of fudgy chocolate cake. It’s also available as a sundae, featuring chocolate cake topped with vanilla frozen custard, hot fudge and a cherry. Joining it are the Gooey Butter Cake Concrete and Sundae, made with vanilla frozen custard blended with chunks of St. Louis-style gooey butter cake and finished with salted caramel sauce. Last up is the sippable Salted Caramel Latte.
The Brothers Combo is the latest offering from Wahlburgers, the brand founded by brothers Mark, Donnie and Chef Paul Wahlburg. Guests can choose Chef Paul’s Our Burger, a signature with a Certified Angus Beef patty, “government cheese” (American cheese given this nostalgic nickname as a nod to the brothers’ humble upbringing), lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and Chef Paul’s signature Wahl Sauce; Donnie's BBQ Bacon Burger, featuring bacon, fresh jalapeños, house-made BBQ sauce, white cheddar cheese and avocado with the same beef patty; and Mark's O.F.D. (Originally From “Dorchestah”), a throwback to nights around the childhood dinner table, made with Swiss cheese, bacon, sautéed mushrooms and tomato jam and two Certified Angus Beef patties. All the burgers, served with fries and a soda or a house-made shake, start at $12 and are available through May 11.
Chef Paul's Our Burger at Wahlburgers.
A burger is also making news at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. The French Onion Smashburger is the latest in the chain’s rotating monthly drops—limited-time originals and returning fan favorites engineered to turn over every 30-31 days. The burger this month features a smashed four-ounce beef patty, caramelized onions, Swiss and provolone, crispy onion straws, green onion, French onion sauce and au jus for dunking.
March is National Nutrition Month, and that’s the hook for Just Salad’s new salad. The fast casual launched a Miso Mission Salad, available all month long. The salad has a base of spinach and romaine lettuce topped with basmati rice, pickled red cabbage, edamame, carrots, avocado, crunchy onions, braised chicken and furikake, dressed with a miso ginger vinaigrette. It was created in partnership with nutrition experts at God’s Love We Deliver, a nonprofit dedicated to providing meals to people with life-altering illnesses. Just Salad is donating 10% of proceeds from every salad sold to God’s Love We Deliver.
Jill Pickle is the newest chicken salad variation at Chicken Salad Chick, available through May 30. The salad incorporates chopped dill pickles and can be ordered as a scoop, sandwich or to-go option. To pair with the new flavor, the chain is also introducing Miss Vickie’s Spicy Dill Pickle Chips. To drink, there’s a new iced Peach Tea, a blend of sweet tea and ripe peaches. In tandem with March Madness, Chicken Salad Chick is also promoting Hoops & Soups on March 16. Guests who show their college basketball bracket picks can score a free cup of soup with the purchase of an entrée.
Banana beverages at Elliano's.
Banana is flavoring drinks and treats this week on several menus. Elliano’s Coffee taps banana pudding for inspiration with its new Banana Pudding Freezer, a creamy, blended banana chilled beverage inspired by the classic Southern dessert. There’s also Banana Bread Matcha, a matcha drink infused with warm banana bread notes. Both are part of the brand’s Banana Daydream promotion.
Dunkin’ is introducing banana syrup and banana cold foam, the springboard for three new items. The Banana Pudding Cloud Latte is espresso mixed with whole milk and banana flavor, finished with banana cold foam, while the Monkey Business Cloud Latte is whole milk swirled with espresso and butter pecan flavors, topped with the same banana cold foam. Completing the collection is the Nutty Banana Cloud Dunkalette made with espresso, coffee milk and hazelnut flavor, topped with banana cold foam.
Banana Dulce de Leche is the March Flavor of the Month at Baskin-Robbins, inspired by the British Banofee Pie. The ice cream is a combo of banana custard and brown butter ice cream with toffee pieces and ribbons of dulce de leche. The chain is also bringing back $6 Banana Split Wednesdays all through March.
Banana also gets some play at Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, where Banana Peanut Butter Ripple is March’s Flavor of the Month. The creamy banana ice cream is laced with salty peanut butter ripples. The chain also launched the brand-new Maple Pancake flavor, a buttery maple ice cream with syrup-infused yellow cake pieces.
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