It’s only the first week in August and there’s still a good stretch of summer ahead, but as soon as those back-to-school sales get under way, signs of fall start flavoring menus. Apples are one of the first fall tastes to roll out, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see pumpkin in a couple of weeks. But most chain restaurants are prolonging summer with food and drink launches that reflect the season.
Luckin Coffee launched a collection of cool fruity drinks at participating New York City locations, starting with a Piña Colada Mocktail, a blend of pineapple purée, coconut milk, and simple syrup topped with whipped cream. The Pineapple Coconut Refresher follows the same flavor profile, combining pineapple purée and coconut milk topped with strawberry cold foam. There’s also the returning Pink Sunrise Refresher made with mango purée, coconut milk, and strawberry cold foam, and the Mango Cloud Frappe with mango purée, coconut milk, simple syrup, and whipped cream. The promotion is a collaboration with Duolingo, the language-learning platform.
Sparkling beverages are in test at Starbucks’ locations in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, as well as St. Louis. The lineup includes a Super Mango Energy Refresher, a mix of lemonade with mango flavor and dragon fruit pieces shaken with ice and topped with sparkling water; green coffee extract provides the energy. There’s also a Sparkling Mango Strawberry Lemonade Energy Refresher with mango and strawberry flavors and strawberry pieces, and a Sparkling Strawberry Açaí Lemonade Energy Refresher with strawberry and açaí flavors and strawberry pieces. Three spritzes complete the test: Sparkling Cold Brew Sour Spritz, Strawberry Sunset Spritz with a base of green tea and strawberry purée, and Golden Peach Spritz made with Passion Tango tea and peach purée; all are combined with lemonade.
Lemonade is also the inspiration for Smoothie King’s Proteinmaxxing Lemonade, a permanent menu addition with 27 grams of protein. The beverage combines a lemon juice-white grape blend, almonds, and the chain’s proprietary protein blend.
Kolache Factory's Yuzu Cupcakes.
The Yuzu Cupcake was introduced as August’s Flavor of the Month at the Kolache Factory. The cupcake features a fluffy yellow cake filled with lemon and yuzu filling, topped with cream cheese frosting, and finished with an extra dollop of the citrusy filling. Originating in Japan, yuzu is characterized by its fragrance and tart taste, which is often described as a mix of lemon, mandarin, and grapefruit.
Jamba is exploring the sandwich category, testing seven selections at participating locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Colorado. The choices include Rotisserie Chicken Avo Ranch on ciabatta with white cheddar, provolone, spinach, and bacon joining the titular chicken, avocado and ranch; Rotisserie Chicken Pesto with roasted tomato and pesto mayo; J.B.S.T. with bacon, roasted tomato, spinach, and mayo on sliced sourdough; Market Pesto with roasted tomato, spinach, white cheddar, provolone, and pesto mayo; the Cheese Melt with white cheddar and provolone on sourdough; Blueberry Dipper Cheese Melt with the same ingredients plus a blueberry dip; and PB Nutella Crunch with peanut butter, Nutella, banana, and granola on sourdough.
Jamba introduces sandwiches in test.
Sandwiches are Arby’s mainstay, with the latest — the Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwich — rolling out Monday. It features crispy chicken tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce and topped with ranch and shredded lettuce on a toasted brioche bun. The new sandwich joins the Ham & Swiss and Crispy Chicken Sandwiches as a choice in Arby’s Meat & 3 Value Box. Also included in the box is a small order of curly fries, two mozzarella sticks, a peach cobbler roll, and small drink for $7.99.
Lobster is a summer food on many calendars, and Via 313 is celebrating the seafood with Garbo’s Queen Lobster Pizza. The returning specialty pie is topped with bacon, cheese, arugula, butter-poached Maine lobster, and Garbo’s special seasoning. The pizza is available for $40 while supplies last in Austin, Texas, only on August 5, August 19, and September 2 at designated locations.
Torchy's Muay Thai taco.
A taco with a Thai twist is on offer at Torchy’s Tacos. The Muay Thai is composed of fried shrimp coated in Panang curry sauce with cabbage slaw, fajita peppers, a chile-lime cucumber spear, peanuts, scallions, and Thai basil on a flour tortilla.
Korean chicken chain Bonchon developed Bonchon Gold Dust, a cheesy savory dry rub with a hint of spice. Customers can add it to fried chicken at no additional cost, and to fries, sweet potato waffle fries, fried zucchini, and onion rings for $1 extra. Also launching are Cheese Balls, crispy bites with warm, sweet, creamy cheese centers.
Meanwhile Dave & Buster’s is going down the pickle flavor route with its new rub. The Dill Pickle Rub is the name for fried wings coated in a dill pickle dry rub and finished with crinkle-cut pickles and chopped parsley. There’s also Cherry Bomb Sauce for wings tossed in a sweet and smoky cherry barbecue sauce and topped with maraschino cherries and scallions. Busters Signature Sauce features wings tossed in creamy mustard sauce with hints of smoke and heat.
Wendy's Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion.
The fall preview at Wendy’s revolves around apples and the chain’s signature Frosty. The Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion is made with a spiced apple syrup and oat crumble blended into a Vanilla Frosty. On the food side, the Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger returns to the menu after consumers voted for its comeback in Wendy’s “Bring it Back” campaign. The burger’s build includes a quarter-pound beef patty, beer cheese sauce, applewood-smoked bacon, smoky honey mustard, crispy onions, pickles, and Muenster cheese on a soft pretzel bun. There’s also a Pretzel Bacon Pub Chicken Sandwich, swapping in a chicken filet for the burger, and Bacon Pub Fries topped with beer cheese, shredded cheddar, and bacon crumbles.
Throughout August, Baskin-Robbins is running a “Sundae Scaries” promotion. For every sundae purchased on Sundays, the chain is donating $1 to benefit the Baskin-Robbins Joy in Childhood Foundation, which supports children facing hunger or illness. To participate, customers can purchase any sundae on the menu, including the Oreo Brookie Batter Sundae, available as part of Baskin-Robbins' summer Flavor Collection.
Jimmy John’s is getting into the back-to-school spirit by reimagining a lunchbox staple — the peanut butter and jelly sandwich — into a cookie. The new PB&J Cookie features a peanut butter base filled with grape jelly and topped with peanut pieces.
The Destination Dessert Collection at Krispy Kreme.
As part of its Destination Dessert Collection, Krispy Kreme is heading into Latin America. The Tres Leches-Inspired Doughnut is an unglazed shell doughnut with tres leches filling topped with buttercream, cake doughnut crumbs, and cinnamon. The Choco Dulce Cookie Crunch Doughnut, inspired by Argentine chocotorta, is an unglazed shell with chocolate filling, dipped in chocolate icing, coated with chocolate cookie crumbles, and topped with dulce de leche buttercream. Rounding out the trio is the Guava Cheesecake Doughnut with guava and cheesecake fillings, dipped in guava icing, and topped with an icing drizzle and crunchy icing pieces.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.