Food

Comfort foods warm the menu at Ninety Nine Restaurants, Habit Burger and Fazoli's

Taste Tracker: Bowls trend at Honeygrow and Zaxby’s; BJ's, Paris Baguette and Cinnaholic hit the sweet spot; Starbird goes Vietnamese while Shake Shack opts for Korean; and more menu news of the week.
menu items
Photos courtesy of the brands.

Snow and cold are blanketing many parts of the U.S., but operators are providing plenty of comfort foods to chase the chill.

Customers can cozy up to Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie, Braised Short Ribs and Garlic Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin at Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub, thenenjoy apple crumb pie or caramel almond butter cake for dessert. Fazoli’s has three baked stuffed pasta entrees to keep things toasty: Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells with parmesan, ricotta, mozzarella and romano cheeses, Garlic Shrimp Stuffed Shells, and a Baked Fettucine and Stuffed Shells Duo. All are available through April. 1.

The Habit Burger Grill returns its Patty Melt to the menu for the winter season. The fan favorite layers caramelized onions, melted cheeses, Thousand Island dressing and two chargrilled beef patties on toasted rye bread. And Cracker Barrel gives a comfort food classic a new twist with its new Golden Carolina BBQ Tenders prepared with tangy and mildly sweet Carolina barbecue sauce.

Korean ingredients flavor the menu at Shake Shack with the launch of a Korean BBQ Burger and Spicy Korean BBQ Fries, along with a gochujang-glazed chicken sandwich topped with white kimchi slaw. Starbird also goes in an Asian direction with its new Banh Mi Sandwich. The Vietnamese-inspired item combines crispy chicken, Sriracha aioli, slaw, cucumber, jalapeno, pickled carrots and daikon, hoisin aioli and an Asian herb mix. The same flavor profile shows up in the Banh Mi Salad, Loaded Banh Mi Fries and Vietnamese Sticky Wings.

Honeygrow fuses Italian and Asian influences into its new bowl. The Chicken Parm Stir-Fry features egg white noodles, roasted chicken, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, red onions, breadcrumbs, parsley, shaved Parmesan and tomato basil sauce.

Bowls are a new category at Dog Haus, where the Bad Mutha Clucka Bowl and Hot Chick Bowl just hit the menu. The former tosses crispy chicken with pickles and miso ranch, while the latter starts with Nashville-style chicken and adds slaw, pickles and secret sauce; both are served on mixed greens. And Zaxby’s brings back its Asian Zensation Zalad, a bowl that combines chicken, mixed greens, red cabbage, carrots, Asian slaw and crispy wonton strips drizzled with honey-sesame Teriyaki glaze. Hand-rolled egg rolls also return for a limited time.

Crispy Salt & Vinegar Shrimp joins the options at Red Lobster’s endless shrimp menu and Shrimp Your Way promotions. Also on hand are four alcohol-free cocktails: Coastal Colada, Port of Passion, Strawberry Breeze and Green Apple Wave. Lobster Rolls are the attraction at Legal Sea Foods, where guests can score a BOGO deal on this New England specialty. The deal follows on the heels of Chowda Day on Jan. 15, when cups of clam chowder sold for $1.

Cravers of cinnamon rolls can get their fix at two spots this week. BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse introduced a Cinnamon Roll Pizookie, transforming its iconic dessert with a base of four cinnamon rolls coated with cream cheese icing and topped with vanilla bean ice cream and hot caramel sauce. And bakery chain Cinnaholic debuted Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Rolls and Maple Mocha Rolls, both riffs on its original vegan cinnamon rolls.    

Wrapping up the dessert course is Paris Baguette with two new donuts: the Mocha Mochi Donut with Biscoff Cookie Crumble and the Cookie Butter Latte King Cream Donut. Krispy Kreme also embraces the Biscoff tie-in with two new items: the Biscoff Cookie Butter Cheesecake Doughnut and Biscoff Chocolate Iced Cookie Butter Crunch Doughnut.

You can check out all the new menu items by clicking on the video here:

 

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