-
1 week ago | 
restaurant-hospitality.com | Patricia Cobe |Kevin Gray |Bret Thorn |Linnea Covington
Subscribe to Our NewslettersGet the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more. Sign Up Now
-
1 week ago | 
restaurantbusinessonline.com | Patricia Cobe |Bret Thorn
FacebookTwitterLinkedInCinco de Mayo is now in the rearview mirror, and restaurant chains are focusing on new tie-ins. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, noted the launch of Sonic’s Unicorn Dreams Slush, a bubbly, bright pink drink that comes with a choice of four color-changing straws. It’s perfectly positioned for Instagram, as many new menu items are lately.
-
1 week ago | 
restaurant-hospitality.com | Bret Thorn |Patricia Cobe
Menu Talk: Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn chat about the upcoming National Restaurant Show, unicorn drinks and barbecue flavors, then share an interview with Mark Boyton, VP of Global Food & Beverage for Puttshack. Cinco de Mayo is now in the rearview mirror, and restaurant chains are focusing on new tie-ins.
-
2 weeks ago | 
restaurant-hospitality.com | Bret Thorn |Patricia Cobe
Lots of LTOs and permanent menu items launched recently, as innovation accelerates. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, started with the big news: Crispy Chicken Strips are now on McDonald’s permanent menu — the mega-chain’s first new menu item since 2022. Pat Cobe, senior editor of Restaurant Business, thinks that’s a sign that McDonald’s Snack Wraps will soon return, since the chicken strips fit perfectly into that size wrap.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurant-hospitality.com | Bret Thorn |Patricia Cobe
Hosts Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, had a busy week going to chain restaurants’ promotional events in New York City. Pat had high tea featuring Portillo’s menu items, and Bret went to a preview of the first United States location of Chinese chain Pull-Tab Coffee, whose signature menu item is a sort of reversed iced cappuccino: Coffee foam on top of milk on the rocks.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurantbusinessonline.com | Patricia Cobe |Bret Thorn
FacebookTwitterLinkedInLots of LTOs and permanent menu items launched recently, as innovation accelerates. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, started with the big news: Crispy Chicken Strips are now on McDonald’s permanent menu—the mega-chain’s first new menu item since 2022.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurantbusinessonline.com | Patricia Cobe |Bret Thorn
FacebookTwitterLinkedInPat Cobe, senior menu editor at Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, together moderated a menu innovation panel at the Restaurant Leadership Conference last Monday in Phoenix. Participants included operators from Popeyes, Noodle’s & Company, Potbelly, Applebee’s and Velvet Taco, and we heard a lot about what’s in the works and what’s to come.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurantbusinessonline.com | Patricia Cobe |Bret Thorn
Hosts Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, had a busy week going to chain restaurants’ promotional events in New York City. Pat had high tea featuring Portillo’s menu items, and Bret went to a preview of the first United States location of Chinese chain Pull-Tab Coffee, whose signature menu item is a sort of reversed iced cappuccino: Coffee foam on top of milk on the rocks.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurantbusinessonline.com | Heather Lalley |Joe Guszkowski |Patricia Cobe |Lisa Jennings
Get ready to see a lot more cameras in restaurants. As chains look to fine-tune operations, they are installing cameras that can gather data and help ensure that employees are executing. Some restaurants owned by franchisee Sizzling Platter are using cameras to assess whether employees are assembling products correctly and identify potential training moments, for instance. “It’s starting to seep in a lot more,” said Jim Balis, Sizzling Platter’s board leader.
-
1 month ago | 
restaurant-hospitality.com | Bret Thorn |Patricia Cobe
Menu Talk: Pat and Bret chat about the latest food and drink trends and share an interview with Bill Nevruz, executive partner at Shaw’s Crab House in ChicagoPickles are moving from sidekick to main event on restaurant menus, as the Menu Talk co-hosts witnessed recently. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, attended Popeyes’ pickle reveal at the chain’s flagship Times Square location in New York City.
