Chains keep adding drinks, and the pace will not slow down. Starbucks has a new air-whipped beverage line. Good Times is serving cold brew. Hat Creek Burger Company made Margaritas a permanent offering. Uno Pizzeria & Grill is doing dirty sodas. Savvy Sliders has both an energy drink and an energy shake. Ellianos Coffee has seasonal drinks. El Pollo Loco mixes horchata into its cold brew.
The pattern is simple: drinks are cheap to produce, cheap to buy, easy to share online, and a light way to test new flavors. Chains treat menus as a constant churn of temporary novelty.
Drinks Lead the Way
Starbucks’ Aerocano is the biggest new addition this week. Good Times cold brew is now available. Margaritas are permanent at Hat Creek Burger Company. Dirty sodas are on the menu at Uno Pizzeria & Grill. Savvy Sliders offers both an energy drink and an energy shake, which might be a brand-new category. Ellianos Coffee has seasonal beverages. El Pollo Loco mixes horchata into its cold brew.
Mellow Mushroom has a Halloween-themed drink. Burtons Grill & Bar has three of them. Cocktails are part of the broader Halloween lineup at Buffalo Wild Wings and Paris Baguette.
Food Items Round Out the Week
Not every chain is chasing the frothy wave. Some are skipping straight to the holiday season.
Firehouse Subs is returning its annual Thanksgiving Turkey Sub, skipping Halloween entirely. Melting Pot has a more broadly fall-themed seasonal menu. Jimmy John’s is testing giant buckets of sweet-and-spicy pickle bits at 26 select locations nationwide.
Sweetgreen has a limited-time lineup featuring cookbook author and media personality Molly Baz’s Ayoh! Dill Pickle Mayo.
Popeyes has a new honey chicken biscuit. Starbird has a honey-chili-crisp lineup. Shake Shack has brought back its truffle menu.
Tijuana Flats has brought back its cheeseburger tacos, now accompanied by a cheeseburger burrito and loaded fries. Velvet Taco’s Weekly Taco Feature is inspired by a jalapeño popper.
What This Pattern Shows
The drink-heavy week is driven by what works. Restaurants know that beverages move fast. They are inexpensive to produce. They cost little to try. They let chains introduce new flavors without committing to a full menu change.
That is the logic behind Aerocano, the energy shake, and the horchata cold brew. None of these require a permanent kitchen setup. None require training staff on new techniques. None require a full marketing campaign.
They are temporary experiments. They are also permanent offerings in some cases, like the Margaritas at Hat Creek Burger Company. The distinction between a test and a fixture is thin.
The Chain Restaurant Picture
The Technomic Top 500 found that chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025 as consumers cut back on dining. Sectors like coffee, beverages and snacks, and chicken thrived despite the broader slowdown.
A Quick Look at the Week’s Highlights
Here is a snapshot of the new items, grouped by category:
- Beverages: Aerocano (Starbucks), cold brew (Good Times), dirty sodas (Uno Pizzeria & Grill), energy drink and shake (Savvy Sliders), horchata cold brew (El Pollo Loco), seasonal beverages (Ellianos Coffee)
- Food: Cheeseburger tacos, burrito, and loaded fries (Tijuana Flats); cheeseburger taco feature (Velvet Taco); giant pickle buckets (Jimmy John’s); honey chicken biscuit (Popeyes); honey-chili-crisp lineup (Starbird); truffle menu (Shake Shack)
Why This Matters
The drink-focused menu tracker shows chains thinking small and fast. They are looking for low-commitment ways to stand out. They are testing flavors that can be shared online.
That is a logical response to the market conditions. Beverages are profitable for restaurants, affordable for customers, and popular on social media. The pattern is not an accident.
But it also means the menu churn will continue. Aerocano will be followed by something else. The energy shake will be followed by something else. The pickle buckets will be followed by something else.
The industry is not slowing down. It is accelerating. And the drinks are leading the way.
The question is whether any of these temporary tests become permanent fixtures. The Margaritas at Hat Creek Burger Company suggest that some do.
For now, the takeaway is simple. If you see a new drink on the menu, try it. It might be gone tomorrow.
Source material: “Menu Tracker: New items from Starbucks, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs,” Nation's Restaurant News.
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