Photo by Panera Online restaurant delivery is rapidly growing. That much is for sure. Every week, it seems, a major player like McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, or Taco Bell announces that it’s either going to start offering delivery service or expand the service it already has. Now, restaurants are experimenting with menu items that are available only through delivery. In June, Panera Bread offered a new menu item, Bacon Mac & Cheese, for a limited time and exclusively through its delivery service. The St. Louis-based bakery-cafe chain’s original Mac & Cheese is one of its most popular ..read more

Photo by Kevin Clark / The Herald I recently visited my local McDonald’s, but as I parked my car, a McDonald’s worker rushed over. “Sir, sir, I’m sorry,” he said, “but you can’t park here.” “Why can’t I park here?” I asked. “Because this is for Uber delivery pickup only.” That’s when I saw it: a row of spaces specifically for Uber Eats drivers. In the last five years, according to the NPD Group, revenue from restaurant deliveries has increased 20%, and the overall number of deliveries has risen 10%. Due to the rise, restaurants have had to change operations, including redesigning interiors a ..read more

I never met a special restaurant food offer I didn’t like. Whether it’s two Whopper sandwiches for $6 at Burger King, 2-for-1 night at Sizzler, or a free medium drink with purchase of an Epic Burrito at Del Taco, if a restaurant offers me a chance to get more for less — even if it’s a place I’ve never been to before — save me a seat because I’ll be there. According to a new report from Valassis Research entitled “Tempting the Dynamic Restaurant Customer,” I’m not alone. Deals are driving a growing trend both in fast food and the restaurant industry in general. The report finds that 30% of con ..read more

Last weekend, I got a bit hungry in the middle of the day while running errands and decided to go to my local Carl’s Jr. drive-thru for a quick snack. While scanning the menu, I noticed a special offer: Double Charbroiled Sliders for $1 from 2-5 p.m., down from the regular price of $1.50. Happy hour pricing is a trend that’s popping up more often at major fast-food chains. Taco Bell, for example, offers medium soft drinks and other specialty beverages for $1 from 2-5 p.m., while Sonic offers 50% off its drinks and slushes from 2-4 p.m. Fast food chains have started doing this for the same rea ..read more

In Back To The Future Part II, Marty McFly travels to the year 2015 and enters a restaurant called Cafe 80s. He’s greeted by two television versions of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev upselling menu items. Another TV shows Michael Jackson going through the menu with a customer. A bottle of “Pepsi Perfect” rises up from a clear plastic tube within the counter. While the restaurants of 2018 haven’t quite manifested this 1989 prediction, we may not be that far off. Starbucks recently announced that it was experimenting with a cashless location inside the Russell Investments Center in downtow ..read more

I know this is going to sound egotistical, but I just can’t help myself: I love being right! At the end of every year in just about every major consumer goods industry, experts offer predictions of the trends you can expect to see in the following year. So in my last blog of 2017, I wrote about five trends, one of which was value menus: Fast food is once again putting the spotlight on value menus, as evidenced by recent announcements that Taco Bell will add 20 items to its dollar menu, McDonald’s new value menu will be comprised of items ranging from $1-$3, and Del Taco is revamping and expa ..read more

Photo: Burger King It’s the end of 2017, when all the “experts” in the fast food industry get to talk about the trends they expect for the following year. Basically, it’s the time of year we all get to pretend that we’re smarter than we really are. Having said that, I do have some thoughts on what the future will hold. So here’s my list of the top fast food trends for 2018: The Rise (Again) of Value Menus Fast food is once again putting the spotlight on value menus, as evidenced by recent announcements that Taco Bell will add 20 items to its dollar menu, McDonald’s new value menu will be com ..read more

Source: NetQuote I don’t know about you, but to me, the words fast food and diet don’t exactly go together. I think of fast food as burgers, French fries, and fried chicken. Meanwhile, the word diet invokes thoughts of organic vegetables, rice cakes, and quinoa. But a recent study by NetQuote changed my thinking, and it may change yours too. According to the study, people can enjoy popular fast food items from major fast-food chains while staying on a variety of diets. You might think that having a Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco Supreme from Taco Bell automatically means you’re cheating on ..read more

I recently traveled to Israel for the first time. During my trip, I acquainted myself well with the local cuisine: Lamb, shawarma, falafel, fish. I even tried hummus, though I never liked it back in the States (I didn’t like it in Israel, either). Eventually, as is my wont, I was craving fast food, specifically pizza. At the airport in Tel Aviv waiting to board my flight, I saw a welcome sight: Pizza Hut. I ran — literally ran — over there, with thoughts of a gooey cheese pan pizza with olives and mushrooms dancing around in my head. But when I looked at the menu, I was surprised that in addi ..read more

Photo by Panera Bread / Facebook When I was growing up, my process for finding fast food to meet my dietary needs went like this: I’d pore over the major chains’ nutritional information, which wasn’t easy to find back then, to identify menu items that were lower in fat and calories. I loved (and still love) fast food, so I had many a meal that featured Taco Bell’s Border Lights Burrito Supreme (eight grams of fat) or a grilled chicken sandwich from McDonald’s (250 calories). That was how I lost 60 lbs. as a teenager. But today’s dieters have different and more varied needs. Some are gluten c ..read more