Pat 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.

At RLC, we also heard from Kevin Hochman, CEO of Chili’s and our Restaurant Leader of the Year. He chatted about a lot of things on stage, including the Big QP Burger, Chili’s quarter-pound burger that launched that day. It’s a clear swipe at McDonald’s, and as a special introductory deal, it comes with fries and a soft drink for $10.99.

Then we shared an interview with Bob Johnston, CEO of The Melting Pot, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. When the restaurant chain started, there were only three fondues on the menu: beef, cheese and chocolate.

Johnston, who began as a dishwasher at The Melting Pot, talked about how the menu has since expanded, with on-trend items like seafood and veggie fondues, a brie and fig variation, and steak fondue with mango-habanero sauce. There is also a full bar with craft cocktails and a varied wine selection, a far cry from Michelob—the only beer option back in the ‘70s. Listen as we hear how The Melting Pot has evolved but is still offering an interactive dining experience, which is exactly what many guests want these days when they visit a restaurant.

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.

He also went to Bar Tender, a two-day pop-up in Brooklyn created by Wingstop, featuring the chain’s upgraded, crunchier chicken tenders in 12 different flavors (he didn’t try them all, but he did his best).

They also discussed the big chain news of Wendy’s new Frosty options. They can now be blended with syrups, and starting in May there will be mix-ins available — like Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Also big news: McDonald’s has upgraded its lemonade, doing away with Minute Maid (although its orange juice is still in stock), and replacing it with a beverage of lemon juice, lemon pulp and sugar.

Then Bret shared an interview with Juan and Gee Smalls, the owners of three-unit Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen & Bar in Atlanta, featuring the food of the Gullah and Geechee people of the coastal areas from North Carolina to Georgia. They’re first-time restaurateurs, motivated by what they saw as a need for venues owned and operated by Black gay people. The couple discuss their learning process and plans for the future.

Pickles 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. The restaurant was decked out in green from top to bottom, and Bret got to taste Popeyes new pickle menu, which included fried pickles, a tart pickle glazed chicken sandwich and pickle lemonade. Although not on the menu, servers also handed out Pickle Margaritas infused with pickle juice, and pickles with smoked salmon, caviar and crème fraiche, courtesy of NYC deli landmark, Zabar’s.

When Pat Cobe, senior editor of Restaurant Business, interviewed Popeyes chef Amy Alarcon following the event, she mentioned the hydrating properties of pickle juice, which is mixed into Popeyes’ signature cane sugar-sweetened lemonade. Coffee chain Dutch Bros also introduced a pickle juice energy drink this month, the Pickleback Rebel.

Moving on to non-pickle items, Pat talked about the inspiration behind Jack in the Box’s culturally connected milkshakes. The latest is the Pink Pineapple Express that ties into 4/20, the unofficial “holiday” celebrating cannabis. Bret mentioned that Ike’s Love and Sandwiches and Jimmy John’s are both offering special munchies for 4/20 as well.

Other food news of the week focused on the never-ending parade of ranch dressing variations and Subway’s latest footlong snack—Doritos Footlong Nachos.

Bill Nevruz of Shaw's Crab House | Photo courtesy of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

Then the two shared an interview with Bill Nevruz, an executive partner in Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and the divisional president of Shaw’s Crab House in Chicago. Shaw’s is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month, and Nevruz described the festivities around that milestone, including a throwback menu that features items like sauteed frogs’ legs, clams casino and crab-stuffed shrimp. Of course, signatures including oysters, sushi and king crab legs will also be on hand, along with two anniversary cocktails—an Old Fashioned and a Martini—both garnished with oysters and caviar.

Listen as Nevruz relates Shaw’s story and how the restaurant has earned its reputation as a premier seafood destination far from both coasts.

Beverage concepts are proliferating across the country, and for good reason. As Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, reported recently and discussed on this week’s podcast, Gen Z has become a generation of afternoon treat-buyers and they enjoy rewarding themselves with something colorful and refreshing that they can exhibit proudly on social media. Hence the proliferation of beverage concepts such as HTeaO, Sip Fresh, and Krak Boba, among many others.

In fact, she and Nation’s Restaurant News senior food & beverage editor Bret Thorn noted that big chains have gotten in on the act, launching their own beverage-focused concepts such as Taco Bell’s Live Más Café and McDonald’s CosMc’s.

In food news, the co-hosts groused a bit about the relentless spread of hot honey (Subway jumped on the bandwagon last week) and suggested alternatives, such as sweet Thai chile sauce, or maybe brown sugar with habanero. Maybe hot honey is becoming table stakes at restaurants, but it’s not going to get anyone’s attention anymore.

Other chains are flexing their creative muscles, however, such as Pokeworks, which just came out with a line of “Hot Plates” that resemble a Hawaiian midday staple called the plate lunch, made with some kind of center-of-the-plate protein accompanied by two scoops of rice and macaroni salad. Pat and Bret observed that Hawaiian food is becoming more prevalent on the mainland and is worth looking into.

Fogo de Chão is making sure that its customers can spend as much money as they like when they visit with the introduction of an Indulgent Churrasco menu, about $20 more than the concept’s all-you-can-eat Churrasco Experience and featuring luxury items such as lobster and bone marrow.

Then Bret shared an interview with Jesús Méndez, a restaurateur and bar owner in Birmingham, Alabama, who recently opened Salud Taqueria, bringing Mexican street food to the center of the city.

Spring brings a lot of menu activity, and the most recent launches show a focus on upgraded ingredients and formats. Menu Talk hosts Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, and Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, noted Maggiano’s updates, which include Wagyu meatballs and Chicken Parmesan topped with freshly grated cheese.

Bret also cited Tender Greens’ menu upgrades, which include the artisan Laura Chenel goat cheese as an ingredient, along with heirloom cherry tomatoes and Great Northern beans. The pair also observed more fresh vegetables on menus, with carrots—an everyday veggie—getting treated to some fancy preparations at restaurants.

Another trend that’s gaining steam is happening at Italian concepts. Your Pie is doing pizza shop sandwiches, filling their proprietary pizza dough with various ingredients and baking them into portable, handheld items. All have sauces based on ranch, America’s favorite sauce flavor, it seems.

The duo also shared an interview with Scott Davis, chief concept officer for Noodles & Company, the fast casual that just experienced a major menu upgrade two years in the making. Davis talks about how he and his culinary team responded to customers’ cravings for more generous portions of sauce, more mac ‘n cheese variations, more protein and more bold, global flavors. All of those show up in the new menu additions. Give a listen.

Menu Talk hosts Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, agree that restaurants are pushing out spring flavors earlier than ever.

It’s also the season for menu makeovers at several restaurant chains. After identifying “team mom” as a core customer, Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux introduced a number of new, female-friendly dishes, less sugary cocktails and higher-end wines. And Noodles & Company launched nine new menu items—an overhaul two years in the making—which you’ll hear more about next week.

But this week, we are spotlighting Matt King, president and COO of Legal Sea Foods, as our guest. He chats about the recent menu makeover at the Boston-based casual-dining chain. While the restaurants’ signatures will never be taken off the menu—we’re talking about the best-selling lobster roll and fish and chips—King shares Legal Sea Foods’ journey toward customization.

Guests can now create their own flavor profiles, choosing the protein they prefer, along with a sauce or rub, cooking technique and sides. For the indecisive, there are also plenty of chef-curated dishes featuring seasonal, sustainable seafood. Listen as King, the brand’s former head chef, describes Legal Sea Food’s new culinary direction and what’s next.

Lent is upon us, and that means seafood specials at restaurants across the country, both for Catholics who refrain from eating meat on Fridays during the six-week period, and for those for whom it has become a seasonal lifestyle for other reasons.

Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, noticed some relatively unusual fish, such as Alaska cod and flounder, rather than the more typical pollock gracing menus, particularly at quick-service restaurants. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, pointed out that the rather debauched holiday of St. Patrick’s Day always falls during Lent, which is intended to be a time of abstinence. The contrast means that green menu items and corned beef share menu space with seafood at this time of year.

Bret noted that there are other, smaller, less formal holidays at this time of year, too. Mar. 10 is Mario Day, important to a certain subset of young video gamers. It’s followed by Pi Day on Mar. 14, celebrating the universal constant that starts with 3.14. Restaurants reinterpret it as Pie Day, and offer a variety of specials around pizza and dessert. Pat observed that BJ’s is offering specials in its skillet cookies, called Pizookies.

Mar. 16 is Steve Austin Day, which holds some importance for professional wrestling fans. This year it’s also part of St. Practice Day, which some people celebrate on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day (which is on a Monday this year), ostensibly to build up their alcohol tolerance for the annual celebration of Irish culture.

Then there’s April Fool’s Day on April 1, International Cannabis Day on April 20, Earth Day on April 22, and Star Wars day on May the 4th. Pat pointed out that March 9 was National Meatball Day, and Bret expressed his disdain for that and other food holidays, but he acknowledged that they can be a great and relatively easy way to bring in more customers.

In other F&B trends, Pat observed the rollout of several new sandwiches this week, including Potbelly’s Barnyard, and Bret noted new sauces from Buffalo Wild Wings and Hardee’s. Of particular interest, he said, was the fact that Hardee’s called out Duke’s mayonnaise specifically as an ingredient in its new Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce, and Bojangles also mentioned that it is serving its annual Lenten fish special, the Bojangler, made with Duke’s tartar sauce.

The guest on this week’s podcast is Einat Admony, the chef and owner of Balaboosta restaurant in New York City and the recently opened Moondog, a listening bar that serves Admony’s version of Mexican food, among other things. The Israeli chef and restaurateur shared insights into how Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisines are related, and also discussed the unique nature of Israeli cuisine.

Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, were both invited to a preview of Starbucks’ spring menu. At the tasting, which took place at the Starbucks Reserve location in NYC’s Empire State Building, they sampled a collection of colorful beverages, including a purple Iced Ube Coconut Latte, pink Iced Cherry Chai and several lavender drinks returning from last spring.

Pat especially liked the cherry chai with its topping of cherry cream foam and crunchy red and pink sugar flakes, while Bret was impressed with the combination of ube, coffee and coconut and voted that as his favorite.

The editors were also impressed with the new food additions—a warm, savory Jalapeño Chicken Pocket and a sweet pistachio-filled pastry. Both made nice accompaniments to Starbucks’ newest blonde roast coffee, Sunsera Blend. It tasted pretty complex for a light roast.

The two then shared an interview with Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz, husband-and-wife chef-owners of Dalida in San Francisco. Dalida serves “borderless” Mediterranean food, mixing and matching flavors and dishes from the Turkey, Lebanon, Armenia, Cypress and other countries in the region. Sayat is from that area but Laura is Mexican, and some of her culinary influences come into play on the menu, too.

Listen as they describe how the restaurant’s location in Presidio Park and California-sourced ingredients also impact their menu, and how they foster sustainability and community at Dalida.