Pip: Summer is technically still happening, but the menus didn’t get the memo — fall flavors are already elbowing their way in, nostalgia is doing heavy lifting at the drive-thru, and cereal has apparently graduated to fine dining.
Mara: Cristine Struble has been tracking all of it — from limited-time menu comebacks to seasonal sips to a cereal-and-character mashup that’s genuinely hard to categorize. Let’s start with what happens when a fan-favorite burrito gets a second chance.
Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burrito Is Back
Pip: Taco Bell has been running a Decades Menu — each chapter pulls a specific year’s hits out of the vault — and chapter three just landed on 2016.
Mara: Luis Restrepo, Taco Bell’s Chief Marketing Officer, framed it this way: “Whether you remember 2016 or another era of Taco Bell, the Decades Menu is about reconnecting with the flavor and feelings that fans loved the first time around, while giving a new generation the chance to discover it for themselves.”
Pip: So it’s equal parts memory and recruitment — bring back the loyalists, convert the newcomers.
Mara: The 2016 lineup includes the Beefy Crunch Burrito, Meximelt, Naked Chicken Chalupa, and Caramel Apple Empanada, available from August 20, or August 18 for Rewards Members. The Beefy Crunch Burrito returns at $2.79, and the Meximelt — seasoned beef, pico de gallo, three-cheese blend — is back as a core 2016 staple. Chick-fil-A is also making a play for all-day loyalty with its Chicken and Waffles sandwich hitting restaurants August 24, maple waffles, bacon, and all.
Pip: Two very different bets on what people actually want to eat right now — and both are leaning hard into the idea that comfort wins.
Seasonal Sips Worth Savoring
Mara: The fall beverage push is already underway, but Sonic is approaching it differently — chilled drinks with warm-weather names, under the banner “Hotumn.”
Pip: Sonic’s CMO Ryan Dickerson put it plainly: “In many parts of the country, it’s still way too hot for a steaming latte. We saw an opportunity to join the fall beverage conversation in a fun way and bring a little Sonic personality to a seasonal tradition people look forward to every year.”
Mara: So the upshot is: fall flavors, summer temperatures, no contradiction intended. The four Hotumn drinks — Cherry Pie made with Coke, Blueberry Pie made with Dr Pepper, Harvest Berry with Sprite, and Cranberry Orchard Sweet Tea — all land August 24.
Pip: Blueberry and Dr Pepper sounds like a dare, but apparently it channels a barbecue sauce energy.
Mara: Chick-fil-A is also in the seasonal beverage conversation with its S’mores Frosted Coffee — cold-brewed coffee, marshmallow syrup, Icedream, chocolate shortbread and graham cracker crumbles — positioned as a lower-cost, lower-calorie answer to the Frappuccino crowd. Both Sonic and Chick-fil-A are betting that the drink is the draw, not just the side order.
Pip: Speaking of things that blur category lines entirely — cereal just became a dessert menu.
When Cereal Becomes a Culinary Foundation
Pip: Chain, the American Pop Cuisine brand, has launched Chain Snacks out of a residency at Westfield Topanga Mall — and the premise is that General Mills cereals aren’t a garnish, they’re the foundation.
Mara: Nicholas Kraft, Chain’s Chief Creative Officer, was direct about the philosophy: “To us, cereal is a foundational ingredient — like flour or olive oil, but with way better mascots.”
Pip: What that means in practice is seven desserts and drinks where the cereal’s flavor runs all the way through — not just sprinkled on top for nostalgia points.
Mara: The launch menu includes a Lucky Charms Taco Frio, Honey Nut Cheerios Matcha Cloud, Reese’s Puffs Churros, Golden Grahams Toasted S’mores Bar, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Tiramisu, Ice Cream Cookie Crisp-wich, and Trix Berry Swirl Slush. Each one maps the cereal’s core flavor onto a distinct format.
Pip: The Honey Nut Cheerios Matcha Cloud is the quietly interesting one — honey cereal-flavored milk lifting the earthiness of matcha, finished with salted honey cold foam. That foam alone sounds like something other menus will quietly borrow.
Mara: Chain Snacks opens September 2. And nostalgia is pulling double duty elsewhere — Krispy Kreme’s Pokémon Doughnut Collection marks 30 years of the franchise with six character-inspired doughnuts, including a Charmander filled with chocolate and toasted marshmallow and a Pikachu with lemon kreme. Same instinct as Chain: beloved IP, unexpected format, flavors that actually hold up.
Pip: Whether it’s a cereal tiramisu or a Squirtle doughnut, the throughline is the same — familiar characters doing unfamiliar things, and people showing up for it.
Mara: Nostalgia is clearly the most reliable ingredient on any menu right now.
Pip: Comebacks, cozy drinks that refuse to be hot, and cereal elevated to fine dining — it’s a lot of comfort food doing a lot of emotional work.
Mara: Next time, we’ll see what else is coming off the vault shelf. There’s always something.
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