Menu Tracker: New items from Burger King, Jack in the Box, and Dunkin’
Menu Tracker
Plus innovation at Din Tai Fung, Dutch Bros, Gong cha, HTeaO, Lazy Dog, Luckin’ Coffee, Sbarro, Sweetgreen, and more.
July 10, 2026
How is Dunkin’ doing financially? It’s hard to say, really, since it’s a privately held company, but it certainly seems to be trying to drum up business this summer with the launch of eighteen (18!) menu items, including three drinks developed in collaboration with noted famous person Kylie Jenner.
Other chains are collabing, too. For example, Gong cha is working with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products in honor of the 25th anniversary of the film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” That’s the original British name of the first title in the series; American publishers apparently thought “philosopher” was too highbrow for the kids here.
Meanwhile, Just Salad has a collab with Rethink Food, which repurposes food from restaurants and retail to feed people in need, Sweetgreen has developed a peach salad with chef and food activist Alice Waters, Juice it Up! is working with Everytable to offer grab-and-go meals in Southern California, and Pretzelmaker has teamed up with Sour Patch Kids for a couple of new drinks.
In other beverage news, Luckin’ Coffee has new “wellness” drinks and Dutch Bros has three extraterrestriallyPil themed items for some reason.
HTeaO has new Mini Sippers that have just a quart of liquid — the chain is based in Texas, after all.
And speaking of Texas, Jack in the Box is testing barbecue-oriented sandwiches there while it’s offering Philly cheesesteaks everywhere else.
Smalls Sliders is making milkshakes with concentrated soda syrups and Smashburger has chocolate-banana and dark cherry shakes.
Ruby Slipper and Vitality Bowls are extending the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary for the entire month of July with appropriately colored items.
Burger King has new chicken sandwiches, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop has new tacos, and Lazy Dog has new peach items that it developed without collaborating with anyone.
Sbarro has spicy new pizza, Din Tai Fung has new noodles topped with steak, and Velvet Taco’s Weekly Taco Feature has crab cakes.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
Follow him on TikTok and Instagram: @foodwriterdiary
About the Author
Bret Thorn
Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News
Senior Food & Beverage Editor
Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.
Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications.
He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.
From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.
He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN.
A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.
He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.
Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.
He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.
A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends.
Bret Thorn’s Experience:
Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989
Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986
Email: [email protected]
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary
TikTok: @foodwriterdiary
Content Spotlight
The Technomic Top 500: Another tough year for chain restaurants
Top 500 chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025 as consumers cut back on dining, but sectors like coffee, beverages and snacks and chicken thrived
Featured
Jul 8, 2026
Jul 2, 2026
Recent News
Content Spotlight
Get to know Rick Cardenas, the Darden CEO who started there as a busser
The executive shares his advice, along with his most-binged TV show, favorite sports team, and most-used app
Source: This story originated with Nation's Restaurant News.
View Original Article →