Fast food chains are continually changing their menus, adding new items, putting slow sellers or seasonal specialties away, and typically trying to keep up with changing tastes and dining trends. (Here is a ranking of the most successful restaurant chains in America.)
But not all chain restaurants serve fast food. Some are similar to independently owned sit-down places. The restaurant industry calls these full-service restaurants, but they’re also sometimes described as dinner houses – that is, places where you order from a server while relaxing at a table or booth. And restaurants like these cycle new dishes onto their menus too.
Dinner houses are generally subdivided into two main categories: casual (or family) restaurants – think Applebee’s, Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s, etc., as well as diner chains like Denny’s – and fine-dining establishments. Among the latter are upscale seafood venues, as well as steakhouses like Ruth’s Chris or Fogo de Chão. (These are America’s most expensive steakhouses.)
To compile a list of some of the new menu items now being offered at full-service restaurants – some keyed specifically to the holiday season, others simply well-tested additions – 24/7 Tempo reviewed several recent editions of the Menu Tracker column appearing regularly in Nation’s Restaurant News, a leading national restaurant trade publication. In these columns, NRN’s senior food and beverage editor, Bret Thorn, offers listings of recent menu item debuts, covering a wide range of restaurant chains both large and small around the U.S.
This list includes everything from a new fall-themed dessert at Ted’s Montana Grill to a break-the-bank 30-ounce wagyu porterhouse steak at a popular Brazilian meat restaurant – with stuffed shrimp, fried chicken salad, and purple pancakes (and a winter-themed margarita) along the way.
Here is how dinner house chains are upping their game with new items for the holidays.
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse
- Menu item: Winter Paradise pomegranate margarita
- When available: Unspecified limited time
- Price (may vary): Varies by location
California Pizza Kitchen
- Menu item: Neopolitan Burrata Pizza
- When available: Through December
- Price (may vary): $16.99-$18.99
Denny’s
- Menu item: Mama’s Fried Chicken House Salad
- When available: Permanently
- Price (may vary): $12.29
Fogo de Chão
- Menu item: 30-ounce wagyu porterhouse
- When available: Through December
- Price (may vary): $160 as an addition to the Full Churrasco Experience
IHOP
- Menu item: Wonka’s Perfectly Purple Pancakes (purple buttermilk pancakes with cheesecake mousse, purple cream cheese icing, and gold glitter sugar
- When available: Through Jan. 7
- Price (may vary): $11.99
Miller’s Ale House
- Menu item: Steak and lobster ravioli
- When available: Through December
- Price (may vary): $21.99 and up
O’Charley’s
- Menu item: Cedar plank salmon
- When available: Unspecified limited time
- Price (may vary): $20.99 (with 2 sides)
Red Lobster
- Menu item: Lobster and Cheddar Bar Stuffed Shrimp
- When available: Unspecified limited time
- Price (may vary): $29.99 and up
Ted’s Montana Grill
- Menu item: Apple pecan crisp
- When available: Until spring
- Price (may vary): $12.-$16
TGI Friday’s
- Menu item: Korean Red Chile Combo (chicken and fried shrimp in Korean red chile sauce)
- When available: Through the holidays
- Price (may vary): $23.99