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Fall Menu Planning: What’s Trending This Year?
Published: August 5th, 2025
Unlock Fall Menu Success with the Right Mix of Familiar and New
When the temperatures drop at the end of summer and pumpkins start appearing more in decor, consumers may start looking for seasonal options on restaurant menus. Fall flavors and seasonal ingredients are a powerful tool for restaurants—they help keep customers intrigued, and they create a sense of urgency since fall dishes are only around for the season.
Offering seasonal choices helps restaurants stay relevant and competitive, and aligning offerings to what consumers want is key. Additionally, expanding the menu with seasonal options is a great way to try new recipes without committing them to the menu permanently. Fall menu success takes some strategizing, though—it’s important to choose a balanced mix of flavors and ingredients that will grab customers’ attention while still aligning with their preferences and taste. Here are a few ways to make the most of menu changes this autumn.
Deliver What Customers Are Expecting From Fall Menus
As seasons change, customers expect to see seasonal ingredients and trending flavors on the menu. In fact, 65% of consumers associate the fall season with special flavors, dishes, beverages and limited time offers from restaurants.1 To meet the demand for those flavors and dishes, ensure your fall menu includes some of the most prolific and desired ingredients and flavors.
Think foods like butternut squash, pears, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, pecans, cinnamon, ginger and more—these ingredients are well known and widely available during the fall months.
For a seasonal offering that includes some of these ingredients, try offering an Italian Sausage White Pizza with Goat Cheese and Pear. It incorporates delicious, craveable seasonal flavors in a familiar format—perfect for those customers who are looking for fall flavors in a dish they know they’ll like. Another option for a familiar format that showcases fall flair is Bacon and Hazelnut Soup. Soup is a dish that can encourage feelings of comfort and nostalgia, and adding fall ingredients can help boost its appeal even more.
Expand the Menu with Up-and-Coming Fall Food Trends
For customers who want to step out of their comfort zone a bit more, it’s important to have items on the menu that will surprise them. Pepper in flavors and ingredients that, while they may be familiar, aren’t yet as common at restaurants as some other fall flavors. For example, look for ingredients that are in the “inception” and “adoption” phases of the menu adoption cycle.
When foods and flavors are in the inception phase, they’re just starting to become available—and rather than being widely offered, they’re mainly found in fine dining settings, farmers markets and ethnic restaurants. When they’re in the adoption phase, they begin to grow via lower price points and simpler preparations, and are available more on adventurous and trendy menus, such as those at gastropubs or food trucks. These foods are all in the inception and adoption phases:2
· Persimmon · Dates
· Acorn and delicata squashes · Romanesco broccoli
· Parsnips · Chestnuts
· Pistachios
Need inspiration for incorporating these lesser-known ingredients? Offer a Pistachio Plum Chicken Sandwich, which highlights the brightness of plums and balances it with the richness in pistachio butter. Many varieties of plums reach their peak ripeness during late summer and early fall, and pistachio butter is gaining traction as a fall flavor trend—searches for pistachio butter are up 240%.4
Expand the Menu with Up-and-Coming Fall Food Trends
For customers who want to step out of their comfort zone a bit more, it’s important to have items on the menu that will surprise them. Pepper in flavors and ingredients that, while they may be familiar, aren’t yet as common at restaurants as some other fall flavors. For example, look for ingredients that are in the “inception” and “adoption” phases of the menu adoption cycle.
When foods and flavors are in the inception phase, they’re just starting to become available—and rather than being widely offered, they’re mainly found in fine dining settings, farmers markets and ethnic restaurants. When they’re in the adoption phase, they begin to grow via lower price points and simpler preparations, and are available more on adventurous and trendy menus, such as those at gastropubs or food trucks. These foods are all in the inception and adoption phases:2
· Persimmon
· Dates
· Acorn and delicata squashes broccoli · Romanesco
· Parsnips
· Chestnuts
· Pistachios
Need inspiration for incorporating these lesser-known ingredients? Offer a Pistachio Plum Chicken Sandwich, which highlights the brightness of plums and balances it with the richness in pistachio butter. Many varieties of plums reach their peak ripeness during late summer and early fall, and pistachio butter is gaining traction as a fall flavor trend—searches for pistachio butter are up 240%.4
Global Inspiration and Exciting Fall Menu Ideas
For something more unique and unexpected, consider offering dishes from around the globe, such as birria or pozole, both of which are in the adoption phase2 and are expected to gain popularity over the next few years. Birria in particular has experienced 437% growth over the past four years and has a projected growth of 114% through 2028.3 Try offering it in a Steak Birria Tortizza. With seasoned sliced beef warmed in a beef birria broth, loaded with melty Chihuahua cheese, pickled red onions, fresh cilantro, diced avocado and lime, all between two flour tortillas, it’s an indulgent and delicious way to highlight the flavors of birria.
You can also create buzz by catering to customers who are excited to celebrate Oktoberfest, which is emerging as the fourth-most celebrated fall holiday.2 With 46% of those who celebrate it saying that they usually do so at a restaurant or bar,2 it’s the perfect opportunity for restaurants and bars to highlight Oktoberfest favorites. Consider offering dishes such as a Smoked Sausage Flatbread with Black Oak™ Smoked Sausage or a Crispy Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich. Schnitzel is a thin, breaded cutlet popular in Germany and Austria, making it a perfect choice for Oktoberfest events—be sure to offer Oktoberfest beer, mead, cider and other seasonal beverages to help boost check averages, too.
Menu Optimization: A Good Balance Helps to Ensure Success this Fall
While embracing fall trends is important, a balanced menu is the way to win—offer a mix of traditional and innovative dishes to help ensure everyone is satisfied. This way, there’s something for customers who crave familiar comfort foods as well as those with adventurous palates who may be seeking something new and exciting. By integrating trending flavors and seasonal ingredients thoughtfully and intentionally, you can provide your customers with a memorable, flavorful menu that’s chock-full of seasonal options.
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Sources:
1) Datassential, Consumer Survey, March 2024
2) Datassential, Fall Food Trends, March 2024
3) Datassential, Trend Bites, January 2025
4) Pinterest’s Fall 2024 Trend Report
