Your first taste of what’s next
At Grocery Stores
At Drive-Thrus & Cafés
At Restaurants
What’s on the Menu
Here’s everything new and buzzy in the food world this year.
At Grocery Stores
It's easy to default to your standard grocery list, but trust me—it's worth deviating from your usual to taste these trends.
Letter from the editor
Confession: I pore over menus the way other people analyze Jane Austen. I wander supermarket aisles just to see what’s new, and I dream of visiting brands’ test kitchens the way other people yearn for a long weekend in Paris.
It’s fascinating to see and sample the new flavors, textures and over-the-top creations chefs across the country dream up. And, as I research and snack my way through it all, I always notice a few common threads emerge.
It’s easy to call out the trends that have hit their saturation point—is there a chain that hasn’t added Dubai chocolate or hot honey to their menu?—but what are the things that are just starting to percolate? What’s new—and what’s next?
Those are the questions our food team set out to answer as we reviewed a year’s worth of data from Pinterest, Google Trends, Yelp, TikTok and Resy. We cross-referenced that with chef interviews and supermarket and restaurant visits to come up with what we’re deeming the top emerging trends of 2026.
If our inaugural Food Trend Report is any indication, 2026 is looking pretty swangy. (Keep reading—it’ll all make sense soon enough.)
At Drive-Thrus & Cafés
You may not think of the drive thru as a source of inspiration, but fast food and coffee chains have been seriously innovating over the past year, continually launching off-the-wall products and collaborations to get your attention.
At restaurants
From fine dining to your neighborhood pub, nothing was off limits as we researched restaurant trends—it just had to be delicious and show signs that the flavor, cooking method, ingredient or approach to dining was starting to gain traction in at least a handful of spots nationwide.
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thank you
Silk
Maple Brown Sugar Oat Cold Foam Creamer
qty
item
price
1
creamer
$5
total
$5
shop now
thank you
wilde
Buffalo Protein Chips
qty
total
item
price
1
chips
$7
$7
shop now
thank you
Floura
Fruit-Forward Fiber Bars
qty
total
item
price
10
bars
$33
$33
shop now
thank you
Sauz
Miso Garlic Marinara
qty
total
item
price
1
sauce
$12.50
$12.50
shop now
Dulce Vida Tacos & Tequila
Made with tequila, blue curaçao, lime juice, triple sec, orange juice and cotton candy, this drink offers a sweet twist on a margarita—and its presentation is out of this stratosphere.
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Semma
It’s one of the most sought-after restaurants for Indian cuisine in NYC, and it has the credentials to boot, earning a Michelin star in 2022.
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Magdalena
Guests rave about the seafood at Magdalena, but you can’t leave without trying the Smoked Whitefish dip, topped with pickled shallots, whitefish roe and fried Saltines.
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Messina
The World-Famous Messina Flight lets you sample five different pastas from the restaurant’s menu, including the pesto, spicy vodka and bolognese.
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California Pizza Kitchen
CPK launched an entire mac and cheese menu—featuring five variations on the dish—this fall, earning rave reviews from our food editor.
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oklahoma city, ok
NEW YORK, NY
indianapolis, in
seattle, wa
costa mesa, ca
Ingredients
2 to 3 whole pickles, diced
1 plum tomato, diced
½ red onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeds and stem removed, diced
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
¼ cup brine
Juice of 1 lime
4 chicken tenders
4 (8-inch) tortillas
Sour cream (optional)
Crumbled feta cheese
Directions
Prepare the pickle salsa: Combine diced pickles, tomato, red onion, jalapeño, garlic, brine and lime.
Mix thoroughly and set aside. (If you can make this an hour or even the night before, even better! The salsa gets better the longer it marinates.)
Bake or air fry the chicken tenders according to the package instructions.
Wrap tortillas in a paper towel and place on a plate. Microwave for 30 seconds, so they’re flexible.
Spread a thin layer of sour cream on the tortilla.
Sprinkle with crumbled feta, add a chicken tender and top with salsa, then wrap it up and serve.
Swangy Pickle Salsa Chicken Wraps
Writer: Candace Davison
Editor: Jillian Quint Designer: McKenzie Cordell
shop the trends
Must-visit restaurants to taste the trends
photo: Taz Media/Messina
photo: California Pizza Kitchen
photo: Will Ellis/Semma
alewife
Served with grilled focaccia and generously topped with pickles, trout roe and dill, the smoked fish dip is a fan favorite.
Richmond, VA
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Bye Bye Birdie
The restaurant offers an ever-changing deviled egg flight, with creative toppings ranging from pickle chicken salad to pulled pork with coleslaw and crispy onions.
Beaufort, SC
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Gymkhana
Newly opened in the Aria in Las Vegas, the restaurant immediately surged in popularity on Yelp for its curries, biryanis and chaat-style shareables.
Las Vegas, NV
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Grand River Cellars
Mashed potato fans, a road trip is in order. This winery and restaurant launched a killer mashed potato flight, featuring bacon beer cheese, roasted red pepper and sage & white cheddar varieties.
Madison, OH
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Barton G.
Literally everything about this restaurant (which also has a location in LA) is over the top, from desserts that include a two-foot-tall cotton candy wig to a 40-ounce tomahawk steak. But the real showstopper is the Nitro Bar, which uses liquid nitrogen to chill its drinks—and deliver them “smoking” to your table.
Miami Beach, FL
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Three Dots and a Dash
The Treasure Chest, a $250 cocktail that includes long-aged rum, Perrier-Jouët Brut Champagne, passionfruit, guava, lemon and tangerine. It’s served smoking—and provides enough drinks for up to six people.
Chicago, IL
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Noodles & Company
The chain revamped its menu this past spring, launching an even cheesier mac—as well as three other riffs that aren’t to be missed.
Broomfield, CO
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photo: candace davison
Taste the Trend: Mac & Cheese Menus
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Taste the Trend: Mac & Cheese Menus
Taste the Trend: Smoked Fish
Taste the Trend: Smoked Fish
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Taste the Trend: Indian Cuisine
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
Taste the Trend: Indian Cuisine
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
California Pizza Kitchen
CPK launched an entire mac and cheese menu—featuring five variations on the dish—this fall, earning rave reviews from our food editor.
costa mesa, ca
+
Taste the Trend: Mac & Cheese Menus
photo: California Pizza Kitchen
Messina
The World-Famous Messina Flight lets you sample five different pastas from the restaurant’s menu, including the pesto, spicy vodka and bolognese.
seattle, wa
+
photo: Taz Media/Messina
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Noodles & Company
The chain revamped its menu this past spring, launching an even cheesier mac—as well as three other riffs that aren’t to be missed.
Broomfield, CO
+
photo: candace davison
Taste the Trend: Mac & Cheese Menus
Magdalena
Guests rave about the seafood at Magdalena, but you can’t leave without trying the Smoked Whitefish dip, topped with pickled shallots, whitefish roe and fried Saltines.
indianapolis, in
+
Taste the Trend: Smoked Fish
alewife
Served with grilled focaccia and generously topped with pickles, trout roe and dill, the smoked fish dip is a fan favorite.
Richmond, VA
+
Taste the Trend: Smoked Fish
Bye Bye Birdie
The restaurant offers an ever-changing deviled egg flight, with creative toppings ranging from pickle chicken salad to pulled pork with coleslaw and crispy onions.
Beaufort, SC
+
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Gymkhana
Newly opened in the Aria in Las Vegas, the restaurant immediately surged in popularity on Yelp for its curries, biryanis and chaat-style shareables.
Las Vegas, NV
+
Taste the Trend: Indian Cuisine
Grand River Cellars
Mashed potato fans, a road trip is in order. This winery and restaurant launched a killer mashed potato flight, featuring bacon beer cheese, roasted red pepper and sage & white cheddar varieties.
Madison, OH
+
Taste the Trend: Food Flights
Barton G.
Literally everything about this restaurant (which also has a location in LA) is over the top, from desserts that include a two-foot-tall cotton candy wig to a 40-ounce tomahawk steak. But the real showstopper is the Nitro Bar, which uses liquid nitrogen to chill its drinks—and deliver them “smoking” to your table.
Miami Beach, FL
+
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
Three Dots and a Dash
The Treasure Chest, a $250 cocktail that includes long-aged rum, Perrier-Jouët Brut Champagne, passionfruit, guava, lemon and tangerine. It’s served smoking—and provides enough drinks for up to six people.
Chicago, IL
+
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
Semma
It’s one of the most sought-after restaurants for Indian cuisine in NYC, and it has the credentials to boot, earning a Michelin star in 2022.
+
NEW YORK, NY
photo: Will Ellis/Semma
Taste the Trend: Indian Cuisine
Dulce Vida Tacos & Tequila
Made with tequila, blue curaçao, lime juice, triple sec, orange juice and cotton candy, this drink offers a sweet twist on a margarita—and its presentation is out of this stratosphere.
oklahoma city, ok
+
Taste the Trend: Experiential Cocktails
Must-visit restaurants to taste the trends
