Menus dress up for the holiday season

Fogo de Chao gets indulgent for the holidays with Lobster Mac & Cheese topped with a Butter-Bathed Lobster Tail. | Photos courtesy of the brands.

Now that Thanksgiving 2025 is a warm memory, restaurant chains are accelerating launches of holiday menus and party packages. Festive foods and beverages are trending across all segments, with flavors like peppermint, eggnog, ginger and cranberry getting extra play. Here’s what operators have in store for both dine-in and carryout customers.

Decadence is the holiday theme at Fogo de Chao, where the Indulgent Churrasco Experience offers guests tableside service of a variety of meat cuts plus one indulgent enhancement. These include a Butter-Bathed Lobster Tail, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Roasted Bone Marrow and Black Truffle Butter, plus a dessert such as Chocolate Brigadeiro or Cheesecake Brûlée. Lobster Mac & Cheese joins the shareable sides lineup, and a Seafood Tower and Chilled Lobster and Shrimp the appetizer list. There are also limited-time tableside additions, including a Whole Branzino, Wagyu Porterhouse and Dry Aged Tomahawk. 

Prime Rib Feasts return to Logan’s Roadhouse for takeout customers, filled with a meaty selection of prime rib, ribs, meatloaf or pork chops with barbecue sauce. Guests in the restaurants can take part in Prime Rib Weekends through Feb. 22. Each 13-ounce cut of prime rib is seasoned with a signature rub, then slow-roasted and hand-carved to order. To start, there’s Grilled Bacon on a Stick and Beer-Battered Stuffed Jalapeños, both LTOs, and Blueberry & Apple Cobbler and chocolate Layer Cake for dessert. 

Holiday doughnuts at Krispy Kreme have a Peanuts theme. 

Peanuts characters come to life as doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, available in a custom dozen box. The Krispy Kreme x Peanuts Collection features three new doughnuts: the filled Snoopy Cookies & Kreme dipped in vanilla icing and decorated with Snoopy’s face; the Charlie Brown Ornament Doughnut with brownie batter filling dipped in yellow icing and topped with an ornament hook; and the Christmas Wreath Doughnut topped with a buttercreme-flavored green swirl, yellow nonpareil sprinkles and a Snoopy and Woodstock sugar piece. Rounding out the collection are the Santa Belly Doughnut and Holiday Sprinkle Doughnuts, back for another holiday appearance. 

The Frozen Cocoa Concrete Mixer is back at Culver’s. The limited-time treat is a blend of vanilla frozen custard and hot cocoa mix topped with whipped cream. This year, fans of the annual LTO can try a seasonally appropriate variation: the Frozen Cocoa Concrete Mixer with Andes Mint Candies. Both are available through the end of February.

Baskin-Robbin’s Avalanche Cake features peppermint ice cream. 

Baskin-Robbins is also going the minty route with its December Flavor of the Month: Peppermint. The ice cream is packed with peppermint candy pieces and can be enjoyed by the scoop as well as in the Peppermint Avalanche Cake (layers of chocolate cake, Oreo cookie pieces, peppermint ice cream, whipped frosting, peppermint bark pieces and fudge.) There’s also the Holiday Cappy Line-Up, a beverage blended with coffee, ice cream and ice. Two new flavors are on offer this year—the Peppermint Fudge Cappy and Chocolate Fudge Cappy.

Jingle Nog is Dutch Bros’ nod to the holiday theme. The Jingle Nog Latte is a blend of espresso with the brand’s signature nog, finished with a soft top and colorful “jingle sprinks.” There’s also a Jingle Nog Chai, made with chai and nog. Both can be ordered hot or iced.

The Holiday Board debuted at Graze Craze, decked out in seasonal ingredients. There’s a brie cheese wreath with dried figs, bourbon salami and cranberry cinnamon goat cheese, garnished with festive ingredients like candied walnuts, rosemary sprigs and peppermint bark. Fruit and vegetable additions include olives, cucumbers, orange slices, kiwi, grapes, cherry tomatoes and berries. Spreads such as cranberry-orange jam, hummus, raspberry jam, mustard and honey add more festive touches to the variety of meats and cheeses.

The centerpiece on Graze Craze’s Holiday Board is a brie wreath.

Torchy’s Tacos closes out the year with December food and drink specials. The Taco of the Month is The Swinger, filled with al pastor pork, grilled pineapple, diced onions, avocado sauce and cilantro, served in a warm tortilla with a wedge of lime. The Drink of the Month is The Merry Berry Margarita, a cranberry and tequila cocktail topped with fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs.

The Deck the Holly LTO returns to Chicken Salad Chick for the holidays. The item combines chicken salad with jalapeños and cranberries for a seasonal green-and-red color palette and a sweet-spicy flavor profile. Deck the Holly is available as a chicken salad scoop or sandwich. 

Christmas colors at Chicken Salad Chick. 

Making its winter debut at Vicious Biscuit is The Frenchie, the fast casual’s version of a French dip sandwich. Here thin-sliced roast beef and melted white cheddar are piled on a buttermilk biscuit and served with a cup of au jus. On the drinks side, there’s the spirit-free Peppermint Mocha Latte and the spirited Angry Elf, a mix of peppermint, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua and Irish Whiskey, served over ice with a cinnamon sugar rim.

The French dip is also showing up at Firehouse Subs. The returning favorite features roast beef, caramelized onions, melted Swiss and provolone cheeses and Italian seasoning on a toasted garlic butter roll. The sandwich is served with a side of au jus for dipping.

Dave’s Hot Chicken launched Saucy Bites, the next iteration of the brand’s Chicken Bites. For the new core menu item, the chicken is tossed in one of three sauces: Spicy Buffalo, Spicy BBQ or Mike’s Hot Honey. The chain also introduced Ranch Dip and spicy Reaper Ranch to accompany its chicken tenders, sliders or new bites. 

Bar North Pole is serving up holiday cocktails and mocktails at North Italia through the end of the year. On the “Naughty List” are six seasonal cocktails, including Sweater Weather with Pinot Grigio, Jingle Bell Rock made with Aperol, the vodka-based Sleigh Ride, Santa’s Nightcap with rye, Rudolph’s Replacement with tequila and The Naughty List itself mixed with vanilla vodka. The “Nice List” offers two zero-proof drinks: White Elephant Gift with Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit and Cocoa Claus with dark chocolate crème. Also on offer is a $25 Holiday Lunch Prix Fixe composed of a small plate and entrée.

The zero-proof White Elephant Gift at North Italia. 

The Holiday Magic Cookie arrived at Jimmy John’s in time for National Cookie Day on Thursday. The bakery addition has a sugar cookie base mixed with red and green milk chocolate M&M’s and a topping of sparkling winter sprinkle mix. On National Cookie Day, customers can score a free Holiday Magic Cookie with a purchase of $5 or more.

Three limited-time items launch on the menu at Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer. First up is the Juicy Lucy, a brie-stuffed Wagyu burger topped with sprout slaw and crisp shallots and finished with creamy peppercorn sauce. Holiday Brussels tossed in BBQ seasoning and served with spiced Hollandaise are a seasonal side, while Hot Chocolate with a toasted meringue rim is ready to sip. 

Vegan bakery Cinnaholic introduced a holiday lineup that includes the Stocking Stuffer cinnamon roll decorated with Christmas cookie frosting and topped with cookie bites, powdered sugar and sprinkles. There are also Cinna-Clause Cookies packed with chocolate chips, pretzels, marshmallows, sandwich cookies and sprinkles in both mini and regular size, and a Wreath Cake fashioned form the chain’s cinnamon rolls with a choice of frosting and three toppings. 

The Jingle Berry ‘Rita is Fuzzy’s Taco Shop’s contribution to holiday festivities. The cocktail is a blend of Fuzzy’s Frozen House Margarita with blackberry syrup, blackberry moonshine and Black Cherry hard seltzer. It’s available through New Year’s Eve.

Fuzzy’s Jingle Berry ‘Rita is flavored with blackberry. 

Marlow’s Tavern is warming up its menu with chef-driven twists on comforting classics. Maryland Crab cakes are accompanied by a house-made green goddess sauce, arugula, pickled red onion, celeriac and grape tomatoes, while the Kickin’ Turkey Burger is enhanced with pepper glaze, jalapeño jack cheese, crispy jalapeños and jicama slaw on a croissant bun. Also on offer are Bourbon Glazed Pork Tenderloin, Spiced Pan Roasted Chicken and Roast Turkey Meatloaf.

Fish & Chips makes a splash on Rubio’s menu this Saturday. The new item features two beer-battered Alaskan Pollock fillets, blackened jalapeño tartar sauce, red cabbage slaw and French fries for $7.99.

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Pat plans and executes menu, food and drink stories for Restaurant Business and hosts the weekly Menu Talk podcast. She provides in-depth coverage of chefs, trends and menu innovation.

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