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Maeve Allsup

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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - DECEMBER 11, 2018:  A McDonald's fast food restaura...

California’s attempt to slow down fast food bargaining to include workers and franchisers faces stark opposition from the industry. 

A new bill could change California’s fast food landscape

Katishi Maake

The salad chain is also gearing up to roll out a full loyalty program. 

Sweetgreen wants to challenge (and reward) its customers with a new loyalty offering

The chain is restructuring how it recruits and retains franchisees.  

How McDonald’s plans to diversify its franchisee pool 

Friends taking pictures of food on the table with smartphones during brunch in restaurant

Andrew Adam Newman

 to know that grocery prices have been increasing, so it will come as no surprise that prices at US restaurants have been climbing, too.

 cold brew coffee rose 4.2% YoY, to $5.49, according to new 

 from Toast, a restaurant software platform with more than 148,000 locations. Less steep (and less steeped) was the increase for a beer, with the median price rising 2.2% to $6.47.

Moving from drinks, some median restaurant food prices for September to chew on:

 that US menu prices rose 3.7% YoY in September, slightly less than the 3.9% YoY increase in August.

 from restaurant software provider Restaurant365, 91% of restaurant executives reported that their food costs have risen this year, with 13% reporting some of their ingredients have increased by 15% or more. Nearly 80% said they expected tariffs to have an impact on their business this year.

Menu prices rising on items including cold brew, burritos, and wings 

Both Toast and the National Restaurant Association are clocking the increases.

Sure, the UK makes sodas sound fun and festive by calling them “fizzy drinks,” but new regulations aimed at reducing their consumption are no joke. New 

 on high-sugar drinks that took effect on October 8 ban both free refills and multibuy deals (like buy one, get one free) in restaurants and supermarkets.

British tabloids have shown their characteristic restraint in covering the ban, with The Sun—referring to South African grilled-chicken chain Nando’s, which is extremely popular in the UK—intoning in a 

: “FINAL STRAW: Nando’s fans devastated as chain limits Coca-Cola refills to ONE glass saying ‘we are living in the end of times.’”

Spelling out its newly tweaked free-refills policy on its 

, Nando’s explained “we can no longer offer Bottomless Coca-Cola Classic because of its high sugar content,” adding “customers are allowed one glass of Coca-Cola Classic but can still help themselves to any of our other low-sugar bottomless drinks.”

The law applies to hot drinks, too. Supermarket chain 

 posted signs in its in-store cafés: “Due to a recent change in legislation, our Hot Chocolate and Mocha are now excluded from our Free Refills offer.”

“They’ve come for the hot chocolate and mocha in Morrisons!” @BMM1882 posted on X. “Hot chocolate!”

The UK also is rolling out advertising restrictions on products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt, including banning advertising the products on television before 9 p.m. Beginning in January, the products will be fully banned from advertising online.

Meanwhile, France beat the UK to the (fruit) punch, 

Holding a cup at soft drink self service machine pouring cola at a restaurant.

England bans free refills and BOGO offers for sugary drinks

It’s part of a broader UK effort to encourage lower fat, sugar, and salt consumption.

At a campaign event last August where tables were filled with grocery items, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to 

 food prices “starting on Day One,” but more than 

 days into his second term, food prices are up all over the place.

The average price of a regular cup of coffee was up 2.9% year over year in August, to $3.52, according to new restaurant data from Toast, a digital technology platform used by about 148,000 restaurant locations. Cold brew prices rose even higher, up 4.6% YoY in August, with a median price of $5.47.

A hindrance to coffee prices coming down anytime soon may be—you’ll never guess!—Trump’s tariffs. Brazil, which accounted for 35% of US unroasted coffee imports in 2023, 

; Colombia, which accounts for 27% of coffee imports, is subject to a 

Other menu items that in August saw YoY median price increases, according to Toast:

 evaluated an August 26 cabinet meeting where Trump said that prices of “groceries are down” and “energy is way down” and ruled the statement “half-true.”

Citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s consumer price index of the period between December 2024 and July 2025, Politifact noted that the price of eggs, which had previously shot up because of a bird-flu outbreak, had fallen by about 13%. The price of bread fell by 3.2% and vegetables by 0.7%, according to the data.

But overall, food and beverage prices rose 1.5% over the period, Poltifact reported, including ground beef (up 11.6%), coffee (up 11.3%), sugar and sweets (up 3.7%), and bacon (up 2.9%).

Americans are not just concerned about grocery prices but 

 from the Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s NORC, a nonpartisan research institute.

Among US adults, 53% said the cost of groceries were “a major source of stress” and 33% said they were “a minor source,” according to a survey conducted in July. Only 14% responded that grocery prices were not a source of stress.

It’s worst, naturally, for poor Americans, with 64% of those with household incomes under $30,000 saying groceries are a “major” stressor.

Change purse with a receipt coming out of it

Food prices climb at restaurants and supermarkets

Cost of groceries “a major source of stress” for 53% in the US, poll finds. 

 it will introduce a protein-enhanced cold foam option later this month, meaning these grande-sized drinks will pack as much as 36 grams of protein, according to the company.

Will Starbucks’s new high-protein coffee drinks be a significant revenue-booster for the coffee chain? 

, we told you about the growing trend of brides-to-be asking brands for free products to include in bachelorette party swag bags. We asked if you thought brands should embrace or reject the trend. Nearly three out of you (72.6%) of you voted to reject the trend while 27.4% thought brands should embrace it.

Will Starbucks’s new high-protein coffee drinks boost revenues? 

Plus: Nearly 3 out of 4 against giving free products to bachelorette parties. 

Hot Topic: Will Starbucks’s new high-protein coffee drinks boost revenues?

At a campaign event where tables were festooned with groceries last August, then-candidate President Trump 

 if elected, he would “immediately bring prices down, starting on Day 1.” But almost 150 days into his second term, menu prices are up over last year, according to new data from Toast.

It will come as no surprise that avian flu-related increases in egg prices have driven up the price of omelets, with the median price on restaurant menus for April is $14.71, up 5.4% YoY. But the price of coffee you wash down those eggs with is up too, with the median price of a nothing-fancy regular cup up 5.1% YoY in May, to $3.50.

Moving beyond breakfast (one hopes), the median price for a beer was up 2.7% YoY in May, to $6.44.

Other menu item YoY median price increases in May, per Toast:

Results are based on transactions from the ~140,000 restaurant locations on Toast’s digital technology platform.

Toast also analyzed tipping rates, which for full-service restaurants rose a wee bit, from 19.3% in Q4 to 2024 to 19.4% after being flat for the previous three quarters.

While tipping is not as high as the pandemic plateau of 19.9%, Toast noted we’re in the ballpark of pre-pandemic levels, which ranged from 19.5% to 19.7% over 2018 and 2019.

President Trump’s budget megabill that passed in the House proposes exempting those tips from federal taxes, but in the Senate, the no-tax-on-tips is getting some 

Trump promised to reduce food costs on Day 1, but menu prices are up, per Toast data.

It’s not just egg dishes that are up, per Toast.

Trump promised to reduce food costs on Day 1, but menu prices are up

Amazon Haul, the e-commerce giant’s low-cost offering that it launched in November to take on Temu and Shein, is a long way from becoming as ubiquitous as its flagship site, with a recent survey finding that more than 3 out of 4 shoppers (76%) had 

 Have you made a purchase at Amazon Haul? 

 revealed privacy concerns that some consumers have about restaurant apps, and we asked if you’d refrained from either downloading or using restaurant apps out of privacy concerns. It turns out that most of you (61.7%) have either not downloaded or not used restaurant apps out of privacy concerns, while 38.3% were not restrained by those privacy concerns.

In a photo illustration, somone uses chopsticks to eat noodles that are pictured on a smartphone. 

Many avoid restaurant apps over privacy concerns

Plus, have you shopped at Amazon Haul?

Hot Topic: Many avoid downloading or using restaurant apps over privacy concerns

 by CreditCards.com found that 1 in 5 Americans are buying more products than usual as a result of President Trump’s proposed tariffs—their rationale being that the items could become more expensive if the tariffs go through.

 Have you made a recent purchase sooner than you would have otherwise because of President Trump’s proposed tariffs? 

, we told you that Starbucks is requiring baristas to write customers’ names and notes like “You’re amazing!” on cups to appeal more to customers, so we asked if you thought the new practice really would improve the customer experience at Starbucks. No, it won’t, responded 67.5% of you, while 27% thought the notes would improve the customer experience, and 5.5% didn’t know or weren’t sure.

A Starbucks barista serves a coffee that has "Hello Again!" written on the paper cup. 

QSR

Menu prices rising on items including cold brew, burritos, and wings

England bans free refills and BOGO offers for sugary drinks

Food prices climb at restaurants and supermarkets

Hot Topic: Will Starbucks’s new high-protein coffee drinks boost revenues?

Trump promised to reduce food costs on Day 1, but menu prices are up

Hot Topic: Many avoid downloading or using restaurant apps over privacy concerns

Hot Topic: Most think writing on cups won’t help Starbucks customer experience

QSR

Menu prices rising on items including cold brew, burritos, and wings

England bans free refills and BOGO offers for sugary drinks

Food prices climb at restaurants and supermarkets

Hot Topic: Will Starbucks’s new high-protein coffee drinks boost revenues?

Trump promised to reduce food costs on Day 1, but menu prices are up

Hot Topic: Many avoid downloading or using restaurant apps over privacy concerns

Hot Topic: Most think writing on cups won’t help Starbucks customer experience

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know