Ranch gets popping at Buffalo Wild Wings. | Photos courtesy of the brands
When soccer teams from around the world descended on the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup, the players’ love of ranch dressing went viral on social media. It was pretty easy for them to find the condiment — almost every American restaurant chain offers it. And ranch keeps flowing onto menus, even showing up in new formats.
In other news, beverage innovation makes it possible for consumers to quench their thirst in myriad ways, and chicken continues to be king of the proteins.
Poppin’ Ranch is the latest ranch format, set to launch Monday at Buffalo Wild Wings. The savory ranch popping candy comes in a little packet and is designed to sprinkle on food to add ranch flavor along with an audible pop and crackle with every bite. BWW suggests sprinkling it on wings, mixing it into ranch dressing or a wing sauce, or adding it to any food for a multi-sensory eating experience. The packets of Poppin’ Ranch are 99 cents extra, but Buffalo Wild Wings is giving away free wings with any $15 purchase on National Chicken Wing Day (July 29) — a good time to add some pop to an order.
A limited-time Ranch Shmear is now available at an Einstein Bros. location in Atlanta, one of the cities that hosted World Cup matches. The bagel chain blends ranch into its double-whipped cream cheese for an on-trend take on the flavor’s wild popularity. A classic bagel with a Ranch Shmear is $4.29 while supplies last.
New West Coast-inspired burger, chicken sandwich, and fries at Shake Shack.
Although Hidden Valley Ranch in California was the birthplace of ranch, Shake Shack’s new West Coast Burger and Chicken Sandwich tap other ingredients from the state’s food scene. The roadside-inspired burger layers a beef patty with American cheese, caramelized onions, and honey mustard pickles on a toasted potato bun. A topping of “Secret Sauce” — a thicker version of Shack Sauce mixed with pickle relish, diced onions, mustard, ketchup, and a little chile — is the condiment of choice. The West Coast Chicken Sandwich includes a breaded chicken breast, avocado, lettuce, tomato, and Sour Cream & Onion Sauce on a toasted potato bun. The West Coast Loaded Fries are also topped with Secret Sauce, but ranch shows up in the Spicy Fries with Ranch and Spicy Cheese Fries with Ranch, both of which are dusted with a blend of cayenne, garlic, and paprika and served with ranch dip to cool things off.
A celebration of pesto at Eataly.
Pesto, not ranch, stars at Eataly during its Summer of Pesto celebration taking place at the eight North American locations through August 2. The marketplaces and restaurants are serving 10 recipes, including Farcita with Turkey, Rucola, and Pesto di Peperoni Arrosto (roasted red pepper pesto); Panino with Mortadella and Pesto Pistacchi; and Pesto alla Trapanese, a pasta dish. There are also $9 spritzes on offer and jars of pesto for purchase representing different styles from all over Italy.
Like ranch dressing, banana beverages have gained a lot of traction on social media, and Smashburger is getting on board this summer with a new Chocolate Banana Chip Shake. It’s a blend of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, banana purée, chocolate sauce, and chocolate chips. Also joining the menu is a Dark Cherry Chip Shake made with Häagen-Dazs ice cream, dark cherries, and chocolate chips.
Smashburger’s Chocolate Banana Chip Shake
Cava is going in a different flavor direction with its latest beverage: Strawberry Ginger Juice. The sweet-tart drink is a combo of strawberry, raspberry, and ginger. Strawberry also shows up in the Strawberry Steak Salad, a bowl featuring grilled steak, power greens, hummus, roasted corn, pickled onions, and feta with strawberry sesame dressing. For seafood fans there’s a Pomegranate Glazed Salmon Bowl with Greek vinaigrette, and Harissa BBQ Pita Chips are the seasonal snack special with flavors that evoke a spicy summer cookout.
Peach is the fruit of choice at Golden Corral, featured in Grilled Chicken Tenders with Spicy Peach Sauce and Golden Delicious Shrimp with the same sauce. Both are available on the buffet. Customers also have the option of trying the chicken tenders and shrimp with Garlic Parmesan Sauce, but more fruit shows up on the beverage side. There’s Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, and Prickly Pear Lemonade.
Whataburger goes peachy, too, with its Summer Peach Whatarefresher and Peaches & Cream Shake. The refresher is a sweet-and-tart beverage with peach flavor and freeze-dried peach pieces.
Whataburger’s peachy beverage lineup.
The next round of refreshers has also landed on Starbucks’ menu, starting with the Blended Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Energy Refresher, a frozen lemonade blended with mango, dragon fruit, and fruit pieces. There’s also a Blended Mango Strawberry Lemonade Refresher, Blended Passionfruit Guava Lemonade Energy Refresher, and Passionfruit Guava Lemonade Refresher with mango-pineapple flavored pearls. Not technically in the refresher category but new on the menu are the Blended Pink Energy Drink, Island Colada Drink, and Blended Matcha Lemonade.
An unconventional carrier holds Applebee’s latest menu item: Bacon Cheeseburger Wonton Tacos. The build includes a seasoned ground beef patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, pickles, and spicy honey mustard in crispy wonton shells. Three cocktails also made their debut, including the Backflippin’ Blue Margarita made with tequila, coconut rum, alcohol-free Blue Curaçao, passion fruit, pineapple, cherry, and lime; the Prickly Plunge Margarita with tequila, vodka, triple sec, prickly pear, and lime; and the Bacardi Blushing Dragon with dragon fruit, lemon sour, and lemonade. On the spirit-free side is Lemon Berry Sunshine, a blue raspberry-lemonade combo with a creamy swirl topping.
Ranch comes full circle with Velvet Taco’s WTF (Weekly Taco Feature). The Crispy Barbecue Chicken Taco starts with a more traditional base — a flour tortilla — that’s filled with fried chicken tenders, ranch crema, napa slaw, chipotle barbecue, elote, fried red onion, and micro cilantro.
See what else is trending this week in Menu Tracker.
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