1. © 2018 Media Group Online, Inc. All rights reserved.
Brought to you by Media Group Online, Inc.

2. Prepare for Fabulous Feasting
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, “fine- casual” is a new trend for 2018, with upscale counter-service and table service in some restaurants plus extras, such as a wine bar and an optional tasting menu.
Poke, a Hawaiian dish in a bowl with rice, cubed raw fish, sauce and a selection of toppings, has helped to increase interest in a variety of bowl menu choices, including the Korean bibimbap.
Other trends for 2018 include Israeli cuisine, more colorful food, veggie main courses, more fast- casual Indian restaurants and nostalgic foods, such as chicken nuggets, potato tots and upscale meat loaf, on the menus of upscale eateries.

3. A Burger By Any Other Name
Bill Gates’ investment in Beyond Meat and its Beyond Burger, which has only been available at Whole Foods, is on the way to a payoff, with distribution planned to 280 Safeway supermarkets in California, Hawaii and Nevada.
Bareburger, a 46-unit fast-casual chain, will open an entirely vegan restaurant concept during 2018, featuring the Impossible Burger, Beyond Burger’s competitor.
During May 2017, Smashburger, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain with more than 370 corporate and franchise locations in 37 states and 9 countries, added turkey burgers to its US locations.

4. A Tex-Mex Fiesta
According to CHD Expert, there are more than 59,800 US restaurants with the Mexican menu type; however, despite the many well-known Mexican chain restaurants, 97% of full-service Mexican restaurants are independents (9 or fewer locations).
Mexican food is the second-most popular menu in the US when measured by total number of units, including pizzeria and hamburger menu types, and represents 9% of all national restaurants.
Datassential MenuTrends reports that chilaquiles is the fastest-growing Mexican entrée, having increased 24% since 2013, with tortas, 19%, and tacos, 16%.

5. Snacking for Our Fast-Paced Lives
According to research from The Hartman Group, 91% of consumers snack multiple times during the typical day, but only 8% replace meals with all-day snacking.
Some type of chip continues to be Americans’ favorite snack, at 76%; followed by crackers, 60%; popcorn, 54%; bars, 50%; and nuts, 47%. Americans’ favorite sweet snack is candy, 69%, with ice cream a close second, at 67%.
Millennials appear to enjoy snacking, according to a Coca-Cola survey that found more than 50% don’t eat breakfast during the traditional breakfast time period. In addition, 30% said they’ve replaced one or two meals per day with snacks.

6. Coffee, Dessert and Sandwich Insights
The Hartman Group reports that 51% of the consumers it surveyed said they visited a coffee shop alone, 22% with a spouse/significant other, 16% with friends and 11% with children.
Although Americans still love tasty, sugary desserts, 22% said in a Nielsen survey that they are actively working to reduce their sugar intake. Starbucks, for example, offers mini-desserts, at 120 calories and 8 grams of sugar.
According to Datassential’s 2017 Sandwiches Keynote Report, approximately 69% of US restaurants offer sandwiches. The banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich, is one of the newest favorite sandwiches, although it is only on approximately % of menus.

7. Advertising Strategies
Restaurants introducing new menu trends have obviously excellent visuals for TV spots. Each visual, whether video or still photo, can display a hashtag for each item, linked to the restaurant’s Website and/or social media pages.
Breakfast chain and local restaurants could run spots during early-morning news targeting the 50% of Millennials who don’t eat breakfast during its traditional time period with a coupon or discount for 10am to noon.
Coordinate with your promotion department for the possibly opportunity of featuring a local restaurant’s chef/head cook to appear during a segment of morning or noon news to share the ingredients and preparation of one of its new trending menu items.

8. New Media Strategies
Many of these new menu trends, such as African flavors, chilaquiles and the Korean bibimbap bowl, are definite subjects for videos with a restaurant’s chef/head cook explaining the items, the flavor and how he or she uses them in dishes.
Although local, independent Mexican restaurants may not have the budgets for meaningful TV branding, promote the use of ads and promotions on your Website to generate an excellent ROI.
Conduct a contest among restaurant patrons for a free tasting of new or planned menu items for as many as 4 persons during their next restaurant visit. Winners are required to share their comments and photos and/or videos from the tasting on social media.

9. Title
Body copy