13 Fast Food Restaurants With The Most Unique Drinks

Fast food isn't all about the bites. More than ever, chains are turning toward their drink menus to bring in a new wave of customers. Though soda consumption decreased for a couple of decades after 2000, younger generations, especially Gen Z, are widening their palates. Bold flavors, colors, and textures are all the rage. Now, not only are drinks affordable treats after a long day, but they also sit pretty on social media feeds. Fast food restaurants have been quick to capitalize on this growing market.

Many of the drinks springing onto menus take inspiration from other trends. The boba tea craze saw restaurants either offering their own take on the classic drink or adding the chewy pearls into lemonades and other fruity refreshments. Seasonal beverages have also been a huge source of profit and competition among chains.

Limited availability has customers rushing in to be among the first (or last) to sip on the newest beverage. To keep up with demand, fast food hot spots have to consistently push the envelope, and some are more successful than others. While a few of these drinks might leave you hesitant to take that first sip, others will draw you in with eye-catching colors and unique flavor combinations.

Sonic doesn't pull any punches with its drink menu, specifically its slushes. A range of flavors is available, some made with syrups and others with real fruit, along with plenty of add-ons so you can mix and match to your heart's desire. On June 30, 2025, however, Sonic expanded its menu even further with the release of the Picklerita Slush. Though not the chain's first go-around with pickle-flavored beverages, this reiteration has certainly one-upped its predecessor.

As part of a collaboration with Grillo's Pickles, the fast food chain rolled out the Picklerita Slush alongside a pickle-themed burger and tater tots. At first glance, the radioactive green liquid and darker green bubbles floating through this slush make it look like something straight from an alien planet. Many customers initially had their qualms about a pickle-flavored drink, and it has received mixed reviews since its release.

Nevertheless, some reviews of Sonic's pickle collab found the drink to be tasty. The brine from the pickle juice, combined with the sweet and tart lime juice, makes for a sweet and savory experience. Each sip comes accompanied by pickle juice bubbles that burst in your mouth, and the slush is topped off with Grillo's pickle chips for a crunchy element. Overall, the Picklerita Slush is a fun alternative to your typical icy beverage, perfect for satisfying your more daring cravings.

Exclusivity is a customer magnet. Serve up a delicious concoction that no one else is offering, and you're sure to have people lining up to get a taste. KFC and Mountain Dew knew this when they teamed up to craft a new beverage just for the fast food chain. To this day, Sweet Lightning can only be found at one of the Colonel's various locations.

This special soda was actually designed to pair with KFC's original recipe chicken, a hallmark of the brand. One of KFC's biggest secrets is what exactly makes up the 11 herbs and spices in its famous fried chicken. The chain has yet to release all the juicy details, but you don't need to know what's in the chicken to know that it pairs well with the subtle sweetness of peach and honey in Sweet Lightning.

Although the original drink is a staple, KFC has still found room to mix it up. In 2025, the chain released a peaches and cream variation to ring in summer. The new offering combined the classic with a dash of vanilla cream. This release is part of the growing dirty soda trend, where cream, syrups, and other add-ons turn a normal soda into an elevated concoction. The creaminess of the vanilla makes the Peaches and Cream Sweet Lightning reminiscent of a creamsicle or a pack of peach rings.

Bacon is a popular pairing with sweets, so, while some may side-eye this eclectic milkshake from Five Guys, most love to indulge in the salty and sweet combo. In fact, Five Guys is one of the fast food chains with the highest quality milkshakes. They're creamy, hand-spun, and ultra-customizable — just about everything you could ask for from a shake. Add some Applewood smoked bacon bits in, and then you're really talking.

Customers attest that the bacon bits are lightly sweetened and crunchy, adding some much-needed texture to cut through the creaminess of the shake's base. But you don't have to stop at bacon bits. Five Guys suggests other ways to shake up your drink on its menu. Try bacon with peanut butter and banana added in, or a drizzle of salted caramel. Better yet, mix in all four for the ultimate milkshake. The bacon shake and its many variations do have naysayers, but lots of fans say it's worth a try, even if it's just one time. Some compare it to dipping fries into a shake, a tried and true fast food delight.

Shake Shack is another fast food chain using boba to add a little more intrigue to its drink menu. In the summer of 2025, mini raspberry popping boba were added to the menu. The pearls are marketed as additions to the restaurant's lemonades, iced teas, and other cold drinks.

The raspberry pearls are a cross between sweet and tart, making them the perfect pairing for other refreshing fruit flavors like strawberry and mango. Unlike the classic tapioca pearls commonly used in milk teas, which have a deeper brown sugar flavor and chewy texture, these are popping boba. As the name suggests, you get a pop of fruit juice every time you bite down on one. Plus, the mini size means you don't have to worry about them getting stuck in the straw.

Since boba's inception in the 1980s in Taiwan, it's exploded onto the global scene. Part of the appeal is the versatility. There's no limit to the flavor and textural combinations you can create. With all the different types of boba, restaurants can adjust their drinks to match the season. Perhaps Shake Shack will take advantage of this by adding new types and flavors of boba to its future menus.

Where other fast food chains take inspiration from global flavors, Jollibee simply has to turn to its home country to find flavors that will intrigue customers, especially consumers in the U.S. It reigns supreme as the biggest fast food chain in the Philippines and has expanded over the years into North America and beyond. Jollibee offers fast food staples like hamburgers and fries, alongside menu items with some Filipino flair. Among these are a traditional noodle dish called palabok, sweet-style spaghetti with hot dogs, and a new addition, the Ube Coconut Freeze.

This drink is made with an ube-flavored sweet cream combined with a coconut freeze. Ube is a purple yam common in Filipino cuisine as well as other countries across Asia. Much like Jollibee itself, ube and ube-flavored products have gained global popularity. In this drink, the subtle sweetness and slight nuttiness of the ube pair well with the tropical notes from the coconut. It's a refreshing summer beverage that will have you imagining yourself lying on a sun-filled beach down to the last sip.

Spring isn't a very popular time for seasonal beverages. It tends to be outshined by fall's overflow of pumpkin spice and apple pie flavored drinks, not to mention winter's peppermint and hot chocolate twists. But if there's one chain that knows how to celebrate spring, it's McDonald's. Invented in 1967 and later promoted nationwide, the Shamrock Shake is the fast food giant's fan-favorite drink to ring in St. Patrick's Day.

Its distinctive light green color instantly clues you in to the drink's flavor profile. The Shamrock Shake is simply vanilla ice cream blended with mint syrup and topped with a generous swirl of whipped cream. It may not be as daring as some of the other drinks on this list, but it's iconic all the same. It has the classic cooling flavor of mint, but the sweetness from the ice cream balances it out so it isn't overpowering.

There have been several variations on this seasonal shake, namely a half chocolate, half mint shake in 2017. However, the classic has that timeless appeal that has fans coming back for more every year. The shake usually starts popping up in restaurants around the middle or end of February, so make sure to mark your calendars to be one of the first to get your hands on it for the season.

Mountain Dew's first fast food collaboration wasn't with KFC. Before Sweet Lightning came Baja Blast, Taco Bell's most well-known drink. The beverage was first launched back in 2004 and, at the time, was exclusive to Taco Bell locations. Unlike KFC's exclusive beverage, however, Baja Blast eventually made its way onto store shelves. Nowadays, fans can enjoy their favorite drink in or out of the restaurant.

If you've never tasted it before, the drink is officially described as Mountain Dew with tropical lime flavor. It's light and refreshing, which makes it perfect for washing down some of Taco Bell's heavier menu items. However, many customers have differing opinions on the exact flavor profile of the drink. Some say they taste notes of blue raspberry and tangerine, others think bubblegum or cream soda.

Regardless of the flavor, customers clearly love the drink. Taco Bell has capitalized on the buzz by releasing spin-offs of the classic. The latest rendition is the Baja Midnight, a Baja Blast with an added kick of passion fruit and a vibrant purple color. This new release is all the more exciting because it is a permanent addition to the menu. Now, fans of the original have another drink to obsess over.

Dairy Queen is known for its Blizzards and their unique gravitational resistance, but there's another treat on the menu that deserves its flowers. The Misty Freeze combines the creaminess of a Blizzard with the refreshing fruit flavor of a slushy. It starts with a base of vanilla soft serve blended with any of the four Misty Slush flavors on the menu: strawberry kiwi, lemon lime, cherry, or blue raspberry.

If none of those flavors appeal to you (and you're not sure what blue raspberry even means), the drink can also be made with your choice of soda from Dairy Queen's soda fountain. The finished beverage is thick but still thin enough to be enjoyed through a straw, on the go. Try turning seasonal slushes into freezes for even more unique combinations. Fans particularly enjoy the Summertime Sunset Twisty Misty Slush blended with vanilla soft serve. The layers of mango, strawberry, and kiwi combined with creamy vanilla make for a poolside treat that's as vibrant as it is tasty.

The Sky's the Limit Tims Boost with Red Bull proves that there really are no bounds when it comes to unique drink combinations. The popular Canadian-based chain debuted a line of drinks in collaboration with Red Bull in 2022. One of the two new flavors added to the menu was Sky's the Limit. The drink's bright blue, green, and yellow appearance immediately screams summer, and the flavor delivers on that with a combination of blue raspberry and coconut syrups.

Combined with the classic taste of Red Bull, this beverage gives customers a much-needed energy boost on hot summer days or any other time they may need a refresher. If Sky's the Limit isn't your jam, the Sunrise Sunset flavor mixes raspberry with the tropical taste of Red Bull Yellow Edition. But do be warned: The exact caffeine content for the drinks isn't known, so make sure not to have too much, especially if you've already had your morning coffee.

Cook Out has around 40 milkshake options on its menu, but it doesn't stop there. Customers can create even more options by combining the standard milkshake flavors to make their ideal drink. One of the most unique milkshakes Cook Out offers is its seasonal watermelon shake, available only in July and August. Despite its unconventionality, it's a hit with fans and the perfect way to cool down in some of the hottest months of the year.

This shake doesn't bother with those artificial watermelon-flavored syrups. Instead, Cook Out blends real pieces of watermelon straight into its classic vanilla base. The fruit bits are blended in just enough to disperse their fresh flavor throughout the whole drink while still leaving chunks of ripe, juicy watermelon to bite into. It's no wonder fans look forward to its return every year. If you're looking for ways to beat the Southern summers, give this shake a try next time it comes around.

One chain constantly changing its menu to keep up with the latest trends and seasonal swings is Starbucks. Some of the latest additions have been a range of protein-infused beverages. The lineup features four lattes and three cold foam drinks, packing anywhere from 19 to 36 grams of protein per grande cup.

The cold foam drinks get their protein content solely from the cold foam, not the drinks themselves. They're available in matcha, latte, and cold brew options, and topped off with different flavors of protein foam. On the other hand, the lattes have protein-infused milk mixed straight into the drink. The latte options are matcha or vanilla protein, plus sugar-free versions of both.

You can get a protein boost in your other favorite drinks by adding the protein-boosted milk or cold foam for an extra $1 or $2, respectively, at the time of publication. Even the options for cold foam are endless. You can choose anything from banana and matcha to seasonal flavors like pumpkin and gingerbread. This way, you can get your protein in while still getting your festive spirit on.

If you've been on the hunt for a drink that will take you back to summertime state fairs, letting fluffy pieces of cotton candy dissolve on your tongue, then you're in luck. Burger King brought back the Frozen Cotton Candy Cloud in 2025, a seasonal drink first released the year before. The bright blue drink was a big hit with fans the first time around, so people were excited to see it making its return.

Now, for those of you dreading the cloying flavor often associated with cotton-candy flavored foods and beverages, this drink might surprise you. It blends cotton candy and blue raspberry flavors and can optionally be topped off with a layer of cold foam for extra creaminess. Our review of Burger King's Frozen Cotton Candy drink found it to have a pleasantly nostalgic bubblegum flavor. Either way, this drink definitely captures many customers' favorite childhood flavors.

If the drink itself isn't enough to satisfy them, customers also have the chance to earn points through a special game called Cloud Float, released in conjunction with the beverage. Points earned can be used to redeem food rewards at Burger King, including a free Cotton Candy Cloud with purchase.

Whataburger really leans into its Southern roots with its Banana Pudding Shake. The treat is a quintessential dessert for many Southerners, and this milkshake captures all the nostalgia of the classic dish in sippable form. It is, unfortunately, a seasonal offering, so fans should rush to grab one when summertime hits.

This treat is made with a vanilla shake base and banana pudding flavor. If you're looking for a highly natural banana flavor, this might not be the drink for you. But if you love banana-flavored candies, specifically banana Laffy Taffy, then this could become your new favorite. While the artificial banana flavor definitely turns some people off, many enjoy the taste, saying it's surprisingly not too sweet. 

You can enjoy the drink as is or customize it by adding other flavors. Some common pairings are a banana pudding shake with strawberry flavoring or a half banana and half chocolate shake. It may not be traditional, but it might be enough to convince even the strictest of Southern grandmas.