The Hands-Down Best New Fast Food Menu Items Of August 2026

In the eyes of many fast food restaurants, August is the time for fall menus to start dropping; and yes, this means plenty of pumpkin spice. (Not a fan? Try these items instead.) Of course, there's been a lot of buzz around Starbucks' seasonal menu, which includes banana-flavored beverages as well as the ubiquitous PSL. The shocker is that the chain is ditching its fan-favorite apple flavors. Unfortunately, McDonald's attempt to step into the gap with its Caramel Apple Pie McCafé drinks is not exactly winning rave reviews. 

We didn't include the new Starbucks items on our list of the month's top finds since they've only been out a minute (the drop date was August 25) and there aren't too many ratings yet. As for McDonald's caramel apple contributions ... well, recommending them would be a stretch. We did, however, discover a number of other August items worthy of your attention. Most have been reviewed by our very own Takeout crew, although a few that we've yet to try have been enthusiastically endorsed by social media.

Not everything out this month is fall-flavored. In fact, only three items on the list really fit the profile: the ones from Dairy Queen, Krispy Kreme, and Wendy's. The rest of the entrees, desserts, and beverages feature flavors that aren't tied to any particular season so they bridge the gap from summer into fall. If any of them are super-successful there's a chance they might even survive until winter. Fast food lifespans being what they are, though, you should probably check them out sooner rather than later.

On August 1, 7Brew released a new Back to Brew drink menu. Not all of the drinks earned passing grades from us — in our opinion, the Cherry Limeade 7 Energy, Sweet & Salty Macchiato, and Tiki Tango 7 Fizz Soda all left room for improvement. 7Brew Banana Bread Cold Brew, however, was at the top of the class, combining the flavors of banana and hazelnut with coffee and topping things off with cold foam and chocolate syrup. All these elements harmonized quite nicely, with no one flavor dominating, and the bitter notes from the coffee kept the drink from being a total sugar bomb.

One other drink on the Back to Brew menu surprised us with an outstanding performance. While products like Aldi's abysmal Sundae Shoppe Bubble Gum Popsicles prove that bubble gum flavor doesn't always work well outside its intended purpose, 7Brew Bubble Gum Lemonade was actually very tasty and not bubble gummy at all. This may be because this sweet, summery sipper is flavored with a combo of banana, strawberry, and vanilla syrups; all of which actually do complement the lemonade.

We had a sneak preview of all of the new items from Chick-fil-A's 2026 fall menu which dropped on August 24 and found them to be a bit of a mixed bag. Both the S'mores Frosted Coffee and S'mores Milkshake are rather underwhelming, but the Chicken & Waffles Breakfast Sandwich is quite a delight. It takes CFA's famous filet and sandwiches it between two mini waffles, and as if that weren't enough it makes things even better with bacon. One word of advice, whether you order the original, spicy, or grilled versions: Skip the messy maple syrup that comes on the side. The waffles have enough sugar on their own and adding any kind of condiment honestly upsets what is already a perfect balance of sweet and savory.

August 5 was the day the Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie made its flavor of the day debut at Culver's. This frozen custard has a chocolate base, swirls of peanut butter and fudge, and brownie chunks filling out the mix. We found it to be somewhat less peanutty than advertised, but it more than satisfies as a triple chocolate threat. All in all, Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie is a bold addition to Culver's custard lineup.

McDonald's caramel apple pie drinks might have turned out to be duds, but the same can't be said of Dairy Queen's Caramel Apple Cheesecake Blizzard. This limited-time menu addition was August's Blizzard of the Month and consisted of vanilla soft serve swirled with pieces of cheesecake along with caramel- and apple-flavored sauces. We found this cheesecake-forward Blizzard delicious to the core, with the caramel and apple elements adding just the right amount of flavor without being overwhelming.

As has become the norm in the fast food world these days, Dunkin' brought back pumpkin-flavored drinks over a month before fall actually arrives. In a somewhat more unusual move, however, it also added a line of tiramisu coffee drinks. The Tiramisu Marshmallow Matcha and Tiramisu Iced Protein Latte make for refreshing alternatives to pumpkin spice, but they're overshadowed by the Tiramisu Cloud Latte. This drink consists of tiramisu-flavored espresso with marshmallow cold foam and a crunchy chocolate topping, and yes it really does taste like liquid tiramisu. If we had an extra digit, we'd give it three thumbs up.

Even though Dunkin' announced four new tiramisu drinks, the three we mentioned are the only ones that appear on the online menu. The Tiramisu Shakin' Espresso, however, was available in the app when we ordered and you should be able to get it in stores. It consists of two shots of tiramisu-flavored espresso shaken with oat milk, and is essentially a less milky, more coffee-forward, and topping-free version of the Tiramisu Cloud Latte. It's also equally enjoyable, in a minimalist kind of way.

Krispy Kreme's Autumn Seasonal Collection, as the chain dubbed its four fall donuts, dropped on August 11. Both the Biscoff Cookie Butter Doughnut and Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnut are returning fan-favorites so we didn't feel it necessary to review them this year. As for the two new flavors: The chocolate and coffee-frosted Cafe Mocha Doughnut turned out to be pretty meh while the Maple Cheesecake Doughnut is really enjoyable with its light, fluffy cheesecake filling and sweet maple glaze. It's also a true fall flavor that's neither pumpkin nor apple, which makes for a pleasant change.

On August 17, McDonald's released its first energy drink, the two-tone Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer. With layers of turquoise and purple, it's a drink that's clearly intended for Instagram (the beverage's top color reminds us of Grimace, the once-villainous mascot that McDonald's re-branded as a lovable sidekick). Aesthetics aside, it's essentially Red Bull with blue raspberry flavoring and freeze-dried dragonfruit sprinkled on top. It looks pretty and tastes like an upgraded, slightly sweeter Red Bull, but the crunchy topping combined with the caffeine kick is what really make this drink a winner. Oh, and it's also available in a reduced sugar version, if that's your preference.

The flavor of fall at Taco Bell is Tajin, a Mexican seasoning that blends chiles, lime, and salt. We had a chance to try two of the new Tajin menu items before they became available nationwide on August 13. (Unfortunately, the Tajin Pineapple Strawberry Freeze was not on offer during our preview, but social media seems to like it.) The tangy, slightly spicy seasoning didn't add much to the Tajin Taco, and the mango salsa gave it a curiously mangonada-type flavor. The same sauce and seasoning, however, turned the Tajin Cheesy Gordita Crunch into a tasty upgrade of a fan favorite,

As we mentioned in the intro, we haven't yet had a chance to partake in all the new August offerings, so we've turned to social media to fill us in on the items we missed. The first of these is a limited-time biscuit Bojangles added to the menu on August 3. The Cajun Bacon Ranch Biscuit is essentially a glow up of an older item since it takes the chicken from the Cajun Filet Biscuit and adds bacon, ranch dressing, and American cheese. YouTuber Redneck Snack was quite enthusiastic about this biscuit and rated it a 10, while Instagrammer linacapturelife says it makes a perfect midday breakfast.

Bojangles is a Southern fast food chain known for its fresh biscuits, but the Carolina Crunch Biscuit (which was added at the same time as the Cajun Bacon Ranch Biscuit) is a biscuit in name only. The filling is classic breakfast sandwich — bacon strips, a slice of American cheese, and a folded square of egg — but the outside consists of two hash brown patties (Bo-Tato Rounds, as the chain calls them). Instagram account Feisty Eats calls this item "savory and so satisfying," while YouTuber Redneck Snack says, "It's delicious ... a whole, like, breakfast platter in a sandwich."

Pickles have been super-trendy for the better part of a decade, but Culver's isn't one to jump on a trend right away. We don't expect to see pickle custard any time soon (if ever), but the chain did release a limited time Fried Pickle Pub Burger on August 3. It comes on a pretzel bun and is covered in cheddar cheese and Brewpub Sauce (a mixture of mayonnaise and beer mustard), and it takes its name from the fried pickles that sit on the bottom. YouTuber Joe Is Hungry rated this burger 8 out of 10, while a Redditor said, "I'm loving it so far. A GOAT contender for sure." On a different Reddit thread, someone else shared, "Wife has had 4 in 3 days," which is certainly putting her money where her mouth is.

With a name like All-American Burgertaco, Del Taco's new entree seems like something that might have been intended for a semiquincentennial celebration. Instead, the chain launched it a month later on August 6. Timing issue aside, it's a solid entry into the hard-to-categorize handheld entrees club. The burger part is obvious, as the filling consists of beef patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and a burger sauce.

So, where does the taco part come in? Pretty much in shape only since instead of a crunchy taco shell or soft tortilla the burger bun is replaced with folded flatbread. Despite the near-total non-taco-ness, this new item is proving pretty popular. One Facebook reviewer enthused, "I really enjoyed this!! A good balance of toppings. The burger sauce is kind of like Big Mac sauce. And using the flat bread was delightful."

At Wendy's, fall officially arrived on August 3 with the new Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion. It starts with a soft serve base and swirls in a spiced apple syrup that a Wendy's worker told Reddit "tastes just like apple pie." To top it all off, the Frosty includes crunchy oat crumbles. Another Redditor raved, "I tried one a few days ago, so good!." Meanwhile, YouTuber casualgamerreed enjoyed this new treat enough to award it a five-star rating (their advice is to stir in the crumbles).