4 Changes Coming To Your Favorite Chains In 2027

One of the main benefits of fast food chains is that you usually know what you're going to get. Sure, there may be a few changes depending on how a particular franchisee runs the restaurant, and there can be even more changes abroad (like how the Norwegian McMuffin is heartier); but on the whole, a burger is a burger. Still, that doesn't mean fast food chains are frozen in time.

There are plenty of moves being made in the background that customers may not even notice, including technological adaptation, redesigns, and expansion across the globe. In particular, 2027 will see some modifications at your favorite chains. We're pointing out four changes that speak to general trends in fast food as well as the direction that some specific chains are heading. You may not necessarily see these changes happen where you are immediately, but these are the changes you ought to look out for next year.

We know, we know, it's not exactly the most exciting news to hear. With the artificial intelligence boom continuing apace, businesses of all kinds are racing to apply it in just about every possible setting, fast food included. The Yum Brands CEO, which is in charge of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, declared in 2024 that his brands would be "AI-first" (via The Wall Street Journal); as opposed to, we dunno, taco-first. Whether AI ends up producing an innovative fast food experience or not, it's a change worth noting.

Bojangles is also going to be expanding its AI drive-thru system to all of its restaurants, because apparently the drive-thru experience wasn't quite impersonal enough. (Let us know when a robot can go through Bojangles' 49-step biscuit-making process.) Starbucks is looking to add AI to help baristas enter orders more efficiently as well as to possibly recognize repeat customers and show them a personalized menu. It'll probably be a nightmare for those who get self-conscious when baristas ask them if they want "the usual," but we guess it could come in handy for people who don't mind being surveilled.

You'd probably think McDonald's is doing pretty well for itself, being one of the most recognizable companies on Earth and making billions of dollars and all that. But there are always improvements to be made (and consultants to be paid), so McDonald's is about to set out on an ambitious plan to upgrade various metrics by 2036, including its menu, restaurants, and marketing strategy.

In terms of food, McDonald's is looking to improve its chicken by carefully optimizing the cooking process. It also plans to offer more dipping sauces for McNuggets and its new chicken strips. The ambitious new marketing strategy will see the chain placing ads for other brands on its menu screens. That change will come alongside an investment of $8.5 billion in restaurant improvements. (And yes, of course, McDonald's will be integrating AI.) At least this time it isn't looking to open a themed hotel in Zurich, like it did to disastrous effect in the 1990s.

There's always been a division between which major soft drink brands fast food chains carry. There are Coca-Cola fast food chains, like McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's; then there are Pepsi fast food chains, most notably the Yum! triumvirate of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. Well, there's about to be a major shake-up, because next year KFC is about to switch to Coca-Cola.

The change is part of a general plan to revitalize KFC, which has struggled in recent years to keep up with fresh young whippersnappers (relatively speaking) like Chick-fil-A, Popeye's, and Raising Cane's. Anyone who's worked in a moribund movie theater or fast food location will tell you that nothing freshens things up like a new Coke Freestyle machine, after all. Sure, Pepsi partisans will be disappointed, but if it makes them feel any better the rest of the Yum! brands will stay on the blue team and KFC will continue to sell Pepsi products internationally.

Who doesn't get excited when they hear a fast food location is opening near them for the first time? Even if you've never really been interested in it before, it's still a novelty. Well, get ready in 2027 because there are a few chains going into new territory. White Castle, for instance, is going to expand its presence in Texas, opening a second location in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Meanwhile Cava, a purveyor of Mediterranean-adjacent "slop bowls" (in the parlance of our times), is about to open its first location in San Francisco. (Honestly, we're surprised Cava wasn't in San Francisco before — it seems like the kind of thing they'd dig over there.)

As for international expansion, there are a few juicy tidbits. Shake Shack is taking the advice given to many a pop star and coming to Brazil as well as other Latin American countries. Meanwhile, Chipotle will be opening a location in Mexico City following the 2025 opening of a location in Nuevo León. How many locals will eat there as opposed to American tourists? Whatever the case, the balance will be enough to make the heads of the authenticity-obsessed explode.