Fast Food News This Week — July 27 to August 2, 2026
Here's what happened in fast food this week, July 27 to August 2, 2026. It was a busy week for menu news: prices kept climbing, Pizza Hut debuted a retro-priced value menu, and the dessert chains started rolling out their fall lineups early.
Fast food prices up 4.2% year over year
Industry data for July 2026 shows menu prices up 4.2% year over year. McDonald's prices rose 5.1%, Chipotle rose 6.2%, and Starbucks rose 4.8% — while Taco Bell held increases under 2% and Burger King kept its $5 Your Way Meal at $5. The takeaway: value menus and app-exclusive deals are the best defense against rising prices. See the full breakdown in our fast food inflation report for July 2026.
Pizza Hut launches the Throwback Value Menu
Pizza Hut debuted the Throwback Value Menu with two new sides — Triple Cheese Mac (mac and cheese with a three-cheese blend and crispy top) and S'mores Sticks (cinnamon-sugar breadsticks with chocolate and marshmallow dipping sauces) — joining retro-priced favorites under $10. It's the chain's direct answer to Domino's $6.99 Mix & Match deal. More in our Pizza Hut Throwback Value Menu story.
Krispy Kreme goes Latin American — and rolls out fall early
Krispy Kreme launched the Destination Dessert Collection — a limited-time trio of doughnuts inspired by Latin American desserts, available through August 9: a Tres Leches-Inspired Doughnut, a Guava Cheesecake Doughnut, and a Choco Dulce Cookie Crunch Doughnut. That arrived as the chain previewed its fall lineup — the Pumpkin Spice Doughnut ($2.29) lands in September, ahead of the Halloween Spooky Spider Doughnut ($2.49). Details in our Destination Dessert Collection story.
Starbucks adds Orange Cream drinks
Starbucks added an Orange Cream lineup to its summer menu — tangerine and mandarin flavors with sweet vanilla notes in an Orange Cream Cold Brew, Frappuccino, and hot tea variant, running $5.45-$6.45 depending on size. It's available for a limited window while summer supplies last. Full details in our Starbucks Orange Cream story.
Dessert chains update menus
Beyond Krispy Kreme, Baskin-Robbins named Strawberry Shortcake its August Flavor of the Month ($4.99 a scoop), and Auntie Anne's brought back the Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel ($4.99) plus a new Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel ($5.99) for fall. Roundup in our dessert chain menu updates story.
Also new this week
July's new menu items kept rolling out: Taco Bell's expanded Cantina Chicken Menu, McDonald's seasonal McFlurry flavors, and Wendy's new limited-time burger. See everything in our new menu items July 2026 story.
What's new this week — and coming next week
This week's launches included McDonald's Honey Brown Butter Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit and its Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer (dropping nationwide August 17), Wendy's Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion (August 3), Culver's Fried Pickle Pub Burger (available through September 27), Jimmy John's PB&J cookie (August 3), Auntie Anne's Mozzarella Stuffed Pretzel Nuggets (August 5), Zaxby's Alabama White BBQ sauce (August 4), Bojangles Carolina Crunch biscuit (August 5), Arby's Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwich in the Meat & 3 Box (August 4), and Popeyes $9.99 Tenders Meal (August 3).
Looking ahead: Wingstop brings back Carolina Gold BBQ and Jamaican Jerk sauces nationwide on August 11 (with limited early availability August 7), plus a Hot Honey Mustard Dip and Sprite Strawberry Rodeo drink. We'll cover each launch with full prices as they go live.
Bookmark the Menu News page and check back — we update it daily with price changes, new launches, and deals across all major chains.