Fall menus are arriving earlier than ever, but thankfully, restaurant chains aren’t limiting themselves to pumpkin spice lattes this year. The 2026 season is bringing everything from chicken and waffles and caramel apple pastries to pecan pie cold brew, queso-covered chicken, baked pasta, and even a pumpkin bagel returning after a seven-year absence.
Some chains are leaning into classic pumpkin flavors, while others are treating fall as an excuse to experiment with apple butter, cookie butter, caramel apple, s’mores, and plenty of savory comfort food. And because most of these seasonal releases won’t stick around forever, there’s a little extra incentive to try them while you can.
Here are 12 restaurant chains with fall menu items worth putting on your radar this year.
Pumpkin Bagel With Pumpkin Shmear (Einstein Bros. Bagels)
Some pumpkin products disappear for a year and come right back. Einstein Bros. made fans wait considerably longer. The chain’s Pumpkin Bagel and Pumpkin Shmear are returning nationwide on August 26 for the first time in seven years after repeated requests from customers. They’re joined by a new Pumpkin Crunch Pull-Apart Bagel, Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart, and Crème Brûlée Iced Coffee. If you’ve spent the better part of a decade wondering why your breakfast couldn’t taste like pumpkin again, apparently someone was listening.
Caramel Apple Streusel Donut (Paris Baguette)
Paris Baguette isn’t settling for one caramel apple pastry this fall. Starting August 26, the bakery chain is rolling out an entire Caramel Apple collection featuring a trifle, donut, waffle, tart, macchiato, and even a Caramel Apple Matcha Latte. Pumpkin fans aren’t being ignored, either: There’s a separate lineup with treats including a Pumpkin Spice Cruffin, Pumpkin Cheese Danish, and Pumpkin Streusel Tart. Between the two collections, this may be one of the most extensive bakery-focused fall menus of the season.
Maple Bacon Croissant Sandwich (First Watch)
First Watch is going big on sweet-and-savory comfort food this fall. The returning Maple Bacon Croissant Sandwich piles pork sausage, an egg, Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, and the chain’s Million Dollar Bacon onto a griddled croissant, then adds bacon-apricot jam and fresh jalapeño for a little heat. It’s part of First Watch’s limited-time fall menu, available nationwide through October 26, alongside seasonal favorites like Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin Spice Donuts. For anyone who’d rather eat their fall flavors than drink them, this one makes a pretty convincing case.
Apple Cinnamon Roll Cold Brew (Philz Coffee)
Pumpkin-spice fatigue is apparently real enough that Philz Coffee built its 2026 fall menu without pumpkin at all. Instead, the chain introduced two new cold brews on August 18. Apple Cinnamon Roll Cold Brew combines coffee with caramel apple butter, vanilla sauce, and cinnamon, while Pecan Pie Cold Brew uses pecan toffee, cinnamon, and sea salt. Both still sound appropriately autumnal, just without forcing another PSL onto a menu that probably doesn’t need one.
Sparkling Green Apple Energy (Peet’s Coffee)
Peet’s has a lot going on this fall. Its August menu brought back pumpkin favorites alongside a new Sparkling Green Apple Energy drink and three protein smoothies, including a Caramel Apple option. Then, beginning October 5, another wave will add an Iced Pumpkin Matcha Latte and Pumpkin Cold Brew. Perhaps most interesting for regulars is the return of Peet’s $30 Cold Brew Pass, which lets participating customers get one medium cold brew per day for 30 consecutive days during the promotion. Use it every day and you’re effectively paying about a dollar per drink.
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Apple Butter Frozen Treats (Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard)
Rita’s is proof that fall food doesn’t actually have to be hot. The frozen-dessert chain brought back Pumpkin and Apple Butter flavors on August 24, turning two decidedly cozy autumn flavors into treats that make considerably more sense when it’s still 80 degrees outside. Apple butter is particularly interesting since it remains relatively uncommon on major chain menus. It’s also a nice break for anyone whose idea of fall doesn’t automatically begin and end with pumpkin spice.
Coffee High Protein Pumpkin (Smoothie King)
Smoothie King is taking a decidedly different approach to pumpkin season with six pumpkin smoothies ranging from Vegan Pumpkin to Coffee High Protein Pumpkin. Among the new additions is the Slim-N-Trim GLP-1 Pumpkin Smoothie, which the company says contains more than 23 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, and no added sugar. The Coffee High Protein Pumpkin packs more than 31 grams of protein along with caffeine. The lineup also uses organic pumpkin purée, making these feel a little more pumpkin-forward than simply adding flavored syrup to another drink.
Baked Cheese Tortelloni (Noodles & Company)
Sometimes fall food can just mean a giant bowl of baked pasta. Noodles & Company introduced its limited-time Baked Cheese Tortelloni on August 5 as a comfort-food option for the season. Cheese-filled tortelloni are layered with marinara, mozzarella, and Italian herbs before being baked until the cheese browns on top. There isn’t any pumpkin, cinnamon, maple, caramel, or apple involved — and after several months of fall-flavored everything, that might be exactly the selling point.
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Fried Pickles With Old Bay Ranch (Long John Silver’s)
Long John Silver’s fall menu is taking a sharp turn away from the coffee-shop playbook. The seafood chain launched freshly battered Fried Pickles on August 24, served with a new ranch flavored with Old Bay seasoning. You can order them separately or alongside fish and chicken as part of a platter. There is still something appropriately seasonal waiting for dessert, though: Pumpkin Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory Bakery is back for a limited time.
Queso Bacon Chicken Sandwich (Pollo Campero)
Pollo Campero has decided autumn doesn’t need cinnamon; it needs melted cheese. The chain is bringing back its fan-favorite queso and expanding it into an Everything Queso lineup for fall. The standout is the Queso Bacon Chicken Sandwich, which tops the chain’s chicken sandwich with queso and bacon on a buttered brioche bun. It’s less pumpkin-patch excursion and more cold-weather comfort food, but when the result involves fried chicken, bacon, and queso, we’re willing to broaden the definition of a fall menu.
Caramel Apple Empanada (Taco Bell)
Taco Bell is leaning on nostalgia rather than pumpkin spice with its latest Decades Menu, which arrived August 20 with four items associated with 2016. The Beefy Crunch Burrito, Meximelt, and Naked Chicken Chalupa are all back, but fall fans will probably be most interested in the Caramel Apple Empanada. The warm pastry filled with apples and caramel developed a devoted following before disappearing from menus, prompting years of requests for its return. Better yet, all four throwback items launched for less than $6.
