CHICAGO, June 2, 2026 —The simplification drive that shortened food menus during the pandemic has yet to spill over to the drink programs of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, according to a new gauge of R&D activity in 2025.
The Top 500 chains added 1,221 beverage options to their menus last year, or nine times the 223 food items that were added, Datassential revealed in a new snapshot of the chain market. Included in that number were limited-time offers (LTOs), short-term combinations and permanent menu additions.
Drink additions traditionally outnumber food-product introductions among the big chains, but Datassential found the gap is dramatically widening.
What’s more, the number of beverages added to menus has been increasing each year since at least 2022. In contrast, food additions dropped in number by 22% in 2024, to 216, and essentially leveled off last year.
So far in 2026, the Top 500 chains have added 547 beverage items, or about 60 times the 92 food options that have been marketed.
The discrepancy between food and beverage-focused menu additions is another illustration of beverages’ drawing power at a time of ebbing traffic for much of the chain sector. The Datassential 500, a ranking of the largest U.S. restaurant chains by systemwide sales volume, shows beverage-focused chains gaining in their unit counts and revenues on the market’s usual pace setters, burger specialists.
The Datassential 500 report has traditionally been accessible only through a Datassential subscription package. However, as an IFMA The Food Away from Home Association member benefit, top-tier manufacturer (tier II and III members), supply chain (tier II members) and operator members will now receive complimentary access to this annual report. Click here to access the report.
Datassential will discuss the trends and insights in its latest Top Restaurant Chains report during a webinar on June 11. Click here to register.