What’s New in Food This October? Salty Lattes, Molly Baz’s Sweetgreen Collab & Pumpkin Spice’s GLP-1-Friendly Twist

Pricey gastropub burgers have met their match. Fast casual chains are elevating their offerings, from Burger King’s new Game Day Pretzel Burger (a flame-grilled patty topped with bacon, American cheese, nacho cheese and crispy onions, served on a pretzel roll) to Smashburger’s New York Pastrami Smash, an ode to the city’s iconic deli sandwich.

The most notable, though, is the return of Shake Shack’s fan-favorite Black Truffle menu. Its Black Truffle sauce is made with black truffle oil sourced from Umbria, Italy, adding a rich, earthy note to everything it touches. Starting Sept. 29, you’ll be able to order the Black Truffle Burger, the Black Truffle ‘Shroom (which subs a meat patty for a fried portobello mushroom stuffed with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses) and the Black Truffle Shack Stack, which combines the stuffed ‘shroom and Angus beef patty in one sandwich. You’ll also be able to order the Black Truffle Sauce as a side to dip with the chain’s mac and cheese bites, chicken bites, onion rings and Parmesan fries.

While people clamor to NYC’s Seven Grams Caffe for its gooey cookies, I dream of its salty-sweet brown butter cold foam iced latte. It has a nutty note that reminds me of Maman’s viral Salted Tahini Honeycomb Latteand Space Cowboy’s Don’t Bee Salty, cold brew infused with vanilla, honey and sea salt.

Turns out I’m not alone in my cravings for all things salty-sweet; Yelp reports searches for salted brown butter lattes are up 900 percent and salted maple lattes are up 550 percent this year, proving that the PSL has some serious competition this year.

Cozy season calls for comfort food, but the chains are offering some creative twists to stand out, many of which involve maple bacon. First Watch leads the way with its Maple Bacon Croissant Sandwich, combining its Million Dollar bacon with pork sausage, eggs, house-pickled jalapeños, cheddar and bacon apricot jam on a griddled croissant. You’ll also find pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice donut holes and a Godfather Breakfast Bowl (tk hero ingredients) on its fall menu.

Meanwhile, Sonny’s BBQ is dishing up Pecan Pie Egg Rolls (dusted with cinnamon-sugar, no less), alongside Maple BBQ Pork Burnt Ends and a Maple BBQ Turkey Club (which features smoked turkey, chipotle candied bacon, Swiss cheese and a drizzle of Maple barbecue sauce).

Not to be outdone, Cracker Barrel’s fall menu includes Maple Bacon Homestyle Chicken (crispy chicken topped with melted Colby cheese and bacon, then drizzled with a sweet maple glaze and ranch dressing), Nashville Hot Homestyle Chicken and Honey Butter Homestyle Chicken. For breakfast, you can snag Sweet Cream Caramel Apple Pancakes and French Toast, and for dessert, Apple Cobbler Cheesecake.

And if you need a faster option, hit up Popeyes: The brand just launched the Honey Chicken Biscuit to end all Honey Chicken Biscuits. It's absolutely massive, with the same shatteringly crisp breading the set off the chicken sandwich wars a few years ago. Ask for extra napkins; you'll need 'em.

Just about every menu has something pumpkin on it, but these are some of the most noteworthy additions:

• Starbucks: Pumpkin Mini Pies (along with pecan and apple crumble flavors) officially hit the menu, bringing you a whole new lil’ treat to look forward to.
• Benihana: Pumpkin and lobster fried rice, lobster and shrimp gyoza (wrapped in a pumpkin gyoza skin), pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice margaritas (featuring real pumpkin puree) are all available on the Flavors of Fall menu.
• Cheesecake Factory: The iconic pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pecan cheesecake are back, baby.
• Smoothie King: The Slim-N-Trim GLP-1 Pumpkin Smoothie packs 9 grams of fiber and more than 23 grams of protein into this zero-grams-of-added-sugar, pumpkin puree-based smoothie. It’s part of a larger lineup of GLP-1-friendly options at the chain.

Proving pickles are a lifestyle, not a phase, Sweetgreen partnered with cookbook author Molly Baz to create a dill-forward mini menu. I got an early taste, and I have to say, I don’t care for chicken salad…and yet I devoured Molly’s Double Chick Scoop. It features hearty chunks of white meat chicken tossed in Ayoh! Dill Pickle Mayo, which provides a tangy, dill-y note.

It serves as the base for two riffs on Caesar salad too: First, in Molly’s Pickle Caesar Sal, which combines the chicken salad with pickled red onion, Parm, spicy broccoli, garlic breadcrumbs, lemon, dill, Caesar dressing and a pickle spear. And second, in Molly’s Big Dill Caesar Wrap, where all of the salad ingredients are splashed with pickle mayo and wrapped in a tortilla.

Both feature a great mix of flavors and textures, with the tangy, briny notes dominating the meal. Pickle lovers will go wild; pickle haters will need to find something else to try. (As for me? I’m all about the wrap.)

The frozen food aisle is getting bougier by the week, and right now, the breakfast section is having a particular renaissance. I’ve tested a ton, but these four companies stood out for their bakery-quality results.

• Wildgrain: You won’t believe these pastries came from your freezer, and the brand’s now on Amazon. The croissant trio is a must-try; you’ll get three four-packs of almond, chocolate and traditional croissants. They’re flaky and buttery, with the kind of airy layers most bakers dream of.
• Sunshine Buns: Massive, better-than-mall-food-court buns that are ready with a 45-second boost in the microwave? Believe it. (You can find them at a range of local grocery stores, like Fresh Market, Lee’s Marketplace and Ridley’s Family Markets.)
• Superb Bakehouse: These crisp on the outside, pillowy on the inside Belgian waffles will make you question everything you know about a frozen waffle, let alone a gluten-free, dairy-free one.

A new school year means all kinds of packaged snacks to make brown-bagging it easier…but we’ve all been hit with those duds your kids refuse to eat. Especially when it comes to healthy-ish snacks. A ton of better-for-you options have hit the market, but these are the ones that impressed even the pickiest eaters in my household:

• MadeGood Granola Bites: Okay, these are new to me, not new to market, but the strawberry-granola clusters are a great, poppable snack to take on the go.
• Once Upon a Farm Power Wheels: I literally keep a box in my car at all times to keep post-pickup hanger at bay. The soft-baked bars are somewhere between an oatmeal bar and a muffin, texture-wise, with a light fruity flavor.
• Soley Organic Mango & Guava Gummies: It contains just two ingredients—organic mango and guava. That’s it. 
• Little Spoon Brownie Batter Dip + Cookies Dipsters: ‘90s kids will appreciate this snack, which pairs vanilla cookies with a brownie batter dip…and contains spinach, but you’d honestly never know it. It tastes like dessert, only it’s sweetened with maple syrup and has 2 grams of protein and a gram of fiber in each serving.

Blue Bottle’s become known for its New Orleans-style iced coffee, featuring the creamy, woody-meets-marshmallowy notes of chicory. And now, you can get that flavor at home with its New Orleans-Style Coffee Set ($34). Available in regular or decaf, the kit pairs one bag of NOLA-style beans with a 4-ounce bottle of vanilla chicory syrup, so you can infuse your brew with as much or as little flavor as you like.

I’m not saying you should ditch your Sunday gravy, but it may be worth mixing things up every once in a while. Sauz is constantly dropping new twists on traditional jarred sauces. Its latest, Zesty Italian Vodka Sauce ($12.49/jar), gives the classic creamy sauce an herby upgrade (which, as the name implies, was inspired by the classic salad dressing). It’s a lively foil to mozzarella, making it a great pairing for chicken Parm or ziti bakes.

Meanwhile, Carbone unveiled an Italian take on chili crisp, offering two varieties: Calabrian Chili Crisp (pairing the chili with red bell pepper, onion, garlic and oil) and Aglio e Peperoncino (a milder take, featuring hot peppers, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, parsley and oil). It’s meant to be drizzled as a finishing touch on pizza, pasta, grilled meat and, well, anything that could use a jolt of flavor. You can buy both varieties for $28 per two-pack at Amazon.

And, if you want to go all out without going all out, check out Riff ($8.29/kit), a new meal kit service from Daniel Humm, the chef behind the three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park. Each boxed pasta kit contains noodles, sauce and a topping, along with the chef’s recommendations for a few simple, fresh ingredients that can take the meal to the next level (like simmering sliced mushrooms in the sauce when making the Creamy Parmesan Cavatappi). You can find it at Target or on EatRiff.com.

Food x fashion collabs were a surprising hit during NYFW, with Betty Crocker, Burger King and UnReal all making unexpected handbag launches. But the crossover doesn’t end there—you can also find some of your favorite chains in the beauty department this fall. And they’re more widely available too. Londontown teamed up with Magnolia Bakery on a nail polish collab that features shades inspired by its iconic sweets, banana pudding included, along with a cupcake-scented cuticle oil and a chocolate-hued carrying case (complete with cupcake bag charm, of course).

Similarly, Mane created the ultimate tween gift, partnering with Cinnabon on a lip gloss and hairbrush set that’s sold at Sephora. (And yes, the shimmery gloss both smells and tastes like the brand’s famous cream cheese frosting.)

If you thought restaurants had gone over-gourd, just wait until you go grocery shopping. In a world where even your trash bags can smell like cinnamon pumpkin spice, you better believe you can get almost everything on your shopping list pumpkin-ified.

• Runamok Pumpkin Spice-Infused Maple Syrup
• Jeni’s Pumpkin with Brown Sugar Blondies Ice Cream
• Seven Sundays Pumpkin Oatcakes
• Pillsbury Grands Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
• Kroger Private Selection Pumpkin Pie Caramels
• Pumpkin Spice IQBAR and IQJOE