Spring looks to be a perilous time for pigs—a good time for bacon on menus. For some reason, restaurants are really bringing home the bacon, right now!
I’ve seen and heard so much about bacon recently that it’s as if restaurants just discovered it. And this after trend predictors declared that bacon had run its course. Chefs have moved on. Well, how about a Maple Bacon Sundae from Denny’s? We’re talking vanilla ice cream dripping with maple-flavored syrup and topped with chopped bacon sprinkles. This fits in line with a true trend, combining sweet and savory. Upscale chefs have been onto this for awhile. But chain restaurants haven’t done a lot of that. Good for Denny’s.
But back to bacon. Denny’s is taking the lead with its whole-hogged commitment to bacon. It’s calling its LTO bacon extravaganza Baconalia! A Celebration of Bacon. Seven bacon-centric dishes cover the whole menu—breakfast, lunch and dinner. The ice cream is the most interesting.
What other interesting things are happening with bacon now? Wienerschnitzel chose to celebrate its 50th anniversary, not with cake, but bacon. For a limited time, it has added a bacon-wrapped hot dog line. Besides the obvious, it also has bacon-wrapped hot dogs with chili and bacon-wrapped street dogs with grilled onions and condiments.
Also of note, Dunkin’ Donuts is moving beyond donuts and coaxing consumers in for a real breakfast. Between two slices of Texas toast, you can get two peppered fried eggs, four slices of cherrywood-smoked bacon and a slice of American cheese. It’s called the Big ‘N Toasty Breakfast Sandwich. It sounds substantial.
So, one interesting thing to watch, moving forward, is how these places differentiate their bacon. Until now, restaurants have thought they were cool with applewood-smoked bacon. But notice, Dunkin’ Donuts is offering cherrywood-smoked bacon. Until the end of April, Papa Murphy’s is running a new Bacon Bacon Bacon pizza special combining Canadian bacon, pepper bacon and crispy bacon.
One thing is certain, bacon isn’t going anywhere but up. According to Mintel Menu Insights, the number of restaurant menu items that mention bacon as an ingredient has increased 36% in the past two years. Restaurants are finding that you can’t offer too much of a good thing.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to mention?
Jody
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