Recently, I've noticed more bowl meals popping up as limited-time offers on restaurant menus. But I think they are still an underexplored category in American cuisine, perhaps because they're not a traditional part of the food culture in this country.
A few fast casuals have grabbed onto them as quick, ingredient-intensive options. Chipotle showcases this with its Lifestyle Bowls, while Sweetgreen offers a variety of bowls that intentionally use a base other than lettuce.
Actually, the fast-casual segment wrote the playbook on some of the major appeals of bowl meals. The segment majors on easy ingredient mixing and offering plenty of room for customization. This built-in versatility caters to various dietary preferences, from vegetarian and vegan to protein-packed, plant-based or low-carb options.
But there are more reasons for operators to take a fresh look at bowls.
- Operational efficiencies. The straightforward assembly is easy with less complicated ingredient preparation.
- Healthy trend appeal. Bowls easily highlight healthy ingredients like seeds, nuts and grains. Fruits and vegetables can easily come along for the ride—all appealing to a broad customer base.
- Global cuisine. In the 2025 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast survey, chefs ranked Korean and Vietnamese cuisines as third and fifth among the top 10 food trends. Consider their national dishes, which are staples of street food: Korean Bibimbap and Vietnamese Pho, both iconic examples of bowl meals.
- Cost savings. The restaurant bottom line benefits with a bowl version of a menu item in which the ingredients are already on hand. Think of a burrito bowl as an extension of a regular burrito.
Let me point out a few recent bowl-meal LTOs to inspire you.
Flying Biscuit Café came up with a February Philly Cheesesteak Bowl LTO. That is seasoned potatoes topped with grilled onions, mushrooms, peppers, thinly sliced griddled steak, queso and cilantro.
Mahana Fresh also came up with a February bowl LTO, the Honey BBQ Shrimp Bowl featuring basmati rice, garlicky cilantro green beans, roasted sweet potato, shrimp in honey barbecue sauce along with coconut sweet potato sauce.
KFC will close us out here with its winter 2025 LTO—a value-centric offering of five bowl meals for $5 each.
- NEW Nashville Hot Loaded Fries Bowl– Crispy fries with coleslaw, pickles and five Original Recipe® Nuggets, drizzled with Nashville Hot Sauce.
- Nashville Hot Mac & Cheese Bowl– Mac & cheese combined with five Original Recipe® Nuggets, three-cheese blend and Nashville Hot Sauce.
- Nashville Hot Famous Bowl– A remix on a legendary KFC menu item that layers mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, three-cheese blend, five Original Recipe® Nuggets, plus Nashville Hot Sauce.
- Mac & Cheese Bowl– Creamy mac & cheese, three-cheese blend and five Original Recipe® Nuggets.
- Famous Bowl– The chain’s iconic mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, three-cheese blend and five Original Recipe® Nuggets.
Jody Shee
