By Lizzy Freier

Looking back on emerging trends can help operators plan for the future with menu items that are on the rise. RestoBiz and Technomic have partnered to present LTO Trend Watch, highlighting trends that are gaining traction, along with providing relevant data to help operators meet diner demands, stay trendy, and structure offers that will get guests excited. January brought exciting trends like tea sours, hot honey pizza, and more.  

January’s top trends

LTOs and new items trending in January had some operators enhancing their menus with specialty hot beverages, specifically tea sours. This beverage – cocktail or mocktail – typically combines black or green brewed tea with traditional “sour” components like lemon juice, sweetener, and frequently egg white foam. Two examples of operators adding this specialty beverage to the menu include:

• Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar added a London Fog Gin Sour, featuring 2-ounces of Beefeater Gin, triple sec, Earl Grey tea, egg whites, simple syrup, and lemon juice.
• At State & Main, the Cherry Matcha Sour paired Suntory Toki Japanese whisky with cherry and matcha.

Hot honey pizza

Following the “swicy” trend into 2026, January also saw a rise in pizzas topped with hot honey sauce to add an unexpected kick to a fan favourite, with the following two LTOs spotlighting this trendy flavour:

• Red Swan Pizza launched a Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza with sesame seeds, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, onion, banana pepper, and hot honey sauce.
• Pizzaville debuted a Soppressata and Hot Honey Pinsa featuring secret spicy sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh baby spinach, soppressata, mushrooms, and sweet cherry tomatoes, drizzled with a signature hot honey on authentic sourdough crust.

Comparing month-to-month LTOs gives operators a chance to see what the competition is doing to better plan for the upcoming year. Here is the data from January 2025 to January 2026:

Monthly LTO Tracker

-8 per cent month over month

+42 per cent year over year

LTOs by mealpart

How can operators decide which menus should feature LTOs? Here is a look at the LTO trends by mealpart from January 2026:

LTOs by segment

Where do diners find the most LTOs? Data shows that 66 per cent of LTOs were from full-service restaurants, whereas only 34 per cent of limited-service restaurants participated in LTOs in January. As for the breakdown of those offers, out of 987 total LTOs/new additions for January 2026, 98 per cent were limited-time offers and 2 per cent made up new additions.

As diner preferences continue to change, operators need to adjust their offers, innovate with LTOs, and watch the trends to find success in 2026 and beyond.

Lizzy Freier is a Senior Director of Menu Research & Insights for Technomic, a Chicago-based foodservice research and consulting firm. Technomic provides clients with the facts, insights and consulting support they need to enhance their business strategies, decisions and results. The company’s services include publications and digital products as well as proprietary studies and ongoing research on all aspects of the food industry, including menu trends.

Source: Technomic Ignite Menu