Restaurant Chains Put TikTok Trends on the Menu

A chocolate bar that Americans could not buy two years ago anchors menus at pancake houses, burger stands, and ice cream counters.

Shake Shack brought back its Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake nationwide for a limited run this summer. The chain builds it from pistachio custard and toasted kataifi, the shredded phyllo used in Middle Eastern pastry, then coats the top in a crackable dark chocolate shell. On Instagram, Shake Shack told followers "your summer fling is back" and is "turning heads," a nod to "Love Island."

Customers responded within hours. "This changed my brain chemistry last summer and I'm ready for it to be changed again," one wrote. Another called the return the "best news ever."

Shake Shack first launched the item in April 2025 at select restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami at $9.24 and 1,080 calories, then expanded nationally that June after customer feedback arrived. Influencers filmed themselves squeezing the cups to crack the chocolate lining.

Customers responded within hours. "This changed my brain chemistry last summer and I'm ready for it to be changed again," one wrote. Another called the return the "best news ever."

Shake Shack first launched the item in April 2025 at select restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami at $9.24 and 1,080 calories, then expanded nationally that June after customer feedback arrived. Influencers filmed themselves squeezing the cups to crack the chocolate lining.

Other feeds produced other menu items. Baskin-Robbins built a Dot Cake Inspired Sundae with confetti cake, icing, and round nonpareil sprinkles. Long John Silver's added coconut cream to fountain drinks, its version of the dirty soda. Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers introduced five cream sodas on a Starry base.

TikTok user Alex Mutammara called himself a "Dubai Chocolate Skeptic," then rated the Shake Shack version "one of their best shakes" because "they're not trying to do too much."

RELATED: TikTok's Most Popular Food Trends This Year

It seems that now QSR chains have to plan around two calendars. One belongs to holidays, with brands like Krispy Kreme and Del Taco preparing red-white-and-blue launches for America's 250th birthday. The other follows the algorithm, which publishes no schedule.