Every once in a while (who are we kidding, it’s more like every week) we come across some unique menu items that get our attention. Here are six that will either have you scratching your head…or licking your lips.

Tocabe’s Bison Ribs

The Denver-based fast casual Tocabe is known for its traditional Native American cuisine—one of the only multiunit concepts to take so unique an approach—and has earned rave reviews for its Bison Ribs. The ribs are cured for 24 hours, then braised in a house-made bison stock, grilled, and glazed with a seasonal berry barbecue sauce.

If you’re a fan of the KFC brand, you may be aware that they have recently announced the Clean Eating Burger (#cleaneating burger). And whether or not you believe this new menu item is real is now beside the point. You see, the point here is that everyone was talking about it. A lot.

It didn’t actually matter if the chia-seeded cauliflower bun was real and meant to actually be a bun. And it doesn’t matter about the unsweetened almond yoghurt or the ice cube relish. The spiralized chicken breast and 100 per cent British kale? Doesn’t matter.

It never fails - new years bring new trends which always seems to bring new words and phrases to describe them. This year is no different, so we figured we’d give you a head start on 5 new industry words you’re likely to hear now - and moving forward.

Chef-driven. There was once a time when chefs were the hidden faces of restaurants. They were rarely seen, but often revered as the hidden hero of the menu. Today is a much different story. With so many celebrity chefs on the map there is a new trend of having the chef be at the center of...well...just about everything. Whether a brand cashes in on a chef’s celebrity status, or they merely use chef-developed menu items to signify healthy and natural offerings, this trend is a response to increased demand for healthier items that are rich in creativity and dimension. And those things come from, usually, chefs.  

When people talk about restaurant and dining trends, they typically go right for the plate - meaning they talk about new foods, new ingredients, new food sources and the like. But restaurant trends these days go far beyond the plate - off the menu and into other areas you’d likely not think of right away.

So let’s jump into some 2017 trends that we see happening around the world and see if you saw them coming.

If you think brand loyalty is a thing of the past, think again. We hear talk of patrons going from brand-to-brand-to-brand and we just assume that it's because loyalty has jumped the shark when, in fact, the opposite is true. People leave brands because brands aren't giving them a good enough reason to stay. And in no place is those more true than in the quick-serve, fast-casual restaurant space. 

So is there anything a QSR in today's market can do to lower the likelihood of a patron exodus in search of a brand that better-suits their needs? You bet. And we'll sum it up here in two words: