6 New Fast Food Menu Items To Order In August 2026

This summer is hot — skip heating up the kitchen and grab something from your favorite fast food spot instead. Several of the big chains recently released some new dishes worth trying to draw you into the restaurant or through the drive-through. In the list below, you'll find a new burger with fried pickles, West Coast-style fries from an East Coast chain, a honey butter biscuit breakfast sandwich, a taco that is also a burger, and a couple cold drinks to be discovered.

Most of these dishes are available for a limited time only, so if anything piques your interest, don't wait! In fact, limited-time menus like this are meant to drive customers in through the exclusivity of the temporary dishes, and it keeps diners from getting bored of the same burger over and over. Some of the featured items below are brand new, while others are returning favorites. If you missed out on the new fast food dishes that came out in May, make sure you're first in line for these August 2026 specials.

McDonald's applewood smoked bacon, folded egg, and American cheese sandwich on a buttermilk biscuit is already one of our favorite biscuit breakfast sandwiches from a fast food chain. As of July 21, McDonald's is brushing a honey brown butter sauce onto an already winning sandwich. The sweet and savory sauce with its creamy, nutty brown butter and honey is only available for a limited time.

Hitting right in the hottest part of summer, Taco Bell's Pineapple Freeze is a tropical frozen slushy that will be sure to cool you down. The Pineapple Whip Freeze was a popular drink back in 2020 and, on Reddit, Taco Bell fans are beyond excited to see a pineapple-flavored freeze back on the menu. "I've been waiting [six] years for this to come back!" wrote one commenter. Now, to get the creaminess of the original Pineapple Whip drink, you can "make it dirty" and add vanilla creme.

Pickles on a burger are a necessity. From August 3 to September 27, Culver's is upgrading its pickles by breading and frying them for the Fried Pickle Pub Burger. Culver's is a classic Midwest-style burger chain, and what's more Midwest than frying a pickle? Don't worry — if you aren't in the mood for a ButterBurger, fried pickles will also be available as a side while supplies last.

Can't decide between a burger and a taco? Luckily, this is America, where we can put a burger into a taco! It took our nation 250 years, but Del Taco figured it out. For a limited time starting August 6, the California-based taco chain is putting its burger patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, diced onions, and burger sauce on the flatbread used for its "Big Fat Taco" and folding it up. That's American innovation!

As of July 14, the East Coast versus West Coast rap battle has spilled over into french fries. A part of Shake Shack's West Coast menu, the West Coast Loaded Fries take the chain's crinkle-cut fries and give them In-N-Out's classic animal-style treatment. Now you don't have to rely on an In-N-Out ordering hack to get crispy fries with all the toppings. For a limited time, Shake Shack's version comes with both melted cheddar and American cheese, caramelized onions, and the chain's Secret Sauce.

It may be early August, but Wendy's is already bringing out the fall flavors with the new Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion. Frosty Fusions are the chain's new sweet treat that debuted last year, combining a Frosty with a syrup and a mix-in. Available through the fall starting August 3, this vanilla Frosty comes with spiced apple syrup and oat crumble to create a reverse pie à la mode. The real question is: Will it beat the Wendy's Minions & Monsters Banana Frosty Swirl that was on our list of the best fast food ice cream treats of 2026?