• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

Chicken chains continue to gain in popularity, with growth outpacing other rival categories such as burgers, pizza and sandwiches, as we head into 2026.

According to Technomic’s latest food service industry insights, the chicken category is forecast to account for over 12% of all U.S. chain restaurant sales in 2025, compared to just a 7% share in 2015. Technomic attributes the success to the increasing growth of chicken-based chains such as Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s and Wingstop.

Still, chicken still falls second in popularity to burgers, which account for 23% of sales.

Following behind chicken chains in growth are coffee chains, attaining sales share increases of 2.3%, and Mexican chains, with a 1.6% increase.

As we head into winter and temperatures continue to drop, Technomic took a look at hot beverage trends. Classic coffee/filer coffee remains the top hot beverage ordered, but some more unique options are on the upswing. Specialty tea (+18.1%), other specialty coffee (+12.1%) and cortados (+8.1%) all saw increased menu mentions in 2025. The popularity of the cortado, which is a Spanish coffee drink made with lightly steamed milk, was attributed to increasing global influence.

Other internationally inspired coffee trends include the increase in Cuban (+18.5%) and Mexican (+18.2%) inspired options. Of particular interest is the 23.3% increase in popularity of horchata as a hot beverage, as the Latin American blended rice and cinnamon drink is typically served cold. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf introduced a Horchata Latte this year,  “with 71% of potential purchasers saying they would be likely to increase visits to an operator for this item,” according to the report.

Lastly Technomic took a look at exactly who is driving Chili’s Grill & Bar’s success, as the chain has reported 17 consecutive quarters of positive same-store growth. Eighteen-to-24-year-olds are among the chain’s heavy user base, making up 12% of overall customers with 85% dining inside restaurant. That's higher than the casual-dining-chain average for share of 18- to 24-year-olds of below 10%, with only 79% of the same demo dining on-site. The highest concentration (25%) of Chili’s customers are in the 35-to-44 age range, followed by 25-to 34-year-olds at 22%.