Dessert, Beverage Prices Split Sharply by Region

Restaurant menu prices remained elevated but steady in the year through June 2026, rising 2.6% overall, even as individual menu categories split sharply by region, according to Datassential’s Menu Price Tracker report.

The widest gaps fell on the menu’s periphery. Dessert prices climbed 19.1% in the West and 15.4% in the Northeast, but just 9.3% in the South and 7.4% in the Midwest — an 11.7-point spread. Non-alcoholic beverages split wider still: 20.5% in the Midwest against 6.8% in the West, the largest regional divergence anywhere on the menu.

Beverages are an unusually forgiving place to take an increase. They carry higher margins than food and start from a lower price, so a steep percentage gain lands a small dollar change, according to Datassential’s Non-Alcoholic Beverages report.

At quick-service restaurants, the average non-alcoholic beverage price moved from $3.27 to $3.69 over the year — a double-digit jump worth 42 cents, the Menu Price Tracker found.

Elsewhere on the menu, those regional gaps largely disappeared. Appetizer prices rose double digits in every region, led by the Midwest at 13.2%, followed by the South at 11.6%, the West at 10.9% and the Northeast at 10.4%. Entrees and sides moved least of all, between 1.6% and 4.6%.

At limited-service restaurants, that division — double digits on the periphery, low single digits at the center of the plate — tracks with a broader intent of protecting prices on the items guests anchor their visit decision on, while routing increases to menu parts where there is more room to move without standing out.

Some of those increases may reflect menu-composition shifts — new or repriced items entering the mix — rather than higher prices on the same items. “Gauging where your regional prices sit against these benchmarks shows whether you are leading or lagging the market as the next pricing cycle plays out,” the Menu Price Tracker report said.