Operators Turn to Drinks, Desserts as Pricing Levers

The average price of beverages and desserts increased by more than those of entrees, according to Datassential’s recent Menu Price Tracker report, suggesting operators are leaning on lower-visibility menu categories to offset rising costs without provoking consumer pushback.

From May 2025 to May 2026, Datassential’s Price Monitor recorded a roughly 5% increase in non-alcoholic beverage prices across both full-service and limited-service restaurants. Prices climbed 6.5% at FSRs and 5.1% at LSRs, positioning beverages among the largest increasing and most consistently shifting menu categories.

Desserts followed a similar path. LSR dessert prices climbed 7% year over year, including a 7.7% increase at quick-service chains. By comparison, menu pricing remained far more restrained for core meal items. Casual dining entree prices declined 1.4% over the same period, while FSR entrees posted increases of less than 1%.

The beverage story stands out not only for the size of the increases but also for their uniformity. Non-alcoholic beverage prices rose between 4.7% and 5.6% across all four U.S. regions — Midwest, Northeast, South, and West — indicating a remarkably consistent pricing strategy regardless of geography. Desserts, meanwhile, showed greater regional variation, with prices jumping 8.8% in the Midwest compared with a 3.7% increase in the Northeast.

“The pricing patterns we see in menu data reinforce a key finding from our menu-part price indices: price increases are not being distributed evenly across restaurant menus,” said Datassential Economist Keenan Marchesi, Ph.D. “As costs rise, operators are making targeted pricing decisions by category. Those shifts can be difficult to detect in broad inflation measures, but they are clearly visible in the underlying menu data.” 

The pricing pattern appears increasingly deliberate. With the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index falling to 44.8 in May, its lowest level on record, operators seem focused on protecting the prices consumers use to benchmark value while directing increases toward add-on purchases, Marchesi noted. Beverages and desserts offer an opportunity to recover margin without materially changing the advertised price of a burger, sandwich, or pasta dish. 

“When consumers begin to feel the pinch at the gas pump, operators have to be strategic with pricing decisions to protect their place in consumers’ wallets,” he added. “If prices of their favorite items increase too quickly, consumers may start looking elsewhere — or skip dining out altogether.” 

The pressure to find those margins remains substantial. Menu inflation increased 3.5% year over year in May, outpacing the 2.7% rise in grocery price inflation and highlighting the ongoing cost challenges facing restaurant operators.

Overall, posted menu prices increased 1.7% from May 2025 to May 2026, including a 3.1% increase at FSRs and a 1.4% increase at LSRs. Those gains remained well below the 4.25% all-items inflation rate, which was driven largely by higher energy costs.