Restaurants Take Hint About Secret Menu Items Customers Clamor For

There’s not much of a secret when it comes to fast food restaurant menus – just swap out an ingredient or two of something else to personalize an order. However, include the word secret and a nickname, and customers are clamoring for it.

According to one consumer behavior expert, people have a desire to be in on something the rest of the world has no knowledge about – like they are a part of some fancy club or something.

Restaurants can keep track of these orders, crunching the numbers to learn more about the base. If a customized order is ordered enough times, it becomes a part of the menu board.

Some of the fun people have is knowing what others have no clue about; one of the reasons restaurants that add in that food lose the customers who thought it up in the first place. However, they may have a new product that could never have happened without the research and development teams.

What are some interesting menu items that have been added to the menu due to customer favorite “secret” orders?

Starbucks “Dragon Drink”

Starbucks not only uses an innovation lab to come up with drinks; it also gets some help from its customers. According to Maggie Jantzen, a spokeswoman with the company, said there are over 170,000 ways a barista can personalize a drink.

The Dragon Drink, which was a personalized drink and on the “secret” menu, is now listed on the limited time summer menu only. Customers would order a Strawberry Acai Refresher with coconut milk rather than water, which created the Pink Drink.

McDonald’s Triple Breakfast Stacks

McDonald's recently announced it was bringing in some international favorites such as the Stroopwafel McFlurry from the Netherlands. However, the company has been taking customized orders to come up with some new product ideas. One such idea is the Triple Breakfast Stacks, which the company gives credit to its customers for making super-sized sandwiches.

Chipotle Quesadillas

There have been rumors for years that customers could order quesadillas – something already on the children’s menu. However, the company is testing a regular entrée quesadillas now in various locations around the nation.