Every year, there are signs that let us know when autumn is around the corner. The air becomes crisp and cold, the leaves turn into a medley of reds and oranges and, most importantly, restaurants of all kinds begin to introduce their seasonal fall menu items. Internationally recognized coffee chain Starbucks is widely known for its highly anticipated fall menu, but because of this, many other chains’ autumn menus fall under the radar. Here is a review of many overlooked fall menu items for you to try this season if you’d like to branch out from the classic Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Coffee
Like Starbucks, many other coffee chains introduce autumnal cold brews and lattes as fall rolls in. One of these is Peet’s Coffee, offering a pumpkin latte which can be served either hot or iced. The iced pumpkin latte was delicious, but it fell short on one important note — it was not pumpkin-y enough. The latte was a perfect balance between sweet and bitter leaving a pleasant aftertaste, but unfortunately, its lack of strong pumpkin flavor made it no more special than any typical latte.
The cafe with the widest menagerie of autumn-themed drinks is the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, offering a seasonal menu that includes pumpkin chai lattes and americanos, salted maple lattes and various ice blended drinks. A simple yet notable menu item worth trying is the pumpkin cream cold brew. This drink was strong and aromatic, yet less bitter than other coffees. The cold brew itself was sweet, which was further enhanced by the soft pumpkin cream on top. Although the pumpkin flavor was, similar to the pumpkin latte, not very strong, the combination of sweet flavors with pumpkin spice on top blended into a gorgeous ombré of intense and soft flavors reminiscent of fall.
If you’d rather go to a smaller, local coffee shop than a typical chain, Lovewell Tea & Coffee on Ventura Avenue offers a seasonal menu of items such as the Pumpkin Pie Latte, Caramel Apple Pop Chai, the Patch Latte and Sweater Weather drink. One of the most unexpected flavor combinations would be of matcha with pumpkin pie, two flavors that seem like they would clash, but were surprisingly yummy.
Baked goods
Amongst their many different flavors of cookies, well-known cookie chain Crumbl Cookies (Crumbl) also offers other types of baked goods including mini pies and cakes. During the week of Aug. 25, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2024, Crumbl began to embrace the fall season by introducing their first autumn treat of the year: the pumpkin square. With a base of pumpkin bread topped with brown sugar cinnamon butter and vanilla cream cheese frosting sprinkled, this cake includes all the big hitters of the fall season.
In the fall months, Crumbl has been known to cycle through various autumnal flavors, selling flavors such as caramel pumpkin cake, maple cinnamon square, pumpkin chocolate chip, maple glaze and pumpkin roll, and are likely to cycle through more flavors through the end of the season.
Additionally, BJ’s has popped out with a seasonal pizookie flavor: the Spooky Pizookie. This seasonal cookie-ice cream combo has a cookies and cream cookie base topped with vanilla bean ice cream, oreo crumbs, Halloween sprinkles and a crackable chocolate syrup. This pizookie had a wonderfully Halloween-themed color palette, making it a great sweet treat for the season. However, it was lacking one thing: fall flavors. Despite being cute, the pizookie lacked any flavors reminiscent of fall: no pumpkin, no cinnamon and no apple. Although the pizookie wasn’t particularly better or different from any other pizookie, it’s still a delicous treat.
If you’re looking for a breakfast treat rather than a dessert, International House of Pancakes (IHOP) is offering pumpkin spice pancakes. These fluffy delights are made with IHOP’s traditional pancake mix, incorporating pumpkin seasonal spices as well. This a perfect, warm meal for a cold, autumn day, with nostalgic fall flavors to brighten your day.
Cold treats
Despite the cold weather digging its heels to remind us that winter is approaching, cold treats such as ice cream or smoothies are a treat that can still be enjoyed due to the mild climate of Ventura, Calif. Blenders In The Grass, a Southern California smoothie chain, is offering two fall flavors: Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Chai. Although it may sound unusual, the former is a surprisingly tasty blend of ice milk, pumpkin pie mix and cinnamon. This smoothie was wonderfully creamy, with a prominent pumpkin flavor that wasn’t too overpowering.
Finally, Dairy Queen, a fast-food chain known for its dairy treat, Blizzards, offers a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard that is a blend of soft-serve and pumpkin pie pieces topped with whipped cream and nutmeg. This milkshake-like treat is probably one of the best fall treats in town. Its wonderful blend of warm spices and cold, creamy ice cream makes for a satisfying dessert that represents the fall season without being overwhelmingly pumpkin.
