Half of the chain’s 14 new menu items include chicken.
Ruby Tuesday has unveiled 14 new limited-time summer menu items, and chicken is at the center of the lineup.
The casual dining chain's summer update includes the Big Country Fried Chicken, Big Chicken and Ribs Feast, Big Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Big Smokehouse BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Hot Honey Chicken Bowl, and Buffalo Chicken Dip — six of the 14 new offerings featuring chicken as the primary protein. The Endless Garden Bar also adds chicken as a protein add-on option.
"This is one of the most significant new menu updates we've introduced in years," said Kevin FitzPatrick, chief marketing officer at Ruby Tuesday. "As our guests' tastes continue to evolve, we're bringing some of today's biggest food trends to Ruby Tuesday."
The breadth of chicken applications across the new menu — fried, grilled, sauced, and bowl-format — reflects continued strong demand for chicken across casual dining.
The limited-time menu is available now at participating Ruby Tuesday locations nationwide.
In other chicken foodservice news:
Anchor Packaging and Pizza Hut won the 2026 Association of PlasticThe chicken wing bowl, developed by Anchor Packaging and Pizza Hut.PRNewswire Recyclers Recycling Leadership Award for Package Design Innovation for a jointly developed wing bowl that improves both food-to-go performance and recyclability. The container allows operators to sauce wings directly in the bowl, reducing prep time, and lets customers shake it to re-coat wings before eating. On the materials side, the bowl incorporates post-consumer recycled polypropylene and was redesigned to remove carbon black and excess mineral fillers, two components that hinder recycling sortation systems.
El Pollo Loco's new Loaded Quesadillas are available in two options: Queso and Street Corn. Both feature citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chopped chicken breast, melted Jack cheese and a flour tortilla. The Queso Loaded Quesadilla includes queso blanco, tortilla strips and a creamy cilantro sauce. The Street Corn Loaded Quesadilla includes corn, red peppers, crumbled cotija cheese and chili lime seasoning with a creamy chipotle sauce.
Church's Texas Chicken is bringing back its limited-time SmokehouseSmokehouse ChickenChurch's Texas Chicken Chicken, featuring a half chicken marinated for 12 hours, hand-rubbed with seasonings and served bone-in, skin-on and unbreaded, starting at $5.99 with a Honey-Butter Biscuit and Jalapeño Pepper. This year's return adds a new Lemon Pepper variety, joining the existing Original and Spicy options. Smokehouse Chicken was first introduced in 2017.
Bonchon, the Korean fried chicken chain, is approaching 500 locations globally and earned placements on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500, Fast Casual's Movers and Shakers, and Technomic's Top 500 chain restaurants in 2026. The brand expanded to Malaysia in June, bringing its total country count to nine, and plans to open its first Puerto Rico location by early 2027. Bonchon grew digital sales 18% year over year and climbed from No. 56 to No. 17 on Fast Casual's Movers and Shakers list. The brand is actively targeting U.S. expansion in markets including Southern California, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Nashville, Atlanta, the Carolinas, Florida and Texas.Hardee's new Hot Honey platform is available throughout the summer.
Hardee's is adding a limited-time Hot Honey platform through Sept. 8, featuring three chicken items: a Hot Honey Hand-Breaded Chicken Biscuit, a Hot Honey Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich with bacon and Swiss cheese, and Hot Honey Tenders. All three pair the chain's hand-breaded chicken with a hot honey sauce.
Las Vegas-based Houston TX Hot Chicken (HHC) will make its way to the UK market through a master franchise agreement with PizzaExpress, one of the most established casual dining operators in the UK and Ireland with nearly 500 locations in its house of brands. Three HHC locations are set to open in the UK in 2026, with plans to scale to 50 locations nationally over the next three years.
Zaxby's launched a limited-time Chicken Bacon Ranch lineup June 22, offering the flavor combination across three formats: a Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap Meal, a Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla and Chicken Bacon Ranch Loaded Fries. All three feature hand-breaded chicken fingers, Cheddar Jack cheese, hardwood smoked bacon and the chain's proprietary buttermilk ranch sauce. The lineup is available through the summer at participating locations.
Huey Magoo's is kicking off its All-American Celebration with three limited-time Southern BBQ chicken tender entrees — a sandwich, wrap and salad — each featuring the brand's premium chicken tenderloin, a new Southern BBQ sauce and crispy onions. The new sauce can also be tossed with any chicken tenders or Tender Bites order, or added to Family Meals. All offerings are available at participating locations through Sept. 20.
KFC Sweden is launching a Bucket For One, a solo-sized bucket aimed at young consumers who would rather not share their fried chicken.
A Buffalo Wild Wings GO restaurant opened in Midland Park, New Jersey, on June 23.
Lou Malnati’s is introducing its new limited-time BBQ Chicken Pizza, available at all locations and for nationwide shipping beginning June 18.
Canadian chain Mary Brown's Chicken opened its newest Toronto location at 10 Dundas Street East, in the heart of Sankofa Square.
Joe Jordan, currently chief operating and officer and president of Domino's U.S., has been appointed CEO effective Oct. 1, 2026, succeeding Russell Weiner, who will retire as CEO and transition to executive chairman in 2027. Current Executive Chairman David A. Brandon will retire from the board in 2027 after nearly three decades of service to the company.
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