Plus innovation at Beef-A-Roo, Buddy’s Bar-bQ, Carl’s Jr., Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chick N Max, Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream, Chopped Leaf, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Dig, Firehouse Subs, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Frutta Bowls, Honeygrow, HTeaO, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Jet’s Pizza, Matchbox, Miguel’s Jr., O’Charley’s, Pollo Campero, Qdoba, Round Table Pizza, Taco Cabana, Taco John’s and Velvet Taco

Before the pandemic, Firehouse Subs fans enjoyed the Hot Sauce Bar, stocked with a dozen or more ways to season their sandwiches. Those bars were removed in March 2020 for obvious reasons, but now they’re back!

The timing is certainly right: sauces are in, especially spicy ones. This week we have new sauces from Taco Bell and Pollo Campero.

Related: Chick-fil-A now offers chili as a side dish

Dave’s Hot Chicken doesn’t have a new sauce, but it did make the hottest sauce even hotter.

Does pimento cheese count as a sauce? Probably not, but Chick-fil-A at least has it now and offers it as a side dish, and Qdoba has a new spicier queso. Likewise, Buddy’s Bar-bQ now has mac & cheese.

Related: Taco Bell adds Omar Apollo’s Disha Hot Sauce to its menu

Halloween is approaching and next week you’ll see plenty of appropriately themed items. But for now, Sonic has a new green apple drink – apples are super trendy this fall – with salted caramel boba that you could imagine would be eyeballs if you wanted to.

Oh, and Carl’s Jr. has some new Ghost Burgers, which are both spicy and seasonally themed.

Chick N Max has a new mashed potato and chicken bowl, Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, which for complex reasons falls from September 15 through October. 15, with appropriately themed flavors, and there are new shakes at Beef-A-Roo.

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen has a new cocktail, Chopped Leaf has new branded items that can be combined into kids’ menus, and there are new seasonal menus from Dig and Matchbox.

O’Charley’s also has a ton of new items, including many “value-inspired plates” or VIPs

Miguel’s Jr. has new breakfast items, Round Table Pizza has three new sides and Frutta Bowls has new coffee products with the help of La Colombe.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana has a four-cheese pie, Jet’s Pizza has a large new cookie, Taco John’s has new soft shell tacos and Taco Cabana has new chipotle lime chicken.

HTeaO has a new peach iced tea, which probably makes sense in its home state of Texas, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice has a pumpkin item, which makes sense everywhere, Honeygrow is repurposing its Sriracha tahini sauce, and Velvet Taco’s Weekly Taco Feature has Guinness stout and a smashburger in it.

Contact Bret Thorn at (email protected)