Many things change as winter approaches. Leaves start falling and bears go into hibernation, all while the birds are migrating south for a few months as they wait out the cold. However, nature isn’t the only thing that changes during the fall because menus do too! Many restaurants and fast food places have a fall menu that offers lots of different themed specialties and even stores start offering fall-themed foods, which come out as early as August!
Krispy Kreme offers many different autumn donuts, along with more Halloween-themed foods, as we approach October 31. While Starbucks offers special drinks like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, as well as the new Pecan Oat Milk Cortado, that was released in August 2025.
However, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks aren’t the only ones who have fall specials, as McDonald’s has the McCafé Pumpkin Spice Latte and the Pumpkin & Crème Pie. Even Panera Bread is offering fall specials like the Autumn Squash Soup, Fireside Chili, and Rustic Baked Potato Soup! Of course, other restaurants like Wendy’s and Dairy Queen all have their fall specials that are equally delicious.
Aside from the pumpkin-flavored specials at restaurants and the pumpkin spice influx, as October approaches, there’s another thing you can expect to see more of. Candy Corn! There’s a whole number of different flavors and varieties of candy corn, including Harvest Corn, which is the chocolate flavor, Cupid Corn, which has red and pink colors, and Bunny Corn, which has Easter colors. However, candy corn isn’t the only condensed, fall-themed sugary candy that you can expect, Pumpkin Mellowcreme Candy, or “candy pumpkins” as they’re most commonly known as, have also made a return! Candy corn and candy pumpkins can be found at many different stores like Walmart, Lidl, Dollar Tree, and many, many other stores.
If candy corn and pumpkin lattes weren’t enough for you, stores even have their own specials that they offer for the fall season. Walmart’s frosted sugar cookies have changed for the season, now appearing with orange frosting and leaf sprinkles. Lidl offers Fall Flavored Ground Coffee and Flavors of Fall Coffee Pods, which offer an assortment of flavors such as maple bourbon, pumpkin spice, apple pie and salted caramel.
And don’t forget, as the leaves change color, the amount of pumpkin spice the general population consumes does too! You can begin to expect your local stores to start running out of pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, and spice cake mix, as most of them are featured in many fall foods such as pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin bread! Therefore, it’s best to stock up early on all of your fall necessities, so you don’t have to drive around three different stores looking for pumpkin spice in order to make your own fall-themed dessert.
All photos taken and submitted by Emery Downey.
