The steadily rising popularity of foods from Latin America and Asia has stoked consumer interest in tropical fruits like mango, papaya and guava. Thanks to their bright flavors, sunny colors and relative novelty on many menus, these fruits could easily overshadow familiar standbys like apples. But apples achieved their tried-and-true status for good reason: Their combination of availability, affordability and familiarity is hard to beat.

The numbers confirm this unflagging popularity, as the USDA reports that Americans eat about nine pounds of fresh apples per person per year. Adding that to an average intake of three pounds of canned, frozen or dried apples and nearly 15 pounds of juice makes it the most-consumed fruit in the U.S. by a substantial margin.

From the restaurant perspective, apples’ versatility and stretch across both food and beverage menus has made them an indispensable ingredient and reliable starting point for innovation.

Apples Can Be Sweet

Credit: Ruby Slipper

Leaning into its Big Easy roots, Ruby Slipper served up Candied Apple Pie Beignets last fall, with candied apple pie filling, vanilla crème and sweet biscuit crumbs.

In 2004, McDonald’s introduced Apple Dippers with low-fat caramel dip as a kids’ meal option. Then, in early 2012, the dip was jettisoned and the Dippers were rechristened as Apple Slices. They subsequently became better-for-you fixtures in Happy Meals and on the regular side-dish menu, where they appear right next to fries.

Chefs have long taken advantage of their healthful appeal in items like the autumn special Roasted Apple & Butternut Squash Salad at Fogo de Chão or the new seasonal Farm Salad at Farm Burger, which combines greens with apple slices, pumpkin seeds, Feta cheese and candied red onions, all crowned with apple cider vinaigrette.

Many other menu developers, however, are busily exploring the fruit’s sweetly indulgent side, as with the Candied Apple Pie Beignets on the “Cozy Autumn” menu at all-day brunch spot Ruby Slipper and Ruby Sunshine, where the New Orleans-style pastries were topped with candied apple pie filling, vanilla crème and sweet biscuit crumbs. The Apple Fritter French Toast with fried apples and bourbon cream sauce is a long-running favorite at Another Broken Egg Café, and IHOP featured a Cinnamon Apple Pancake, topped with pecans and dulce de leche sauce, as its Pancake of the Month last April.

Long Island micro-chain The French Workshop offers apple-based pies and cookies on an ongoing basis, but last fall it re-engineered the classic tatin (a pastry in which apples are first caramelized before being baked atop a tarte). The restaurant’s ultra-indulgent Apple Tatin replaced the typical pastry with vanilla sponge cake layered with apples, hazelnuts, white chocolate mousse, caramel and walnuts.

Cracker Barrel took a bold menu stand in August, when it named the apple its go-to weapon in the fight against pumpkin-spice menu fatigue. The brand launched four items inspired by its iconic fried apples, including a new Signature Fried Apple French Toast Bake, topped with fried apples, cheesecake filling and brown sugar streusel and served with warm butter pecan syrup.

Apples Can Be Sippable

Credit: Chili’s

Apple-flavored potions like Chili’s Witch’s Brew Marg graced many a menu last fall, speaking to the fruit’s versatility and operator interest.

Cracker Barrel’s anti-PSL arsenal also boasted a pair of beverages: Granny Smith Apple Mimosa, made with sparkling wine, and Granny Smith Apple Tea, both available for a limited time in October.

Menus were also awash in Halloween (or more specifically, witch) themed quaffs that featured the fruit, like the Witch’s Brew Lemonade with caramel apple syrup at McAlister’s Deli; Sonic Drive-In’s Witch’s Brew Slush Float consisting of green apple slush, salted caramel boba and vanilla soft serve; and Oregon-based Black Rock Coffee’s Witch’s Brew Fuel, an energy drink with green apple flavoring and creamy cold foam.

Spirits of a different sort were on offer at Chili’s, where the Witches Brew Marg combined tequila, blue Curaçao, granny smith syrup and fresh sour mix for a distinctive blue-green cocktail.

And perhaps hedging its bets during peak season for both apples and pumpkins, the autumn menu from Starbucks featured the usual array of options pumped up with pumpkin alongside Iced Apple Crisp Cream Chai and Oat Milk Iced Apple Crisp Shaken Espresso.

Apples Can Be Savory

Apple is no stranger to savory combos, often paired with cheeses and deli meats in sandwiches or tossed with greens in a salad, but the fruit’s reach is surpassing café menus.

Although apples have long popped up in savory applications, particularly at cafés, where they pop up in a variety of sandwich, salad, turnover and even soup applications. But contemporary menu applications are taking an unconventional turn, as is the case at PostBoy in New Buffalo, Mich. The restaurant, which just opened last November, has already generated buzz far beyond the Lake Michigan beach town, thanks to inventive specials like the Duroc Pork entrée with curried apples and golden beet soubise. Meanwhile, a mid-January menu at My Loup in Philadelphia boasted Brussels sprouts with an apple schmear and smoked almonds, as well as a Boudin Noir apple pie appetizer finished with calvados brandy.

Salt & Straw, a thoroughly modern ice cream maker that routinely thinks outside the carton, stepped up in October with a juxtaposition of sweet and savory. The refreshing Green Apple Wasabi Sorbet blended Oregon Coast wasabi with red delicious and golden delicious apples.

Outlook and Opportunity

Credit: Perkins American Food Co.

Perkins put a subtle upgrade on the apple doughnut by topping a plain glazed doughnut with spiced apples, sweet vanilla glaze and crumbles of pie crust.

Datassential reports that 87 percent of consumers say they like or love apples, a powerful endorsement that will fuel menu creativity.

Watch for continued updating of old-fashioned comfort classics, like the fun mash-up currently on offer at Perkins American Food Co., where the Apple Pie Doughnut blends nostalgia with portability. Here, a glazed doughnut is topped with spiced apples, sweet vanilla glaze and a finish of crumbled pie crust. And when Early to Rise opened in San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood last year, the menu at the brunch haven sported Apple Butter French Toast made with apple butter, a dash of calvados and a topping of caramel apple syrup.

Finally, savvy F&B experts have learned to identify the apple varieties they choose; just look to First Watch, whose winter special Blue Booster that is made fresh at the Juice Bar from blueberries, basil, lemon and Fuji apples. It’s smart menu marketing that lends value, authenticity and a dash of creativity to a menu item.