Although the economy is heading toward an alleged rebound, wallets are still tight— something the restaurant industry is all too familiar with. With less discretionary income than before, customers and operators are both downsizing and looking to extract the most value out of every experience.

This past October, Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) featured San Francisco-based hotel and restaurant consultancy, Andrew Freeman & Co.’s, 2011 menu predictions. Agile Chef has taken those top trends and broken them down into seven key categories:

The Fall of the Cupcake
The days of haute, celebrity-endorsed cupcakes may soon be dethroned. This year, don’t be surprised if you see people lining up for a slice of sweet or savory pie, a cup of exotic infused soft-serve ice cream, or a grownup version of the popsicle, which has been reinvented in a variety of seasonal and sophisticated flavors, ranging from peach-ginger, watermelon-cucumber and sugar-snap pea.

The Rise of Mom & Pop Restaurants
Last quarter we discussed whether it…

Whether you consider healthier menu options a fleeting trend or something that’s here to stay, the fact of the matter is that the most successful restaurants change with the times. If you believe the latest foodservice industry statistics, diners are becoming increasingly interested in menu choices that are altogether healthy, flavorful and affordable. According to a recent study by The NPD Group, a Chicago-based foodservice market research firm, consumers over the past decade have been cutting down on foods that are high in sugar or fat, and shifting more toward items that could be seen as being more nutritious.

Add to that the requirement in the 2010 U.S. Healthcare Bill that says chain restaurants must include calorie counts on menus, and you may find that if you’re not offering options for health-conscious customers, you might need to makeover your menu.

Make It Healthy, But Make It Good
While the general consensus is that diners want healthier options, the statistics are somewhat…

Everybody has a favorite soup. Maybe it’s a rich tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich from a local diner. Or your favorite aunt’s chicken soup, which may still be the only cure for the flu. Maybe a chowder, a bisque or a stew hit the spot when you were growing up. After 9,000 years in existence, soup may qualify as the ultimate comfort food.

A Growing Market
Soups, stews and chilies are making a resurgence on restaurant menus, driven largely by soup lovers who constantly crave new flavors and by diners seeking healthier menu choices. The movement has helped free soup from its lunch-only, left-side-of-the-menu status.

The trends in homemade soup mirror what’s happening across the food industry, according to Campbell Kitchen’s Vice President Lucinda Ayers. A study her company conducted identified emerging soup flavors that include watermelon, rhubarb, celery, pork belly, grapefruit and coconut, and trends that include figs, pomegranate, beets, cauliflower, acai and whole grains.

Seafood soup…