Halloween: McDonald's new menu & Nestlé’s Treats

The restaurant sector and wider hospitality industry have been preparing for Halloween for months - as well as the busy period which follows it. Cultural events in November, such as Thanksgiving in the US and Bonfire Night in the UK, bring friends and families together for food. This is followed by the blowout celebrations of Christmas and New Years. Halloween is the start of the busy period for those across the entire food sector…  

If you want to avoid trick or treaters knocking at your front door this Halloween, run. These restaurants have a lot more to offer than mediocre sweets and store-bought costumes, for a comfortably wild night out.

Unforgettable Halloween-themed restaurants to visit

McDonald’s October menu

The world’s biggest restaurant chain is not missing out on Halloween, with its Mozzarella and Emmental cheese bites and the Halloween M&M McFlurry, featuring spooky sugar shapes and drizzled with Galaxy chocolate sauce.

Beetle House

New York City, USA

Beetle House offers patrons a year-round Halloween experience, with a thematic atmosphere inspired by horror culture. The establishment aims to create an adult Halloween party atmosphere with influences from Tim Burton films, 90s goth culture and cosplay. Beetle House welcomes all manner of alternative subcultures and visitors, providing a safe space for self-expression. 

Founded by Zach Neil, the restaurant opened as a pop-up in New York City in 2016 and expanded to Los Angeles in 2017. 

Vampire Café

Tokyo, Japan

Situated on the 7th floor of an unassuming building, the Vampire Café in Tokyo's Ginza district boasts a meticulously crafted, blood-red interior. The décor features red blood cell-patterned flooring, crimson curtains separating dining booths and coffin-shaped menus. 

A centrally placed coffin, blood-smeared mirrors and dimly lit candles contribute to the eerie ambiance. The establishment strikes a balance between creepy and entertaining, offering a Gothic horror dining experience complete with a Dracula-inspired host known as Vampire Rose. 

Alux Restaurant

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Alux Restaurant offers diners an extraordinary culinary experience, set within a millennial cavern. This unique subterranean venue combines ancient charm with modern gastronomy, serving Mayan-inspired dishes in a luxurious atmosphere. Guests can savour meticulously crafted meals whilst surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of the natural cave setting.

Sky Garden

London, UK

Sky Garden hosts London's highest Halloween party, offering revellers spectacular city views alongside spooky entertainment. The event features live music and DJ sets from ALR Music, accompanied by Halloween-themed cocktails crafted by skilled mixologists. Attendees can enjoy activities such as skull painting and participate in a costume competition. 

The Jekyll and Hyde Club

New York City, USA

The Jekyll and Hyde Club presents diners with a uniquely theatrical dining experience. Guests are entertained by continuous live performances and special effects as they enjoy their meals. The restaurant features interactive animatronic creatures and memorabilia, with characters such as Claw the Gargoyle, Tobias the Werewolf and Dreadmina the Vampire engaging with patrons. 

Plastic waste from Halloween sweets and costumes are haunting the planet

Despite the amusements of the spooky season, there are some truly terrifying facts about Halloween. 

While many big businesses are looking to reduce their consumption of plastic waste and utilise sustainable alternatives, Halloween is a leaderless cultural event, accountable to nobody, except trick or treaters, who want candy and costumes. 

Food manufacturers, such as Nestlé, are big winners at Halloween, when families stock up on sweets for the onslaught of neighbourhood children. 

Yet, the food giant is on a move to lower its use of virgin plastic, by swapping plastic for paper. This Christmas, it is trialling paper tubs for Quality Street, which can be added to household recycling after use. If this is successful, this may be rolled out across other products.

Retail company and Halloween costume maker Party City made US$560m over the Halloween period in 2015, which accounted for about 25% of its annual earnings. Yet in the US, over 5.4m kilograms of textile waste is produced from consumers throwing away Halloween costumes, often after just one use.

In the UK, up to 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated by Halloween celebrations every year. 83% of Halloween costumes are made from non-recyclable oil-based plastics, which end up in landfills. One such material, Polyester, is used in more than 63% of Halloween costumes. It can take up to 200 years to decompose.

At least landfill sites will not be short of Halloween decorations. 

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