Captain D's Coconut Shrimp Basket

But with consumers less willing to part with their dollars, LTOs have become a more-important means of addressing what consumers are willing to spend as well as what they are interested in eating. Unlike coupons, which tell customers that a menu item isn't worth what they paid for it a week ago, LTOs respond to consumers' value consciousness by saying “special” rather than “marked down.”

“In this environment, 'new and news' is as important as it's ever been, if not more,” says Paula Vissing, vice president of purchasing for Nashville, Tenn.-based quick-service seafood chain Captain D's. “You have to worry about the fatigue factor.”

That is true—and appealing—regardless of the economic climate, says Renee Underwood, vice president of marketing for Mexican casual-dining chain Abuelo's, based in Lubbock, Texas. “Even in the best of times, you always need to be showing freshness and variety and innovation to your guests,” she says.

Limited-time offers don't always have to include new flavors. Bennigan's Grill & Tavern's “Lucky 3” promotion, which ended in mid-June, invited guests to choose an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert from the core menu for $10.99. Captain D's Shrimp Lover's Trio Platter —combining breaded-and-fried shrimp, seasoned-shrimp skewers and shrimp pasta along with a choice of two side dishes for $7.99—gathers three sometimes-overlooked core-menu items at a value price. At the same time, Captain D's is offering a new flavor at the other end of the price spectrum, a Coconut Shrimp Basket (coconut-battered fried shrimp and marmalade sauce) for $3.99.

Abuelo's tailors the Chef's Creations menu to individual market conditions.

Instead, Abuelo's rolled out the Chef's Creations menu, through which unit operators pick and choose the dishes that they want to feature at lunch and dinner. These vary from indulgent—such as a 6-ounce sirloin with six shrimp sautéed in garlic butter and sides for $12.99—to economical, as with a $5.99 chile relleno.

The opportunity to promote higher-margin products also makes LTOs attractive to operators. Bugaboo Creek Steak House runs lobster specials during the summer. Bugaboo reconsidered a surf-and-turf offer when the outlook for lobster-tail prices indicated that the chain might need to push menu prices above $25—beyond many guests' comfort zone.

The chain created a new item: a surf-and-turf trio combining sirloin steak topped with crabmeat, four fried shrimp and three maple-glazed, bacon-wrapped scallops. The entrée, finished with lobster Newburg sauce, is priced at $21.49.

LTOs often are composed of similar flavors in a new package or an existing dish with a flavor extension. El Pollo Loco's current LTO, a chicken sandwich spiced with guacamole and pico de gallo, places the chain's signature flavors in a different package. Such an offering gives chicken-sandwich fans, some of whom may be infrequent customers, a reason to visit the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based chain's units. “We know a lot of people eat chicken sandwiches,” says Karen Eadon, chief marketing officer.

Atlanta-based Church's Chicken is careful not to stray too far from its core menu items. Its most successful LTOs have featured bone-in spicy chicken and boneless wings.

“We have a risk-averse customer—they want to know what they're getting,” explains Marc Butler, vice president of marketing. “In some cases, we've taken the existing protein item and changed the sauce or the cheese.”

Contact writer at kate.leahy@reedbusiness.com