As the days become shorter, the nights get colder and the leaves start to change, it can only mean one thing; the fall season is finally here. Along with the changes in temperature comes the return of the seasonal favorites at places like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and popular restaurants Olive Garden and Red Robin.

The campus’ perennial favorite caffeine destination, Starbucks, is already offering its seasonal drinks and baked goods.

Campus Starbucks manager Karen Piotraowski is doing her best to keep the supply of popular fall drink, the pumpkin spice latte, in stock. Piotraowski said she “tries to keep stocked through December.”

While the Pumpkin Spice Latte is perhaps the most recognized drink of all the seasonal offerings at Starbucks, two new fall drinks are also brewing up some stiff competition this fall season.

The Salted Caramel Mocha and the Apple Pie Frappuccino are holding their own.

“They are both very popular among our customers,” Piotraowski said.

Along with these beverages, Starbucks is also serving up a pumpkin cream cheese muffin. As tasty as these are, if staying fit is your goal you may want to limit your intake. A Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte will set you back 380 calories and 49 grams of sugar, a Grande of the Salted Caramel Mocha is 420 calories with 56 grams of sugar, while the Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin is 420 calories.

Starbucks plans to keep its seasonal offerings “until holiday break arrives for students,” Piotraowski said.

Another campus destination doing its best to appeal to students with special seasonal drinks is Dunkin’ Donuts. Although it is new to the University campus, it is holding its own against Starbucks with two new drinks that are sure to lure customers away from their competitor. One specialty drink available is a White Hot Chocolate, perfect for the cold Bowling Green nights. Dunkin’ Donuts is also serving customers its hot Apple Cider.

When stacked against its fellow coffee competitor, Dunkin’ Donuts comes out victorious in the health and nutrition department. A medium White Hot Chocolate is 340 calories with 47 grams of sugar. However, it is the hot Apple Cider that is by far the healthiest drink available at either location; a medium hot Apple Cider is 180 calories with 45 grams of sugar.

If you’d rather celebrate the arrival of fall with food, two popular restaurants are offering up a tasty cheesecake and a burger big enough to fill any meat lover’s dreams.

First up is Italian eatery Olive Garden, known for its endless salads and breadsticks. The chain is also trying its hand at a fall-themed dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake.

While truly delicious for any sweet tooth, beware of the damage it’ll do to your diet. This Pumpkin Cheesecake clocks in at an alarming 840 calories with 25 grams of fat. The best way to justify the purchase is to split it amongst your friends so that you can all partake in this delicious dessert while not feeling guilty about it.

The last of our seasonal offerings list leads right to Red Robin’s gargantuan Oktoberfest burger. Made with melted Swiss cheese, onions, black forest ham and beer mustard atop the patty, all in between two pretzel buns, the only word seemingly fit to describe such a creation is monstrous. If the sheer amount of food groups represented on this one burger isn’t enough, it also comes with Red Robin’s ever-popular bottomless fries. Luckily for Red Robin, no nutritional facts on their holiday burger are available. However, for an idea of just how many calories lay in between those buns, according to their official website www.redrobin.com a typical cheeseburger weighs in at 934 calories and 60 grams of fat.

As we get deeper into the fall season, more specialty items will be offered to win over our taste buds and dollars. Whether it’s Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Olive Garden or Red Robin or any other of your favorites, this fall each location will surely have something to satisfy each of your desired needs. Additional nutritional information on any of the featured items and more can be found at www.starbucks.com, www.dunkindonuts.com, www.olivegarden.com and www.redrobin.com.