Most quick-service chains have never really drawn sharp distinctions between the foods they feature at dinner and those they offer at lunch, and in many ways, that’s a shame. While there is value in ensuring that guests can order every item on the menu at any hour, there is also something to be said for the exclusivity associated with meals that are only available “after dark.” In a bid to boost dinner sales, Panera Bread’s Crispani flatbread pizzas are served only after 4 p.m., while Saladworks is reportedly testing dinner-sized salads with a choice of nine different hot proteins. Cosi, meanwhile, announced earlier this year that it was testing a new line of hot dinner offerings called Dinners from the Hearth. Americans seem to view hot menu items as a must at the dinner hour, which makes it relatively easy for sandwich- and salad-focused chains to distinguish lunchtime fare from their evening options. For other chains, though, the idea of creating unique menu items that make their outlets a dinnertime destination is still ripe for exploration.

Breakfast, when it’s eaten at all, is frequently consumed on the fly, and lunch, as we all know, is all too often a catch-as-catch-can, at-your-desk affair. But dinner offers Americans a chance to make up some lost nutritional ground. With a little more discretionary time to work with, we often pay more attention to the choices we make. You might have scraped by all day on a bagel, two Slim Jims, and a Milky Way bar, but tonight, you’ll have an opportunity to get some fresh vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and that all-important dietary fiber. No quick-serve chain I’m aware of has yet responded to this desire to eat more conscientiously later in the day, but a line of healthy dinner offerings seems like a notion worthy of consideration.

The fact is, we expect more from our evening meal than we do of the foods we consume from dawn to dusk. We want it to last longer, to unfold in stages, to stay with us through the night. To me, this points to the need to offer far more multi-course options than are currently available at most chains. While casual chains such as Applebee’s have made a point of aggressively expanding and promoting appetizer menus, quick-serves have been somewhat less innovative in this area. While salads have been touted as main courses, few quick-service chains have made a concerted effort to hawk them as add-ons. And dessert, as I’ve discussed previously in this space, remains not much more than an afterthought at many concepts.

Dinner is crowded turf these days, with supermarkets, frozen-foods manufacturers and a host of other hopefuls angling for those dinner dining dollars. But with a little ingenuity and a more concerted push to offer meals that have a slightly more formal feel and a healthier bent, quick-service establishments stand to trounce the competition by prompting consumers to “come and get it” with greater frequency.