Operations

U.S. restaurants continue gradual recovery, dine-in still down

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September 21, 2021

Despite inclement weather and the delta variant spread, consumer online and physical restaurant visits continue to recover from last year's steep declines.

In the U.S. restaurant traffic increased by 5% over the 10% decline in August 2020 and declined by 5% compared to the pre-pandemic level in August 2019, according to data from The NPD Group. Larger average check sizes drove a 13% increase in dollars compared to a year ago and a 3% gain in dollars over the same month two years ago, according to a press release on the research findings.

"Overall, the state of the U.S. restaurant industry today reflects the steady-state of the home-centric lifestyle that has us eating more meals at home," David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor, said in the release. "This behavior pre-dates the pandemic and will continue into the foreseeable future. To meet the needs of today's restaurant consumers, restaurant operators need to think about getting meals and snacks into the home."

Quick service restaurant visits, representing most U.S. restaurant traffic, were down 3% in August compared to August 2019, but up 2% versus last year's same month. Visits to full service restaurants declined by 9% this August compared to the same month two years ago, and by 20% compared to a 25% decrease in August 2020.