As if the recession in the early 1990s and the limits on meal deductibility weren't enough to dampen lunch traffic, restaurateurs now must contend with customers' perceptions that taking a lunch break is more of a luxury than a necessity. According to a 1996 nationwide survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, approximately 45 percent of employed adults feel that they have less time for lunch than they used to, and more than 39 percent of employed adults report that they don't take a real lunch break. A more hectic lifestyle and the perceived need to fill every waking moment with a productive endeavor have changed the way people spend their lunch hour and the way they consume lunch.

But no matter how time-crunched, few people go from breakfast to dinner without eating something in between. In fact, the restaurant lunch business is booming, precisely because people are so harried. According to Association analysis of CREST data, lunch traffic increased 7 percent between 1993 and 1995, while the average check size per person for lunch increased a modest 3 percent over the same period, edging up to $3.93. Working adults, pressed for time at home as well as at work, have less time to prepare a brown-bag lunch and opt instead to grab something and eat at their desks or on the run.

Working women under the gun

Working women seem to suffer the most from a perceived shortened or nonexistent lunch hour. The Association's 1996 Lunch Survey shows that almost 50 percent of employed women feel that they have less time for lunch than they used to, compared to a little more than 40 percent of the men surveyed. Women are also more inclined to report that they don't take a real lunch break, or if they do take a break, they spend it doing something other than eating.

Another indication that working women have less time to eat than their male colleagues is women's increased use of carryout and delivery services. In an average week, 31 percent of women typically get lunch from a carryout-type establishment at least once, while 27 percent of men use carryout-type services in a typical week. Women are also more inclined to use delivery services than men. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to frequent a retail location and eat on its premises. In a typical week, 29 percent of male workers report eating in a sit-down restaurant at least once, compared with 26 percent of female respondents.

What's for lunch?

Survey results indicate that 29 percent of respondents get their lunch from a carryout establishment at least one time per week, and a little more than 20 percent get their lunch via delivery. However, sit-down establishments remain popular as well. More than 27 percent of adult workers report eating lunch at a sit-down restaurant at least one time per week.

What people eat reflects how they are eating — in a hurry. Almost 65 percent of employed workers eat a meal, such as a sandwich or a hamburger, that can be held in the hand. In fact, 39 percent of working adults say that their typical lunch is a sandwich, and 14.4 percent of respondents say they eat hamburgers.

Generation Xers are the biggest consumers of sandwiches. The survey found that 71 percent of workers under the age of 34 prefer eating sandwiches for lunch. Interestingly, parents of children under age 6 are more likely to eat sandwiches for lunch than parents with older children. Both of those demographic groups are probably at the beginning of their careers and feel more pinched for time, which makes sandwiches — easy to obtain and to eat on the go — an attractive option.

Demographics also have a lot of influence on the type of foods people eat for lunch. For example, women are more likely than men to eat frozen entrees, fruit, salads and soups for lunch. Men are more likely than women to eat hamburgers, pizza and sandwiches. Also, Northeasterners are far more likely to eat hand-held foods than people in other parts of the country, and metro dwellers are twice as likely to eat fruit salads as people living in rural areas.

Variety is the spice of lunch?

According to the Association's survey, half of working Americans consistently do the same thing for lunch every day, with 25 percent getting their lunch from a restaurant.

The other half of working Americans are not consistent in their lunch habits. Survey findings reveal that a typical employed American will bring lunch from home one day, get carryout or delivery the next, skip lunch one day and go to a nice tableservice restaurant the next.

Variability is seen in what consumers eat for lunch as well. Although the most frequently cited lunch item is a sandwich (according to Association research), other lunch items are also quite popular with respondents, including fruit salads (cited by 13.4 percent), hamburgers (14.4 percent), salad (13.4 percent) and soup (6.5 percent).

For Americans reporting their typical lunch fare as something "other" than soup, sandwich or salad, favorite items include spicy ethnic foods — typically Mexican and Chinese — and pasta.

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