Home / A look back at consumers’ restaurant usage during the past year
More people are using restaurants for off-premises foodservice options, but on-premises patronage is still well below pre-pandemic levels.
As the novel coronavirus began to spread globally in early 2020, it was clear that it would have a significant impact on the U.S. restaurant industry. To measure this impact, the National Restaurant Association launched a weekly survey of 1,000 adults (beginning in February 2020) to track how consumers were using restaurants.
This article takes a look back at consumers’ restaurant usage throughout the first 12 months of the pandemic, as measured by the Association’s weekly survey. Note that this is not a measure of sales or traffic. Rather, it tracks the extent to which U.S. adults participated in restaurant and foodservice on a week-to-week basis.
The survey asks consumers about their restaurant patronage during the breakfast, lunch and dinner dayparts – both on-premises and off-premises – as well as the afternoon snack/beverage period.
For comparison purposes, the 54 weeks of survey data are divided into 6 periods:
In the months ahead, the survey will continue to track consumers’ restaurant usage as the nation moves toward a post-pandemic environment.
Below is a summary of trends in consumers’ restaurant and foodservice participation during the past year for the 7 restaurant occasions tracked by the weekly survey. The figures in the charts represent the average percent of adults each week that used restaurants during the reference period.
On-premises dinner: Usage remains dampened across all age groups
Off-premises dinner: Growth in usage across all age groups
On-premises lunch: Consumer activity remains below pre-pandemic levels
Off-premises lunch: Strong growth in activity across all age groups
On-premises breakfast: Activity remains below pre-pandemic levels
Off-premises breakfast: Consumer usage is similar to pre-pandemic levels
Afternoon snacks and beverages: Higher usage among millennials
Read more analysis and commentary from the Association's chief economist Bruce Grindy.