Same-store sales and customer traffic

For the first time since January, a majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales. 

Fifty-two percent of restaurant operators said their same-store sales rose between May 2024 and May 2025, according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey. That was up from 45% of operators who reported higher sales in April. 

Thirty-eight percent of operators said their sales declined in May, down slightly from 41% in April.

Restaurant operators: Want to know how your business compares to similar restaurants on a monthly basis? Find out by taking a few minutes to participate in the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey. All survey respondents receive exclusive access to the detailed survey results each month, broken out by industry segment and type of ownership.

Restaurant operators also reported an improvement in customer traffic readings in May, though overall levels remained negative. 

Forty percent of operators said their customer traffic rose between May 2024 and May 2025, while 42% reported lower traffic. 

Although May’s results were an improvement from softer readings during the last three months, it still represented the fourth consecutive month of net negative customer traffic.

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