Restaurant trends reflect a larger shift in how Americans spend on food. In 2025, food away from home represented 56.3% of total U.S. food expenditures, while inflation-adjusted foodservice sales reached $1.41 trillion. At the same time, restaurants faced higher food and labor costs, changing customer traffic, and increasingly important takeout, discounts, and digital experiences.
Table of contents
- Restaurant spending is taking a larger share of the food market
- Restaurant segments, seasons, and locations show different demand patterns
- Dining-out spending is growing alongside higher restaurant prices
- Off-premises dining, deals, and technology shape consumer behavior
- Labor, costs, and supply disruptions are changing restaurant operations
- Tourism, traffic, and forecasts point to uneven restaurant growth
Restaurant spending is taking a larger share of the food market
The long-term direction of U.S. food spending favors foodservice. The USDA Economic Research Service reports that inflation-adjusted sales at foodservice and food-retailing outlets reached $2.51 trillion in 2025, up 61.4% from $1.56 trillion in 1997. Within that total, inflation-adjusted foodservice sales rose 73.0%, from $818 billion in 1997 to $1.41 trillion in 2025. These figures cover the United States and compare the 1997–2025 period in inflation-adjusted dollars. (Food Service Industry - Market Segments)
Restaurant formats did not grow at identical rates over that period:
- Inflation-adjusted full-service food sales increased 66.0%, from $294.2 billion in 1997 to $488.4 billion in 2025.
- Inflation-adjusted limited-service food sales increased 88.5%, from $273.8 billion in 1997 to $516.1 billion in 2025.
Food away from home made up 56.3% of total U.S. food expenditures in 2025, compared with 43.7% for food at home. A separate USDA ERS analysis reported that food away from home represented 58.5% of U.S. food spending in 2023, the highest share since the series began in the 1930s. Because these statistics use different reporting years and source series, they are best read as period-specific measurements rather than as a single continuous estimate. (U.S. Consumers Increased Spending on Food Away From Home in 2023, Driving Overall Food Spending Growth)
The pandemic period also changed the mix within food-away-from-home spending. Full-service restaurants’ share fell from 34.1% in 2019 to 29.7% in 2020, according to the USDA ERS market-segment series. The drop identifies a major disruption in the full-service segment, but it does not by itself describe the pace or completeness of later recovery.
Restaurant segments, seasons, and locations show different demand patterns
In 2025, full-service and limited-service restaurants together accounted for 71.0% of U.S. food-away-from-home spending. Limited-service restaurants represented 36.5%, full-service restaurants represented 34.5%, and other food-away-from-home establishments represented 29.0%. That split shows why a single restaurant-industry trend can hide meaningful differences between formats. (Food Service Industry - Market Segments)
The USDA ERS data also show a seasonal difference in average daily inflation-adjusted sales during the first part of 2025:
| Restaurant segment | January 2025 | May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service | $1,193 million | $1,427 million |
| Limited-service | $1,277 million | $1,493 million |
Both measured segments recorded higher average daily sales in May than in January. The figures are daily averages for the named months, not annual totals, and they should not be interpreted as a forecast for every restaurant or every location.
Nominal per-capita U.S. food-away-from-home purchases reached a record $3,936 in 2025. Geography matters as well: Washington, D.C. recorded the highest per-capita food-away-from-home sales in 2025, at $9,287. Per-capita figures describe spending relative to population; they do not mean that every resident spent that amount or that the result represents restaurant visits alone. (Food Service Industry - Market Segments)
Dining-out spending is growing alongside higher restaurant prices
The 2023 USDA ERS analysis found that U.S. disposable personal income rose 8.1%. During the same period, consumers spent 5.9% of disposable personal income on food away from home, up from 5.6% in 2022. The share spent on food at home moved in the opposite direction, falling to 5.3% in 2023 from 5.6% in 2022. These are shares of disposable personal income, not shares of restaurant revenue. (U.S. Consumers Increased Spending on Food Away From Home in 2023, Driving Overall Food Spending Growth)
Price changes help explain why spending totals can rise even when the amount of food purchased does not rise at the same rate. Total U.S. food prices increased 5.8% in 2023. Food-at-home prices increased an average 5.1% year over year, while food-away-from-home prices increased an average 7.1%. The USDA ERS analysis also reported that nominal monthly food-at-home spending rose an average 2.4% year over year, while inflation-adjusted monthly food-at-home spending declined an average 2.6%.
For a later reference point, the U.S. Consumer Price Index reported that food away from home increased 4.1% from December 2024 to December 2025. The USDA ERS source noted a 2.2% increase in total food prices forecast for 2024 as of September 2024. That 2.2% figure was a forecast made at that time, not a measured result for 2024. (Consumer Price Index News Release - 2025 M12 Results)
Off-premises dining, deals, and technology shape consumer behavior
Takeout is no longer a narrow occasion for many customers. In 2024, 52% of U.S. consumers said restaurant takeout was an essential part of their lifestyle. The share was 67% among millennials and 63% among Gen Z adults. Separately, 88% of consumers said they were satisfied with the variety of local takeout and delivery options. These survey results describe reported consumer attitudes during 2024; they are not a count of orders or a measure of spending. (Restaurant Industry Sales Forecast to Set $1.1 Trillion Record in 2024)
Technology was viewed positively by 46% of adults in relation to the full-service restaurant experience in 2024. The result was higher among Gen Z adults, at 64%, and millennials, at 66%. Deals also affected timing and purchase behavior: 7 in 10 adults said they often looked for a daily restaurant special or discount, and 85% of restaurant customers said they were more flexible about when they dined if a deal was offered.
Together, these figures point to a restaurant customer who may value convenience, digital tools, and price-aware scheduling. They do not establish that technology or discounts caused any particular sales outcome, but they do quantify how common those preferences were in the survey period.
Labor, costs, and supply disruptions are changing restaurant operations
The National Restaurant Association forecast U.S. restaurant and foodservice sales to exceed $1.1 trillion in 2024 and projected that the industry would employ 15.7 million people by the end of that year. Those were 2024 forecasts, so they should be distinguished from later measured sales or employment totals. (Restaurant Industry Sales Forecast to Set $1.1 Trillion Record in 2024)
Operators’ expectations were mixed. In the 2024 reporting, 33% expected sales to increase and 45% expected sales to hold steady. Only 27% expected to be more profitable. Staffing remained a constraint: 45% said they needed more employees to meet customer demand, while 70% said they had job openings that were hard to fill.
Cost pressure was also substantial in operator reporting. Average restaurant food costs were more than 20% higher in 2024 than in 2019, and average restaurant wages were more than 30% higher. In addition, 77% of restaurant operators said their restaurant experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in 2023. These operator-reported comparisons describe the experience of participating businesses and are not presented as a complete census of every U.S. restaurant.
Tourism, traffic, and forecasts point to uneven restaurant growth
Travel activity can have an outsized effect on restaurant sales, especially in destinations and premium dining districts. National Restaurant Association research reported that travelers and visitors typically account for 3 in 10 dollars spent at U.S. restaurants. In its 2025 research, travelers and visitors accounted for an average 41% of fine-dining sales. One in four fine-dining operators said travelers and visitors accounted for at least 60% of their annual sales. (Softer tourism spending is making business conditions more challenging for restaurants)
The visitor share varied by segment:
| Restaurant segment | Share of sales attributed to travelers and visitors |
|---|---|
| Fine dining, average | 41% |
| Family dining, casual dining, and coffee and snacks | Roughly one-third |
| Quick service and fast casual | About one-quarter |
The same research found that 47% of restaurant operators said their 2025 sales from travelers and visitors were lower than normal. Another 8% said those sales were higher than normal, while 45% said they were about normal. Nearly two-thirds of restaurants reported lower customer traffic in 2025, according to the National Restaurant Association’s analysis. These results indicate uneven conditions across operators rather than a uniform decline in every market.
For diners comparing local restaurants, the broader pattern is clear: restaurant spending remains a large and growing part of the U.S. food economy, but the experience behind that growth differs by format, season, location, price environment, and dependence on visitors. Takeout availability, deal sensitivity, staffing, operating costs, and local traffic all help determine how a restaurant trend appears on the ground.