Last year was very significant for restaurant owners on how diners and buyers behaved in many aspects; these are some curious restaurant trends from 2019 to keep an eye on during 2020:
1. Most popular menu items by state
- California: Carne asada
- Illinois: Caesar salad
- Washington DC: Lobster rolls
- Florida: Espresso
- New York: Eggplant parm
- Texas: Avocado toast
]2.
- There was a 130% increase in plant-based meat alternatives.
- There was a 109% increase in spirit-free cocktail options.
- 70% more CBD options on menus.
- All-vegan menus lost popularity by 52%.
3.
- The most popular day to place a catering order is Monday.
- Diners tend to place online orders from their phones 70% of the time, and in 30% of cases, they do it from their desktop computers.
- The top holiday for restaurant catering orders is Thanksgiving, and the average catering store tip amount is 15.3%.
4.
- The most expensive food item sold on a website was the Ultimate Meat Collection from Duke’s Premium Meats for $710.
- The most popular item sold on a website was the What’s the Ramen kit from Ichiran.
- There was a 150% increase in restaurants offering food, beverage, and DIY kits.
5. The most popular types of ticketed event at a restaurant:
- Tastings & classes.
- Special dinners.
- NYE parties.
- Prix-fixed brunches.
- Valentine’s Day.
6.
- Digital gift cards (57%) won over physical ones (43%) in sales.
- The average gift card amount was $90.
7. The top reasons for gift card giving:
- Birthdays.
- Holidays.
- Thank you’s.
- Anniversaries.
- Just because.
The most popular day to use a restaurant gift card was Saturday.
8.
- Among mobile and desktop usage by diners, mobile wins the race with 65%, while desktop users are only 35%.
- There was a 7% increase in mobile usage since 2018.
- The peak time for restaurant website visitors was between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- The most popular day for website visitors was Saturday.
9. Reservations, mobile vs. desktop.
- Desktop 51%.
- Mobile 49%.
- Most requests were usually submitted around 5:30 p.m.
- The most popular holiday for reservations is Mother’s Day.
- The holiday with most last-minute reservations was Valentine’s Day.
- There was a 75% spike in reservations before V-Day.