The restaurant business has lost some of its shine this year, at least based on one survey.
Americans’ views of restaurants have plunged this year, hitting their lowest point since 2008, according to an annual opinion survey on their opinions of different industries by the polling firm Gallup.
But their view on restaurants remains positive overall and among the most positive of the 25 industries surveyed in Gallup’s annual Work and Education survey.
Fifty-two percent of Americans had a positive view of restaurants overall. That was down nine percentage points from 2023, when 61% of Americans had a positive view of the industry. The decline was the largest of any, and just ahead of the eight-point decline in positive views of the grocery business.
At the same time, 16% of Americans had a negative view of restaurants, up four percentage points from 2023 and at a historic high, according to the survey. The percentage of people with a neutral view of restaurants increased five points to 31%.
The survey could provide some insight into declining traffic, particularly at fast-food chains. Consumers have expressed frustration with rising prices, both in surveys and on social media. Nearly 80% of consumers said in a Lending Tree survey earlier this year, for instance, that fast-food restaurants were a “luxury.”
But the results also show just how popular the industry is. Restaurants last year had the highest percentage of positive ratings, for instance. Even after the nine-point decline this year, it is the second most popular industry in the U.S., following only farming and agriculture.
Restaurants, computers and farming are the only three industries in which a majority of Americans have a positive viewpoint.
All of the industries average a 37% positive score. Restaurants can at least take solace that they are not the pharamaceutical business, which has a positive score of 20%, or the federal government, which scored 26%.
And restaurants scored far higher than grocers, about which only 33% of Americans had a positive view. That was down from 41% last year. Consumers may not like restaurants as much as they did last year, but they still like them far more than grocery stores.
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