As pandemic conditions eased in 2022, consumers broadened their dining-out preferences to include restaurant types that were little more than off-beat startups before the crisis took hold. For others, it was a matter of rediscovering segments that were as old as the industry itself, like the steakhouse market.
Here are the concept types that seemed to enjoy a sharp upswing in popularity during 2022, judging by indications of their sales.
Crab boils
Our annual ranking of restaurant chains by sales volume, the Top 500, abounded this year in seafood-boil concepts—operations that offer a pot pourri of crab, shell and finfish cooked in a sealed bag, which functions as a pressure cooker. The emerging sector includes such hopefuls as Boiling Crab, Crafty Crab, Angry Crab and Hook & Reel.
The attraction appears to be the value provided. Normally ultra-expensive proteins are offered at a per-person price not much higher than what a meal might cost at a casual grill and bar. Plus, the pressure-cooking method produces “clean” yet flavorful food, with no added fat, salt or sugar.
Operators might be won over by the ease of operations. Cooking meals in a bag requires little skill, and the contents aren’t plated. At least some of the brands use disposable plates and flatware.
Plus, there’s an emphasis on beer, wine and some cocktails.
Daytime dining specialists
Breakfast business was initially steamrollered by the pandemic, a result of consumers no longer leaving their homes for offices, gyms, shopping or to take the kids to school. But the same dynamics gave a boost to what emerged as truly lifestyle brands: Sit-down concepts that serve only breakfast, lunch and brunch, with most of their sales coming from upscaled a.m. fare and cocktails.
The players in that emerging market call it “daytime dining” to differentiate their more ambitious concepts from diners, family restaurants and other breakfast specialists.
As dining-room restrictions eased, brands like First Watch, Snooze, Yolk and Another Broken Egg became places for people working at home to escape their settings for a relaxed breakfast or lunch. And because guests would not be interacting with their boss or co-workers that workday, many indulged in an alcoholic beverage or two despite the early hours.
In addition, visitors could enjoy a full-service restaurant meal for far less than they’d pay for a dinner away from home.
By 2022, the brands seemed as if they were invented for a nation pushing through the late stages of a pandemic.
Cookie bakers
The hit comfort food of 2022 may well have been cookies. A new wave of chains specializing in the treats arose in 2022, making the market one of the industry’s fastest-expanding segments. Brands like Crumbl, Insomnia and Chip City revved up their expansion, helped by an apparent ease in drawing capital. None other than fine-dining god Danny Meyer plowed $10 million into the field by backing Chip City.
Even Subway tinkered in the field. It opened a popup restaurant that specialized in footlong cookies.
Golf concepts
Pent-up demand left consumers hungering for immersive experiences when heading out for a meal and a few drinks. Among the options presented to them were a host of golf concepts. Topgolf and Caddyshack, the greybeards of the market, were challenged by the likes of Puttshack, Puttery, Drive Shack, Swingers and Five Iron.
The reasons are obvious: Few recreational activities command the fanaticism that golf can foster.
Drink concepts
Who knew that America’s thirst is unquenchable? The past year turned a bright spotlight on restaurant brands that specialize in beverages—relative upstarts like 8-year-old Black Rifle Coffee, which went public in the first quarter, to surges by the likes of Dutch Bros, the drive-thru chain.
Other drink concepts that made noise in 2022 include Swig, a brand that intends to grow beyond its Utah roots after changing hands, to international imports like Gong Cha, a bubble-tea giant outside of the U.S.
In addition to seeing considerable expansion in 2022, the beverage sector also saw a significant internal change. Concept after concept reported that customers’ tastes were shifting from coffee and other hot beverages to cold refreshers and energy drinks.
Steakhouses
It’s not as if that mature market segment saw an invasion of new steak concepts during 2022. Rather, stalwarts of the market were rediscovered, contrary to what the situation might have suggested. Places like The Capital Grille and Ruth’s Chris are highly dependent on expense-account business, and business travel has yet to rebound from the freefall triggered by the pandemic. Yet those high-end places enjoyed a good year.
So did more moderate places, including broad-market concepts like LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse.
That rising tide came despite a near-vertical climb in beef prices and occasional difficulties in finding choice cuts. The widely held belief is that consumers indulged their pent-up demand for a top-notch experience.
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