It’s been a pretty good year for the restaurant industry on several fronts, according to a new report from restaurant marketing and commerce platform BentoBox.
For starters, 2023 was the first time that employment levels at bars and restaurants returned to pre-pandemic levels. In September 2023, there were 12.37 million bar and restaurant employees, which surpassed the pre-pandemic high of 12.34 million employees in February 2020.
Some of that employment boost is helped by the fact that over 10,600 restaurants opened in America from October 2022 through September 30, which is 5.7% more than opened the same period a year earlier. And while nearly every region of the country experienced increased restaurant openings, some cities clearly led the way.
Here are the cities with the most new restaurant openings:
- New York, NY: 238
- Milwaukee, MI: 191
- Las Vegas, NV: 189
- Chicago, IL: 178
- Atlanta, GA: 161
- Jacksonville, FL: 135
- Washington, DC: 129
- Denver, CO: 128
- Pittsburgh, PA: 127
- San Diego, CA: 126
When you look at openings on the state level, Florida came in tops (1,256 new restaurants), followed by Texas (1,056), California (930), North Carolina (586), and Pennsylvania (457).
Finally, BentoBox’s report says the national average check total for those dining out was $22.46.
BentoBox says its data on restaurant openings comes from the Restaurant Activity Report and counts estimated opening dates from October 2022 through September of this year. You can check out BentoBox’s full 2023 Restaurant Trend Report here.
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