Restaurant Trends 2025
Restauranteurs settling into the new year should be prepared for changes ahead in 2025. First and foremost, experts are hesitant to make industry-wide predictions for the coming year. “Given the unexpected pressures from 2024, there is some hesitancy to come up with confident predictions,” Alicia Kelso writes for Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN). The NRN recap of 2024 paints a difficult but truthful picture on the challenges restaurants have faced post-Covid.
Still, there are trends that can’t go unnoticed, and identifying them is helpful to restaurants optimistic for what is to come in 2025. For customers that continue to dine out, the focus is on the food, now more than ever. Diners are choosing restaurants for taste and experience often more than convenience, and mangers and chefs should design menus accordingly. This NRN gallery makes a strong case for the top food trends to be on the watch for, particularly in the way of indulgences. Diners are sampling rich bites with a rise in flights; nodding to old sophistication with the return of the martini; and satisfying their sweet tooth with inventive dessert options. Menus will also include more seafood options, from the fine, like caviar and roe, to the modern, like regeneratively-farmed oysters.
Of course, preparing for food trends is only part of a solid 2025 plan. One of the biggest challenges post-Covid is identifying the best ways to market to an ever-changing consumer audience. Ron Ruggless, a long time contributor with NRN and industry expert, rounded up trends in marketing and operations for NRN, many of which are easy-to-implement options for restaurant owners hoping to stay at the top of the game. Some of these solutions include new ordering avenues, like catering to-go menus; others are more habit-specific, like increased beverage options. Whatever operations and marketing tactics make sense for your restaurant, customers have come to expect personalized and optimized digital experiences both in and out of the restaurant. And probably most importantly, they are seeking financial relief and a return to normal pricing.
No matter how operators see consumer preferences and the financial landscape coming out of 2024 and one month into 2025, Richard Weil, owner and principal of National Restaurant Consultants believes, “Guest counts will continue to be the barometer for operators to track. With inflationary pressures on food and beverage costs hopefully on a plateau, attracting and retaining guests may solely lie upon what this blog is referring to as, relating to the guest experience. These components are not just quality, price, but service will also be a key tactic to keep your guests enthusiastic about your operation to return time and time again.”
Whatever 2025 holds for your restaurant business, take charge of the plan by working with one of our restaurant consultants. We can help you implement changes according to these trends; but more importantly, we can analyze the roots of your business and operations to ensure that you are performing at maximum effectiveness.