The New Dining Habits of the Wealthy: How High-Income Households Are Cutting Back on Restaurant Spending

In March, Revenue Management Solutions surveyed more than 800 restaurant-goers across the US to find out how they’re dining in 2023. While insightful, it wasn’t all great news.

At a high level, the findings indicated that reported usage across restaurant segments and revenue channels has fallen compared to Q4 2022. 

The survey results were supported by performance. For the first quarter of 2023, traffic in the QSR segment was down 0.7 percent year-over-year, and quantity per transaction was down 4.7 percent. On the bright side, sales continue to perform positively compared to last year, primarily driven by price increases throughout 2022. 

When we go back to the survey, a surprising trend is emerging. Higher-income households (earning more than US $99,000) and families with children drove decreases across all restaurant segments. In fact, ​​among higher-income households, the number of respondents saying they are spending more of their disposable income on restaurants…