Here’s How Much We Spend Dining Out — And When We Spend It

Independent local restaurants typically record only 45 transactions a day at an average of $28 each ($1,260 total), according to a new study of 2018 data from more than 42,000 restaurants around the country, conducted by Womply, a front-office software company. (Clearly these are not among the most expensive restaurants in America.)

North Carolina bucked the trend, recording an average of 63 daily transactions.

The states were patrons spent the most money per day at local restaurants were Rhode Island (total receipts of $1,883), Vermont ($1,731), California ($1,601), Massachusetts ($1,585), and Florida ($1,553). In contrast, the lowest-grossing places were in West Virginia ($843), Wisconsin ($837), Kansas ($811), Oklahoma ($804) and Mississippi ($708). The study revealed some other surprises about American dining habits:

While the most profitable time for restaurants is Mother’s Day weekend, receipts are actually higher on the Saturday than on the Sunday of the holiday– Mother’s Day itself.

Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day are the third and fourth most profitable holidays, respectively, but Valentine’s Day is curiously lacklustre, ranking 120th out of 365 calendar days in terms of revenue.

January and February are the slowest months for restaurants in general, accounting for 6.6% and 7.0%, respectively, of the total yearly consumer spend, while May through August is the best period, each month accounting for at least 9.0% of total yearly spending. This is probably true even for the 50 highest grossing restaurants in America.