Restaurant Industry Sees Improved Sales and Traffic

PUBLISHED: May 5, 2025

Restaurant Industry Sees Improved Sales and Traffic in March

After falling more than two points in February, the overall state of the restaurant industry remained steady in March thanks to improvements in current situation indicators.

The National Restaurant Association’s monthly Restaurant Performance Index stood at 98.9 in March, a 0.1 percent improvement from February. The index tracks the overall health of the restaurant industry, with a value above 100 indicating a period of expansion and below 100 signaling contraction.

The current situation component of the index rose 2 percent to 98.9 as operators reported improved same-store sales and customer traffic levels in March. Forty-three percent of operators said same-store sales were up year over year, an increase from only 18 percent that reported higher sales in February. Additionally, 29 percent of respondents said year-over-year customer traffic improved, an increase from 13 percent in February.

While the current situation indicators improved in March, the expectations component of the index, which measures operators’ six-month outlook, fell 1.8 percent to 98.8. The National Restaurant Association credited this decline to rising uncertainty about business conditions. Only 22 percent of operators believed their sales volume would improve over the next six months — significantly below the November 2024-February 2025 survey periods, when nearly half of operators were expecting to see sales growth.

The more pessimistic outlook may impact future equipment investments. Forty-nine percent of operators said they plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the next six months, the lowest reading since the November 2024 survey period. However, the number of operators currently buying equipment has not changed over the past three months, holding steady at around 49 percent.

The full Restaurant Performance Index report is available here.