5 Surprising Trends We Discovered by Scraping US Restaurant Data

Introduction

The US restaurant industry can be described as a culinary kaleidoscope; it continuously reacts, expands, and changes with each new consumer trend, economic cycle, and cultural entity. The US is home to more than one million active restaurants generating an expected $997 billion in sales in 2025, making it one of the most critical sectors in the economy (and a cultural touchstone). Every neighborhood, from downtown Manhattan to a rural town in Nebraska, has a food narrative.

But beyond the menus, neon signs, and Michelin stars, there is a wealth of analytics. Every restaurant has a digital presence, including local directories, Google Maps, Yelp, TripAdvisor for reviews, and delivery-app menus. When you aggregate digital legacy and scrape restaurant data, you can tell a compelling story about not just what people eat, but perhaps more importantly, why and how their dining habits are changing.

To uncover these stories, we scraped and extracted thousands of records from US restaurants, extracting information on the type of cuisine, opening locations, pricing tier, types of delivery, and consumer sentiment in reviews. After analyzing these datasets, we shaped five trends in American dining that contradict our privileged understanding of food culture.

Some of these trends confirmed our suspicions, such as a surge in health-conscious dining. Others were smaller, nuanced shifts that lacked attention, like a rise in locally sourced ethnic-style dining in suburbs. Let's take a closer look at the five surprising discoveries by scraping US restaurant data.

What Are The 5 Surprising Restaurant Industry Insights from Scraping US Data?

Trend 1: The Surprising Rise of "Healthy Fast Food"

The phrases fast food and healthy seemed mutually exclusive. Consider the stereotype: greasy burgers, salty fries, and oversized sodas. The data told a different story. Across the country, the fastest growing segments of the restaurant categories in the US are related to healthy fast food - restaurants that value speed and cost but with clean ingredients, plant proteins, and nutritional transparency.

Data Insights

• Restaurants with words like "organic," "plant-based," "whole food," and "gluten-free" grew by 19% when comparing 2021 to 2024, almost three times the growth rate of fast food.
• Independently owned "salad bowl" and "grain bowl" are thriving in even smaller metros, like Boise, ID, which had a 42% faster growth rate in health-oriented quick service restaurants (QSR) between 2020 and 2022.
• Customer reviews that focused on "healthy" or "clean eating" rated an average of 0.4 stars higher than reviews mentioning guilty pleasure and indulgent food.

Real-World Examples

• Sweetgreen, the most established player in this space, successfully used technology and customization to position itself for growth opportunities by allowing consumers to create their own bowls/salads.
• Chipotle often comes to mind as a Mexican fast-casual restaurant; however, they have built out health and lifestyle positioning by offering customizable protein bowls and lifestyle menus.
• Even legacy players showed interest: McDonald's tested plant burgers, and Taco Bell now has vegetarian options certified by the American Vegetarian Association.

Why It Matters

Americans still want quick meals, but they no longer want to sacrifice nutrition. It indicates that convenience and health are no longer mutually exclusive, but rather co-drivers of eating occasions. For entrepreneurs, this means that menus that leverage portability, health, and taste will continue to drive growth.

Trend 2: Regional Cuisine Isn't Dying—It's Evolving

When food globalization reared its head a few years ago, there were fears that regional American cuisines would diminish as local menus became homogenous at the hands of food delivery. The opposite is happening. In our scraped data, we observe that regional cuisines aren't diminishing—they are evolving into creative, hybridized versions of themselves that roam far from their origin.

Data Insights

• Cuisine tags like Cajun, Hawaiian, Appalachian, and Tex-Mex displayed double-digit increases across delivery platforms between 2020 and 2024.
• "Fusion" terminology appeared with regional cuisine on 23% of menus, up from 14% in 2019.
• On average, restaurants specializing in regional cuisine garnered better overall reviews (4.3 stars) than generalized "American" or "casual dining" restaurants (3.9 stars).

Regional Examples

• Detroit-style pizza, the thick, cheesy, rectangular pie baked in a steel pan, has exploded throughout the U.S. It has transformed from a local phenomenon into a mainstream offering in markets from Los Angeles to Miami.
• Hawaiian poke has evolved from a basic raw fish dish served in a bowl into innovative and inventive mash-ups, such as "poke burritos" and "poke nachos," presenting poke to a new consumer audience at a national scale.
• In New York, restaurants like Seoul Taco and Bao Down merge distinct regional Asian cuisines with the influence of American street food, demonstrating how "regional" cuisine is not solely a geographic label.
• Appalachian cuisine, which has had an overlooked history, is receiving cultural clout due to chefs' renewed interest in heritage ingredients like ramps, pawpaws, and sorghum syrup.

Why It Matters

Consumers want authenticity with their innovation. Restaurants that are purely traditional run the risk of being "niche"; however, when chefs take regional elements and remix them into what are conceptualized as "new" dishes, which garner a broader appeal, especially to younger consumers, compared to dishes that draw heavily from regional origins. From a restaurateur's perspective, offering a regional storyline is a brand advantage; however, the continued evolution or reinvention will keep it current.

Trend 3: The Ascent of "Hidden Gem" Suburbs vs. Downtown Hotspots

When launching a restaurant, conventional wisdom was once said to be location = downtown. The densest urban centers promised foot traffic, tourism, and cultural excitement. However, our scraped data indicates a power shift: suburbs and tier-2 cities are surpassing big downtowns in restaurants' growth and customer satisfaction.

Data Insights

• Between 2021 and 2024, suburban versus downtown restaurant openings show an enormous gap: for suburban counties adjacent to large metros, there was a +22% disparate increase in new restaurant openings as compared to only a (mere) +9% increase in downtown restaurant openings.
• Customer reviews in suburban spaces averaged a rating of 4.1 stars, as compared to 3.8 stars for dense urban core restaurants.
• Delivery penetration in suburban restaurants was 72% versus downtown's 54% with suburban restaurants showing strong adaptation to at-home dining.

Factors Driving the Shift

• Remote Work: The millions of employees working from home since 2020 have left fewer folks commuting downtown for lunch or after-work fare. Dining happens much closer to home.
• Real Estate Costs: The cost of downtown rent can take 20-30% of your revenue, while suburban leases do permit restaurants to scale sustainably.
• Quality of Life Lifestyle: Suburban diners tend to have higher disposable incomes associated with quality of life, and again, quality of life for suburban diners is convenience, and this facilitates loyal, high-spending customer bases.

Here are some Real-Life Examples

• In Austin, suburban Round Rock and Pflugerville have achieved more openings per capita in the suburbs than in the city center.
• In the suburbs of Chicago, Naperville and Schaumburg, independent restaurants have proliferated, offering quality on par with fine dining downtown.

Why This Matters

This fundamentally changes the playbook. Entrepreneurs can find satisfaction without an expensive downtown lease, opting instead for more community-based choices in the suburbs, which offer favorable success factors such as affordability, lower risk, and more stability in revenue streams.

Trend 4: Delivery First Models Are Transforming Menus

Delivery has progressed from being an ancillary operation to a core business model for many restaurants. Our data indicates that restaurants are designing delivery-optimized restaurant menus, making them more like a packaging plan (that considers travel and reheating) rather than adjusting a dine-in menu for delivery.

Data Insights

• Over 40% of restaurants have delivery-only items that are not available to dine-in customers.
• Menus designed for takeout are predominantly focused on portability, such as burrito bowls, fried chicken sandwiches, and noodle bowls, which cater to many delivery-focused meals.
• Restaurants that have new delivery menus reported 20% fewer complaints about soggy food or bad presentation than restaurants using delivery for existing menus.
• When we think about delivery, ghost kitchens are still the story for growth, but even bigger is traditional restaurants figuring out ghost kitchens. A hotel might launch a few delivery brands from one kitchen!

Packaging Innovations

• In new delivery, eco-friendly heat-retentive packaging is becoming a differentiator, and restaurants are receiving positive mentions in reviews for this type of packaging.
• Some restaurants are starting to invest in modular packaging, keeping sauces separate from proteins for ideal textures.

Real-Time Examples

• MrBeast Burger exploited the opportunity of ghost kitchens nationally and showed just how scalable a delivery-first branding can be
• Independent Thai restaurants launched delivery-only brands ("spicy noodle bowls", "vegan curries") in Los Angeles and never changed out of their kitchens.
• Multiple chains (Chili's) launched delivery-only spinoffs of their existing menu.

Why It Matters

Delivery first is here to stay. With new delivery apps written into daily life, such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub, restaurants that prioritize delivery will build future-proof resilience. For new things, optimizing for food travel and customer reviews via a delivery app is even more important than the recipes they offer.

Trend 5: Reviews Reveal Price Is Not Equal To Quality

As consumers, we often believe that spending more money gets us better food, service, and overall experience. The scraped review data revealed a more diagnostic story that overall customer satisfaction is highest not at fine-dining restaurants, but at mid-tier restaurants. 

Data Insights

• It is important to note that mid-tier restaurants ($$) had an average review score of 4.2 stars, compared to budget ($) restaurants that received a score of 3.9, and fine-dining ($$$$) restaurants had an average score of 3.7 stars. 
• Fine-dining restaurants had the most mentions of negatives relating to quality associated with smaller portion sizes, pretentious service, and longer wait times. 
• Budget restaurants received much negative feedback due to cleanliness and quality inconsistencies, but mentions of value were extremely high.
• The sweet spot is affordable elevated experiences: tons of flavour and plenty of food with consistent service.

Real-World Examples

• Looking at national chains like Texas Roadhouse (winning over fine-dining steakhouses) and Olive Garden (also winning over fine-dining steakhouses), consumers are just as satisfied at much cheaper prices compared to fine-dining.
• Independent mid-tier bistros in suburbs boast some of the highest customer loyalty numbers, as customers are equally happy at price points they can easily access, enjoying trusted comfort food.

Why This Matters

Consumer satisfaction regarding price and quality in restaurants suggests the customer's perception does not hold. Consumer satisfaction while dining out is not based on price but on value and consistency. For owners and operators, this indicates that a restaurant may achieve fine-dining status, but this could not be favourable for the owner. The future paradigm shift for restaurants may not necessarily be about cheaper prices, but rather price-points that provide affordable/fun indulgences with some consistency in quality.

How Has US Dining Evolved Over the Decades?

American dining has reinvented itself over and over throughout its history— from 1950s fast food to 1980s casual chains, to the foodie revolution of the 2000s, and then the rise of fast casual in the 2010s. The pandemic of 2020 has accelerated the adoption of delivery, shifting priorities and habits in relation to health, value, and convenience. We now see restaurants reflecting not only food but also technology, lifestyle, and access.

What Do US Restaurant Data Insights Reveal About Consumer Behavior?

While scraping data reveals broad patterns, customer reviews and demographic overlays offer context for the changes occurring and, more importantly, why they are happening. Modern techniques like web scraping make it possible to gather this information at scale, ensuring that trends in consumer behavior are identified faster and with greater accuracy.

Generational Segment

• Gen Z and Millennials are contributing to the rise of health-focused and delivery-first dining. The millennial generation cares about sustainability, personalization, and digital conveniences.
• Gen X and Boomers continue to frequent more sit-down casual dining, wanting familiarity and experiences that are service-oriented.

Income Segments

• Middle-income households show the strongest loyalty to mid-market ($$) restaurants and have, on average, much higher scores for reviews.
• High-income diners continue to support fine dining, but their levels of dissatisfaction suggest that it has become increasingly more challenging to exceed their expectations.

Cultural Shifts

• Immigration patterns, awareness of diverse cuisines, and increased access to them are driving demand in restaurants for regional and international offerings.
• Food is now a means of expressing their identity, and diners are increasingly curious about trying fusion foods and sharing their experience on social media.

Lifestyle Changes

• Remote working trends have decreased foot traffic into downtown dining destinations, while increasing demand for dining options in suburban neighborhoods.
• Health and fitness trends are shifting the priorities of consumers when dining to transparency and balance of meal composition, even in fast food.

How Does This Restaurant Trends Data Impact On Restaurant Owners & Investors?

For those who work in or invest in the restaurant space, these ideas translate into:

• Site Selection: Location strategy now indicates that suburban restaurants are equally, if not more, desirable than downtown. Diner loyalty and lower rent margins suggest that profitability is more predictable.
• Menu Approach: An immediate shift to delivery-first should be made. Every decision about the menu (such as moving items for transit or heating, reheating time, packaging, etc.) will affect reviews and reorder.
• Price Psychology: Mid-tier dining has become the sweet spot. Fine-dining restaurants are focused on exclusivity, while mid to mid-high tier characteristics and values are desired by returning diners.
• Health Positioning: Plant or clean-label type items can attract a broader demographic without antagonizing their traditional diner loyalists.
• Investor Opportunity: Chains that align and optimize along affordability, health, and delivery are right-sized for scaling metrics.

What Are The Key Takeaways of 5 Trends of Scraping US Restaurant Data?

Across the restaurant data we scraped and compiled, five distinct themes emerged that challenge or contradict conventional thinking:

• Healthy fast food is taking off; convenience and health and wellness are cohabitating. 
• Regional cuisine will endure and flourish as we reinvent it. How do we maintain authenticity while being innovative?
• Suburbs are where we eat, and shifts in remote work have also altered our patterns of food consumption.
• Delivery-first menus are making their mark in the restaurant industry, impacting everything from packaging to brand identity.
• Price ≠ quality is the most consistent, and customer satisfaction resonates from mid-tier restaurants.

Conclusion

Scraping restaurant data reveals more than just statistics; it serves as a reflection of changing American lifestyles. The restaurant industry is often more dynamic than stereotypes suggest. After examining thousands of restaurant data points across the United States, we uncovered five surprising trends. However, these trends are not just about the data; they are influenced by historical, behavioral, and technological factors that enrich the narratives they portray.

What emerges is an industry shaped by consumer values, digital platforms, suburban lifestyles, and a focus on health and delivery. These elements will drive the next significant innovations in food. For restaurant owners, investors, and diners, the future of food encompasses not only what we eat but also how we eat it, where we choose to eat, and how these choices connect with the ever-evolving nature of our lives.