Filling up seats in restaurants continues to be a struggle.
Alison McLean for the Dallas Observer
If you were ticked off at the small portions and high prices for your last restaurant dinner, or if your most recent takeout meal was equally as aggravating, you’re not alone.
“The restaurant climate here in Dallas, it’s a whole new environment now,” says Rob Chickering, a Plano restaurant consultant who has worked for a variety of Dallas-area restaurant operations. “There are different expectations in guest experience from restaurant customers. There are bigger challenges. It’s a different dynamic in the D-FW area compared to even last year.”
In fact, the results of a national survey released earlier this year not only bear out what Chickering says but also reinforce the idea of all those unhappy diners who look at their food, sigh, and wonder why they bothered.
McKinsey & Company, the high-powered national consulting group, surveyed U.S. consumers at the end of 2025 and found that “the U.S. restaurant sector may be reaching a turning point. … growth is plateauing as persistent inflation, tariffs, and economic uncertainty are forcing diners to rethink the value of every restaurant visit.”
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Cutting back and then some
Two things stood out in the survey:
First, among diners planning to cut back, 52% said they would try to cut their bill by as much as one-half.
More than half of those who were cutting back said they would dine out less — as much as twice a week less.
In addition, the reasons for cutbacks were simple and straightforward:
Almost 60% said food quality was disappointing and almost that many said portion sizes were too small.
More specifically, half said they would start “clipping coupons” – look for promos and discounts to reduce spending and almost as many said they would order less food. Perhaps the most surprising find?
Even the wealthiest demographics – high-end Baby Boomers and Gen Xers – said they planned to cut spending, too, by as much as 17%. By comparison, of those who said they would cut back, only 6% said they planned to reduce spending by less than 10%.
– survey results
“Gen X and baby boomers showed the sharpest pullback in dining and food delivery spending,” the authors of the report explained. “Low- and middle-income households in these groups cut back most across quick-service, sit-down, and delivery categories, signaling that these consumers are most acutely affected by today’s economic pressures.“
Keeping the regulars happy
This is something Chickering has been trying to get his clients to understand for the past 18 months.
“The one thing you can’t do is make portions smaller or reduce the quality of food,” he says. “Your customers notice that when you do it. They know what your food tastes like, and they come in to order something that they like. So when you give them less or change the quality, they notice. Why wouldn’t they? And when it’s not as good, then they don’t come back.”
Which, he says — and the study agrees — customers are doing. Says Chickering: “Everyone knows about inflation. Everyone knows food costs more. So if they see the price of something on the menu go up $1, but the portion size and the quality is the same, they understand it.
“What they don’t understand is why it’s not as good if the operator is cutting costs or quality. It’s all about keeping the guest experience up to their expectations.”
In which case, they won’t try to cut back.