Open for Business?

Nearly 60  percent of restaurants in the U.S. have reduced their operating hours since 2019, according to a survey by Dataessential. 

The firm examined the operating hours for hundreds of thousands of locations across two time periods: October 2019 and October 2022., finding that 58.6  percent reduced their operating hours since 2019, while just 19.8 percent have increased them. 

As of October 2022, the average restaurant is now open for 6.4 fewer hours per week than it was in 2019, a decline of 7.5 percent.

Restaurants across the board saw declines. Denny’s (-30.1 hours per week), Texas Roadhouse (-21.2), IHop (-17.7), Subway (-16.0), and Einsten Brothers (-14.2) are among the chains that reduced their hours the most. Meanwhile, Wendy’s (+21.2 hours per week), Crumbl Cookies (+3.8), Boston Market (+2.7), Jack in the Box (+2.4), and In-n-Out Burger (+2.2) saw increases.

The survey found restaurants are closing earlier than ever with many shutting their doors by 8 or 9 p.m. Datassential’s Firefly data reveals that today just 41.5 percent of restaurants are open at 9:45pm on Wednesdays, compared to 56.6 percent in 2019.