Restaurant Sales Trends: Family Dining +1.9%, Quick Service -1.1%, Fast Casual –1.6%
October 27, 2025
Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher, Coleman Report
Main Street Monday — Restaurant Sales Trends: Family Dining +1.9%, Quick Service -1.1%, Fast Casual –1.6%
I spent some time this week digging into the October 2025 Restaurant Industry Report from the Citizens Restaurant, Franchise & Multi-Unit team. Their data always gives a solid pulse on where the industry really stands — and right now, the numbers are challenging. Traffic is soft, costs are rising, and more than half of the brands they track are still posting negative same-store sales.
Let’s look at the numbers.
Quick Service: Down 1.1%.
- Chicken: -3.0%. KFC fell 5.0%, marking six straight quarters of decline. Popeyes down 0.9%, its second consecutive negative quarter.
- Pizza: Flat at -0.2%. Domino’s up 3.4%, Pizza Hut down 5.0%.
- Burgers: Down 3.3%. McDonald’s rose 2.5%, while Jack in the Box (-7.1%) and Good Times (-9.0%) were the worst performers.
- Coffee/Snack: Up 2.6%, the best-performing QSR category. Dutch Bros. up 6.1%, Tim Horton up 3.6%.
- Mexican: Up 0.7%. Taco Bell posted its 20th consecutive positive quarter at +4.0%.
Fast Casual: Down 1.6%. Cava up 2.1% for its 13th straight gain. Potbelly up 3.2%, Shake Shack up 1.8%. On the downside: Fuzzy’s Taco Shop down 11.8% (eight straight negative quarters), Sweetgreen down 7.6%, Chipotle down 4.0%.
Family Dining: Up 1.9%. Cracker Barrel led at +5.4%, Keke’s Breakfast Café +4.0%.
Casual Dining: Up 0.6%. Chili’s surged 23.2%, Olive Garden up 6.9%, Kona Grill down 14.6% — its seventh straight quarterly decline.
Fine Dining: Down 1.8%. The biggest drag came from STK Steakhouse, which fell 6.0% in same-store sales. STK is part of The ONE Group Hospitality (NASDAQ: STKS), which operates high-end “vibe dining” brands including STK Steakhouse and Benihana. Both concepts have been hit by softer traffic on the fine dining side, where rising costs are squeezing margins.
The Citizens team sums it up well — this is still a value-driven market. Operators that execute on efficiency and deliver on price are staying alive.