Restaurant & Bar Sales - Historical Chart
Retail Sales: Food Services and Drinking Places. Gray shaded areas indicate U.S. recessions.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), Series MRTSSM44X72USS. Shaded areas = NBER recession dates. Updated 2026-03-09.
What the Dec 2025 Data Shows
At 734.7B, the restaurant & bar sales in Dec 2025 is above the 10-year average of 578.0B by 156680.13. The reading has been mixed recently, fluctuating without a clear directional trend over the past 6 months.
FRED series MRTSSM44X72USS tracks monthly sales at restaurants, bars, and other food services establishments. This is the most direct measure of dining-out spending available from government data, covering everything from fast food to fine dining to neighborhood bars.
Restaurant sales are one of the most sensitive consumer spending categories. Dining out is discretionary -- when consumers feel financially stressed, they cut restaurant visits before cutting grocery spending. This makes restaurant sales a useful early indicator of consumer financial health.
The COVID pandemic devastated the industry: restaurant sales fell 50%+ in April 2020 as dining rooms closed nationwide. The recovery was uneven, with fast-casual recovering faster than full-service restaurants.
What This Metric Measures
This page tracks total monthly sales at food services and drinking places in the United States, from the Census Bureau's Monthly Retail Trade Survey. The data comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database, series MRTSSM44X72USS, updated monthly.
Historical Context
The all-time peak was 734.7B in Nov 2025. The all-time trough was 158.6B in Mar 1992. During COVID-19 in 2020, the reading hit 541.3B (Sep 2020). Year-over-year, the metric has moved 2.4%.
Why It Matters
The restaurant industry employs over 12 million Americans and generates roughly $1 trillion in annual revenue. Restaurant sales trends directly affect food distributors, commercial landlords, equipment suppliers, and payment processors.
For restaurant operators, the national trend provides context for evaluating your own performance. If national sales are up 4% and your location is up 2%, you are losing share. If national sales are flat and you are up 5%, you are winning customers from competitors.
What This Means for Business Owners
Understanding where this metric stands relative to historical norms helps business owners make better borrowing decisions. Metrics far from their 10-year average often signal turning points that affect the cost and availability of credit.
Restaurant & Bar Sales - Frequently Asked Questions
Food services and drinking place sales are 734.7B in Dec 2025, per FRED series MRTSSM44X72USS.
Sales moved down from the prior month. The reading has been mixed recently, fluctuating without a clear directional trend over the past 6 months.
In nominal dollar terms, yes -- sales have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Adjusted for inflation, the picture is closer to break-even. Profit margins remain compressed due to higher labor and food costs.
Dining out is highly discretionary. When consumer sentiment drops, restaurant visits are among the first cuts. The correlation between sentiment and restaurant sales is strong, with a 1-2 month lag.
Yes. Restaurant sales are reported in nominal dollars. With menu prices up 20%+ since 2019, some of the growth is price rather than volume. Real (inflation-adjusted) restaurant sales growth is lower than nominal.
FRED series MRTSSM44X72USS, from the Census Bureau Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Published monthly.