How Diners Choose Restaurants Restaurant Insights Report
How Diners Choose Restaurants Restaurant Insights Report
While classic marketing tactics like promos, events, and word of mouth
aren’t going anywhere, we’re now living in the information age, with
countless ways to learn about new restaurants online. Review sites like
Yelp and Google yield thousands of voices weighing in, celebrating
- or berating - their experience. Social media chatter celebrates
culinary aesthetics or publicly blasts poor management. Menus are
readily available on websites for the world to see. And now, with digital
marketing, restaurants exist online before they exist in real-life.
So the question is how does this impact the dining choices of
restaurant goers?
GENDER
Female: 260
MARITAL STATUS:
Male: 261 Single: 107
Living with Significant
Other/ Married: 358
LOCATION Separated/ Divorced/
Northeast: 82 Widowed: 56
Midwest: 122
South: 194
West: 122 CHILDREN
Female: 260
Male: 261
Almost half of participants eat out between 2-4 times per week (48%)
The majority (63%) of restaurant goers say that the type of food would have
the biggest impact on their restaurant choice, ahead of the other four ranked
factors, including location, recommendations from friends, online reviews and
popularity on social media.
The YUM Factor: Almost three-quarters (70%) agreed that they would re-visit a
restaurant that had bad customer service if their food was good.
The majority of participants (68%) said that they had tried a new restaurant
based on positive online reviews.
Over half look at the online menu (59%) and website (51%) before
stepping in the door.
When it comes to food options that attract restaurant goers, locally sourced
food would have an impact on the restaurant choices of almost half of surveyed
restaurant-goers (49%).
Classic marketing mainstays still fill seats, with 80% of restaurant goers visiting a
new restaurant based entirely on receiving a discount or promotion.
Health inspection warnings (70%) and hearing the food is bad from a friend
(69%) were the most frequently stated deterrents.
Waiting for a table longer than 30 minutes (55%) and bad online reviews (51%)
followed as top reasons a restaurant-goer would not consider a restaurant.
More Millennials (66%) eat out than Gen Xers (50%) and Baby Boomers (54%)
Millennials are much more likely to look at online reviews (67%) and social
media (34%) than their Gen X and Baby Boomer counterparts.
Baby Boomers are significantly less driven by specific food options, like
gluten-free, locally sourced, and vegetarian.
Urban diners frequent restaurants more often, are more likely to try
somewhere new every time they go out, and perform online activities
before settling on a new restaurant.
Small town and rural dwellers are less likely to use review sites, are
less influenced by online reviews, and are less attracted to restaurant
entertainment options.
Ballers are more finicky about where they eat – they more frequently check
online menus and reviews than other income brackets before committing to a
new restaurant.
8%
Dine out 5x +
per week
18%
RARELY / NEVER
64%
OCCASIONALLY
18%
ALWAYS / MOST TIME
Friends/
Coworkers
27%
Alone
26% a reservation
occasionally make
69%
recommendations, online reviews, type of food, and
location.
Dead last
Only 3% ranked social media as the most impactful in
their decision making process.
18%
18% Gluten Free Vegan
17%
17% Vegan
29 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
Hey Mr. Restaurant Man,
play a song for me.
36% WiFi
25%
Games or
TVs
billiards
66%
of Millennials are eating out more than
once a week. That’s 16% more than Gen
Xers and 12% more than Baby Boomers.
54% 70%
Ages 18- 34 Ages 55+
39 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
… but Millennials are How would you rank the following factors
in terms of the impact they have on your
more driven by online dining decisions?
Social
Media 15% 0%
Ages 18- 34 Ages 55+
81% Millennials
MENU
56% Gen X
42% Boomers
Gen Xers
44% Millennials Check online reviews before
deciding on a new restaurant.
Boomers 67%
26%
55% 52%
47% 46%
40% 42%
37%
32%
29%
26% 26%
7%
Live Music TV WiFi Games / Billiards
46 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
URBAN VS. RURAL
Empty fridge syndrome. How often do you usually dine out?
Urban diners frequent restaurants most often.
69%
55%
43%
66% 65%
59%
31%
25%
20%
13%
10% 10%
Always/Most times Occasionally Rarely/never
50 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
“You can’t sit with us.” Urban
Urban diners are more likely to dine alone or with Suburban
friends and colleagues, while rural diners often Small Town/Rural
dine with their families or significant other.
Urban
72% Suburban
51% Small Town/Rural
46%
43% 39%
39% 34%
31% 32%
23% 28% 26% 27%
18% 22% 19%
17% 15%
10% 11%
4% 5% 5% 3%
Yelp Google Trip Advisor A Local OpenTable A Local Zomato Have not used
Reviews Newspaper Blog any reviews in the
past 3 months
81%
65% 62%
61% 60%
57%
47% 48%
36%
27% 25% 24%
Positive online reviews Positive feedback on Negative online reviews Negative feedback on
social media social media
Urban
64% Suburban
Small Town/Rural
43% 48%
42%
33% 32% 33% 31%
30%
56% Urban
53% Suburban
50%
43% Small Town/Rural
40%
36%
35%
30%
27% 27%
19% 18%
TV WiFi Live Music Games or Billiards
(darts, pool table, etc.)
86%
83%
75%
<$50K $50K-$100k 100K +
Always/most times
59 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
Ballers want to know what
they’re getting themselves into.
Diners with a household income of 100k+ are more likely to
look at the menu online before deciding on a restaurant.
62%
58%
52%
48% 42%
38% <50K
$50K - $100K
$100K
I look at the menu online first I don’t look at the menu
online first
60 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
Diners on a dime are less likely to
avoid a restaurant just because
it has negative reviews.
60% 62%
48%
<$50K $50K-$100k 100K +
61 TouchBistro Restaurant Insights Report 2017
OPPORTUNITIES
FOR RESTAURANTS
“Honey, I feel like Thai”:
Put food first! If you take away one thing from this research report it’s that
the type of food you offer is the main draw towards your restaurant. Diners
value food first and good food can be your saving grace when it comes
to saving a bad service scenario or combatting poor online reviews. No
matter what age, location or dining circumstance your customer is coming
from, the results are in and ‘type of food’ is the biggest influencer on
choosing restaurants.