National Restaurant Association Survey Finds 17% of All U.S. Restaurants Closed in ‘Economic Free Fall’

The National Restaurant Association released a new survey that spelled out the dire nature of the industry’s collapse since COVID-19 restrictions started closing down dining rooms in March.

According to the survey, “approximately 17% of restaurants—more than 110,000 establishments—have completely closed,” and 10,000 of those restaurants closed within the last three months alone.

“87% of fullservice restaurants (independent, chain, and franchise) report an average 36% drop in sales revenue,” the survey continued. “For an industry with an average profit margin of 5%-6%, this is simply unsustainable. 83% of fullservice operators expect sales to be even worse over the next three months.”

The survey’s findings track with previous reports that 100,000 restaurants had closed. Certain sectors of the industry have proven resilient, like franchises, pizza or drive-through heavy concepts, but generally speaking the numbers do not bode well.

In a letter sent to Congress, which has failed to follow up the CARES Act with another round of stimulus, Sean Kennedy, the Association’s executive vice president of public affairs, laid out what the group calls “economic freefall.”

“More than 500,000 restaurants of every business type—franchise, chain, and independent —are in an unprecedented economic decline, and for every day that passes without a solution from Congress, thousands more restaurants across the country will close their doors for good,” he wrote.