Revenue of the casual restaurant segment in the U.S. 2002-2020
Casual dining restaurants – additional information
Restaurants in the casual dining segment are generally defined as those which serve moderately priced food in an informal atmosphere. These restaurants usually provide table service, albeit to a lower standard than upscale restaurants. Since the year 2000, the revenue of casual restaurants in the United States has grown annually with the exclusion of 2009 when there was a six percent drop. The industry is forecasted to increase by around 10 billion U.S. dollars between 2014 and 2020, despite predicted negative growth in 2017.
According to a brand index ranking, which scored restaurants by consumers’ positive or negative perception of the brand, Olive Garden ranked the highest in the U.S. casual restaurant industry, followed by Panera Bread and Outback Steakhouse. Olive Garden is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants Inc., which owns several other casual dining restaurant chains including LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and the Yard House. In the 2016 fiscal year, the revenue of Darden Restaurants reached 6.93 billion U.S. dollars, the highest revenue the company had seen since a peak of 7.22 billion U.S. dollars in 2009.
In a 2015 ranking of full-service restaurant companies, Darden restaurants ranked third in terms of number of units in operation, with 1,501 restaurants. DineEquity ranked first with 3,449 units, more than double that of Darden. DineEquity is the umbrella company for the casual restaurant brands Applebee’s Grill & Bar and the International House of Pancakes (IHOP). The revenue of DineEquity has been in decline since 2008, reaching its apex in 2013 at 640 million U.S. dollars. As of 2015, revenues had increased to 680 million U.S. dollars, but this is still almost one billion U.S. dollars less than the amount seen in 2008.