MY RESTAURANT + DINING PREDICTIONS FOR 2025
Dining, restaurants and food go through so many up and downs over the course of a year. Whether you live in one of the greatest food cities in the world or you are just an adventurous eater, like anything else predictions are made. Currently all it takes is one viral moment to send a restaurant or a food item into an insane upward trajectory but that’s also part of the problem. I looked at some dining trends and rubbed my crystal restaurant ball and heres what I saw…
Here are my restaurant & dining predictions for the rest of 2025 …
Chilis, AppleBee’s, And The Likes Are Making A Comeback, But With a Twist - I think we have reached a point where stuffy, pricey restaurants are playing the background and we are circling back to fast casual restaurants. It’s a lot going on in the world and people just want to relax, eat recognizable and approachable food and not break the bank. Chili’s is just one of the fast casual players that has made a major comeback in the last 2 years and I’m positive we will see Applebee’s, Red Lobster and more follow. The twist? Diners are more educated than ever in hospitality, the steps + flow of service and how food should be prepared. I predict these fast casual places will heavily invest in staff training, precise cooking standards and quality liquor and food.
The Battle Between Restaurant vs. The Customer - After the softness and care of the pandemic wore off, the dining customer went back to being their terrible and demanding selves. Long gone are the days of diners being flexible and understanding and to be honest, this is currently the meanest most erratic dining customer I have experienced in a few years. With the love of dining out, evolution and financial flexibility over the last two decades comes an incredibly knowledgeable customer who has both the flexibility and finances to dine out often. On the flip side of that, we have seen over the years a slew of restauranteurs and employees firing back at customers online and in person. Thankfully, while restaurants need the business, employers are no longer allowing customers to lie on their business and harm their employees. My prediction will be that the customer, restaurant employees and food business owners will continue to dance a supremely delicate dance of respecting the dining rules and keeping the customer pleased. (See how I didn’t say happy… )
Grab Your Bag, You Are Dining At The Airport - we are in the era of the luxe airport lounge but the demand for better dining options in airports has always been a conversation. Now, we are seeing some heavy hitters serving their food on planes ie.- Shake Shack serving on select Delta flights and the team behind NYC hotspot Charlie Bird on JetBlue MINT flights. If you have been paying attention to airport lounges over the past few years then you know the dining, mixology and service offerings are becoming more and more elevated, just look at the Chase Sapphire Lounges. Give it a few more months and my prediction is that we will also see high profile Chef’s curating menus in these lounges and some rules being implemented for more non-flying a la carte dining in these lounges.
The Bronx Will Become The Next NYC Dining Destination - say what you want about the Bronx, but the home of the NY Yankees has been quietly building a solid and soon to be respectable dining scene. Aside from Arthur Ave, restaurants along Tremont Ave, Bruckner Blvd and other budding neighborhoods have blossomed into places to go for delicious restaurants. I dined at Lena Trattoria on Tremont Ave this past Thanksgiving and everything from start to finish was simply perfection; my family and I were blown away at how the dining details at this restaurant were seamless. I saw the vision for the Bronx when acclaimed and praised NY Times food critic Pete Wells ventured uptown and gave La Piraña Lechonera 3 stars in 2022. I have also dined at La Piraña and you are not beating the owners dedication to his food and culture.
Diners Are Going Back To Being ‘Regulars’ - with the average dining experience costing upwards of $200 and viral restaurants taking over everything, I believe people are catching on to the fact that the food sucks at a lot of these new hot spots. Majority of people can not take the bet of waisting $200 on bad food and bad outings multiple times a week like they used to and to be honest its just not needed. As we keep going head first into the current administration’s erratic economic policies, I see a shift in the customer dining at their go to places where they feel welcomed, the food is always consistent and they know what they are getting. Sometimes you just want to spend your hard earned money on places that are consistently good and good to you.
Do you agree or have any of your own predictions? Share them in the comments below.
