BlogSurprising Us Restaurant Trends
Marketing & Promotions

The 2025 U.S. Restaurant Trends That Surprised Us

5 min read

Apr 15, 2025

Restaurant AI

The restaurant industry never sits still—just when you think you’ve figured out what diners want, the game changes. And in 2025, one thing is clear: guests expect more than just great food. They want hyper-personalized dining experiences that make them feel valued, connected and—let’s be real—impressed enough to post about.

Our 2025 U.S. Restaurant Trends & Diner Expectations Report uncovered some surprising shifts. 

Americans are more selective about where they spend, but they’re willing to splurge—if the experience is worth it. They’re also changing how they interact with brands and what it takes to keep them coming back.

The good news? They’re telling us exactly what they want. The challenge? Delivering it at scale.

Enter: SuperHuman Hospitality™—a concept where technology and data empower restaurateurs to create exceptional, personalized experiences without sacrificing efficiency.

Here are the most important restaurant industry trends shaping 2025 and tips for using tech, AI and automation to stay ahead.

1. Guests expect personalization—but restaurants are struggling to deliver

Americans are raising the bar for personalization, but nearly 80% of restaurants are still guessing at what guests actually want. Operators cite their biggest challenges as:

Tracking the success of efforts (35%)
Ensuring consistency across locations (31%)
Knowing for who and how to personalize (28%)  

Meanwhile, guests are crystal clear on what they expect:

Consumers' highest ranked in-dining personalizations

  1. Preferred seating
  2. Tasting menus customized to their preferences
  3. Curated appetizer platters

Consumers’ highest ranked personalized marketing offers

  1. Birthday or anniversary perks
  2. Exclusive offers or early access to events
  3. Reservation offers that match their typical dining schedule

Yet, there’s a gap. Nearly half (47%) of consumers want birthday and anniversary perks, but 39% of operators don’t offer them. Similarly, fewer than half of restaurants provide the custom tasting menus (45%) or curated platters (40%) that diners crave.

What this means for operators:

Personalization is more than just remembering a name—it’s offering experiences guests actually want when they want it, such as customized tasting menus customized and reservation offers.
Tech + guest data = super human personalization. Leveraging a robust CRM (like SevenRooms) automatically tracks customer preferences, spending history and special occasions to make personalization seamless and scalable.

2. Consumers are willing to splurge—but only on personalized, luxe experiences 

Diners are more selective with their spending, but they’ll drop serious cash for experiences that feel premium and exclusive. 

Special dining experiences also help with retention. 74% of consumers plan to or have already returned to a restaurant after a unique experience.

Top experiences consumers would spend more on

  1. Holiday menu or celebration (63%)
  2. Tasting menu (55%)
  3. Live music or dance (53%)
  4. Cooking class experience (51%)

Personalized experiences worth the extra expense include:

  1. Curating their own appetizer platter (62%)
  2. Customized tasting menus (59%) 
  3. Commemorative menu or special occasion keepsake (57%) 
  4. Preferred seating (48%)
FYI

Darwin Brasserie gave diners the option to upgrade to window seats during the reservation process and increased digital sales by 626% in just two months.

What this means for operators:

Upselling premium experiences is key. Offer upgrade options such as window seats, champagne toasts and curated menus during the reservation process. 
Position high-value customer experiences as ‘worth the splurge.’ Exclusivity and storytelling drive spending. Cater to guests’ passionate pursuit of luxury by thinking about the experience holistically from service to setting, making it one they simply can’t afford to miss. 
Leverage guest data to target big spenders. Use your restaurant CRM to identify your highest spenders and create custom email and text marketing campaigns to get them through the door. 

3. From tables to shelves, restaurants are becoming lifestyle brands

Your guests don’t just want your food—they want a piece of your brand. 87% of consumers are interested in buying restaurant-branded products, from pantry staples to online classes.

Top-selling non-meal items diners would buy include:

  1. Pantry goods & specialty ingredients (36%)
  2. Food subscriptions like cheeses or frozen items (23%)
  3. Cocktail kits & mixology experiences (22%)
  4. Cookbooks & online cooking classes (21%)

Merch isn’t just a revenue play; it’s a built-in word-of-mouth marketing channel that turns diners into ambassadors. This intentional blurring of the lines between dining and shopping is driven by a desire for convenience and a deeper relationship with brands they trust. 

Nail this, and you’ve opened up another revenue stream beyond filling tables.

What this means for operators:

Sell more than food; sell your brand. Hotels and retailers have mastered the art of turning customers into loyal fans through word-of-mouth and repeat business. Restaurants can do the same by offering branded merch that keeps guests engaged beyond the dining room.
Tech unlocks new revenue streams for restaurants. Make it easy for diners to shop your brand by showcasing custom merch, pantry items and gifts directly in the online reservation process like Ai Fiori's example below. E-commerce platforms and voucher management systems are also great tools for setting up an online store with built-in personalization options.

3. Cha-ching! Text marketing is coming in hot

Forget inbox overload, texts are the new table talk. Modern diners have a growing appetite for dining deals and VIP invites, and they want it in a text thread. 

48% of consumers prefer to connect with restaurants via text, and SevenRooms’ clients using SMS marketing have generated up to $70K in revenue from a single campaign. 

Based on SevenRooms’ data, restaurants using SMS marketing see:

24X average ROI
$1,800 average revenue per text campaign

The top highest-grossing text campaigns:

Holiday events & special menus
Limited-time reservations (e.g., last call for NYE)
Weekend patio or chef’s table promos

What this means for operators:

Use email and text together—send personalized emails, then follow up with SMS for high-impact, time-sensitive offers. 
Lean into FOMO—exclusive texts for VIP reservations and last-call deals drive engagement and conversions.
Keep it short and clickable—a concise message with a direct booking link is your best bet for driving bookings via text.

"We never want to send email and text on the same day...we do an email campaign and then the text message campaign goes out a few days later. Where we see the biggest spike [with text marketing] is when we roll out the urgency messaging. It's the FOMO. That's how we get the bulk of our covers." - Henry Kaminski, Founder of Brand to Table and former CMO at Fabio Viviani Hospitality

4. Asking diners for deposits isn’t a dealbreaker

Worried that requiring a deposit or credit card hold will scare off diners? The data says otherwise—less than a quarter of consumers say it deters them from booking.

Guests are already used to pre-payment models in travel, events and other hospitality experiences. They just want clear communication upfront. When framed as a way to secure their reservation and prevent no-shows, deposits become a standard (and expected) part of the process.

What this means for operators:

Make the process seamless. Use automated deposit requests and credit card holds through your reservation system to remove friction and improve guest compliance.
Be flexible with reservation policies. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, adjust deposit and cancellation policies based on demand, peak hours and high-traffic days to maximize revenue while maintaining guest goodwill.

5. Consumers are comfortable with AI—they’re just waiting for restaurants to catch up

Diners are already adapting to AI-powered hospitality—it’s the restaurants that are lagging behind.

74% of consumers are comfortable with AI in the reservation process, but only 29% of operators use AI for reservations.

Guest comfort with AI-assisted reservations:

  1. Communication to the restaurant that they’re running late and ensuring they don't lose their table (36%)
  2. Booking or modifying a reservation for them over web chat or text message (36%)
  3. Booking or modifying a reservation for them over the phone (33%)
  4. Booking or modifying a reservation for them over email (32%)

The opportunity with artificial intelligence is massive: restaurant operators that adopt AI for guest interactions, reservations and reputation management are seeing faster response times, higher engagement and better guest experiences.

What this means for operators:

Adopting AI tools like chatbots, voice and phone AI systems and AI-driven messaging can revolutionize your reservation process. AI can manage routine tasks such as confirming, modifying or even rescheduling reservations, allowing you to provide fast, seamless service without overburdening your team. These systems can instantly respond to guest requests, whether they’re reaching out through web chat, text, or even the phone—boosting engagement and cutting wait times.  

Answering the call for connection with SuperHuman Hospitality 

This year’s trends aren’t just about adapting to change—they’re about embracing the tools that make high-touch hospitality scalable. Today’s diners demand personalization, convenience and experiences worth remembering. The restaurants that leverage tech, AI and automation to deliver high-impact, low-effort guest interactions will be the ones that thrive in 2025 and beyond.

Download the full 2025 U.S. Restaurant Industry Trends Report for even more restaurant business insights and takeaways. Or if you’re ready to make your hospitality SuperHuman, book a SevenRooms demo today.

Share this Post