Restaurant Sales – DC – April 2021

April 2021 > April 2020

April continued to increase sales both for Full Service and Fast Casual restaurants, but with a less aggressive rate than in the past few months. 

We ended the month at 7.6% (in a 7-day moving average compared to 2019 sales) for Fast Casual restaurants and Full Service finished April at -30.0%, a high for 2021 with still a long way to go. The difference in Fast Casual performance vs. Full Service performance makes sense when you consider that restrictions on dining disproportionally hit full-service sales – table capacity restrictions, restaurant capacity restrictions, curfews, alcohol sale restrictions. Luckily, we’re starting to see some of these measures get rolled-back in the metro DMV area. 

Temporary restaurant closures are falling, in other words, restaurants that closed to wait out the pandemic are starting to reopen. The DMV actually has a better reopening rate than restaurants outside of the DC area. 

Delivery as a percent of sales took a nosedive, hopefully meaning more profitable sales for restaurants as people dine onsite or pick up food themselves.

About these metrics: The MarginEdge monthly snapshot of DC Metro restaurant sales is based on a sampling of 300+ area restaurants ranging from fast-casual to full-service.