April 2026 National Restaurant Sales Metrics

The national restaurant sales metrics for April 2026 are in!

The trailing 4-week (28-day) average of year-over-year (YOY) sales for Fast Casual came in at +4.37% and Full Service at +1.81% at the end of April compared to 2025 sales.

Across the 7-day moving average chart, both segments saw strong growth during the first and last weeks of the month, peaking at +4% growth for Fast Casual and +7% growth for Full Service. 

Food costs averaged 29% of sales last month, which was the same as in March.

Pita bread topped our Droppers list with prices -48% lower on average than in March, followed by green onions, down -29%. On our Movers chart, grape tomato prices came in with the highest increase at +65% higher than in March, followed by fresh tomatoes (+51%) and roma tomatoes (+29%). This is the second month that tomatoes have dominated the Movers chart.

Regionally, the Northeast and the Midwest ended the month with the highest performance, at +18% and +7% growth, respectively.

See you in June!