May 2026 National Restaurant Sales Metrics

May 2026 national restaurant sales metrics are here!

The trailing 4-week (28-day) average of year-over-year (YOY) sales for Fast Casual came in at +4.24% and Full Service at +1.40% at the end of May compared to 2025 sales.

Across the 7-day moving average chart, both segments saw positive growth during the first week of the month, peaking at +6% growth for Fast Casual and +8% growth for Full Service over Mother's Day weekend. 

Food costs averaged 28% of sales last month, which was a slight drop from April.

Pita bread did a 180˚ and topped our Movers list this month with prices +78% higher on average than in April, followed by iceberg lettuce, up +53%. On our Droppers chart, fresh corn prices came in with the biggest decrease at -42% lower than in April, followed by eggs (-35%) and grape tomatoes (-33%). After months of increase, it's great to see tomato prices coming back down again!

Regionally, the Northeast (once again) ended the month with the highest performance, at +18% growth.

See you in July!