Restaurants are running on resilience
Toast (NYSE:TOST), the all-in-one digital technology platform built for restaurants, today announced its 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey. Restaurant operators are meeting the moment by doubling down on their craft: hospitality. Our 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey shows how the industry is tackling its biggest challenges with a renewed focus on profitability, efficiency, and the guest experience.
With rising food and labor costs, supply chain issues, and shifting consumer spending habits, running a restaurant has never been more complex. To understand how operators are navigating this new reality, we surveyed 712 restaurant decision-makers from across the country from April 18, 2025, and May 13, 2025, to hear directly from them about their challenges, priorities, and plans for the future.
Read the full 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey on the Data by Toast website.
The big takeaway? This industry doesn't quit.
Faced with uncertainty, operators are showing incredible resilience. They're getting strategic about profitability, leveraging technology to work smarter, and finding new ways to create memorable experiences that keep guests coming back. This report unpacks the data behind that grit.
Key takeaways from the 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey
- Profitability is priority number one. 40% of restaurant operators cited improving profitability as their top goal for the coming year.
- Inflation, marketing, and hiring top the list of challenges. Operators ranked inflation (20%), marketing (16%), and sourcing/hiring (16%) as their top three business pain points.
- Menu prices are on the rise if inflation continues. To protect their margins, nearly half of restaurants (48%) plan to increase menu prices if inflation continues to be a factor.
- Labor challenges hit a high. With hiring difficulties, 47% of operators are focused on increasing staff efficiency to get ahead of the problem.
- Restaurants are ready for AI. Operators are optimistic about artificial intelligence, with 86% saying they feel comfortable using it and 81% planning to use it more in the future.
The future is hospitality
Rising costs and a tough labor market are making things more complicated for restaurants. But this year's report also tells a story of incredible resilience.
Faced with uncertainty, operators are doubling down, not backing down. They're choosing to fight for guest traffic by investing in marketing and customer incentives rather than cutting staff or hours. They're embracing new technology not to replace their people, but to give them human-boosting tech that makes every shift run smarter. And one in four are still planning to expand in the next year.
This isn't just about protecting margins; it's about protecting the heart of the business—the experience, the community, and the irreplaceable magic of hospitality. The challenges are real, but the industry's resolve is stronger. It's a powerful reminder that in this business, grit is always on the menu.
Read the full 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey on Data by Toast.
2025 Survey Methodology
To help better understand the restaurant industry, Toast conducted a blind survey of 712 restaurant decision-makers operating 16 or fewer locations in the United States including both Toast and non-Toast customers from April 18, 2025, and May 13, 2025. Respondents include a mix of both full-service and quick-service restaurants. Respondents were not made aware that Toast was fielding the study. Panel providers granted incentives to restaurant respondents for participation. Using a standard margin of error calculation, at a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error of +/- 4%.
About Toast
Toast (NYSE:TOST) is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a comprehensive platform of software as a service (SaaS) products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, payments, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. We serve as the restaurant operating system, connecting front of house and back of house operations across service models including dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and retail. Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue, and deliver amazing guest experiences. For more information, visit www.toasttab.com.
Source: Toast, Inc.
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