The decision by most states to allow diners to eat indoors at restaurants as coronavirus restrictions are eased, seems to be having an impact, according to “The State of the Restaurant Industry,” the latest data from OpenTable, the provider of online restaurant reservations.
Seated dining in the U.S. on Friday (June 12) and Saturday (June 13) was off by 65 percent in contrast with the same two days a year ago. While the new data is still in negative territory, it’s a dramatic improvement over the time period between March 21 and through the end of April, when indoor dining had fallen by nearly 100 percent.
The U.S. numbers mirror global data of both days that revealed dining indoors was down by 66 percent compared to the same days one year ago.
Germany was an outlier. On Thursday (June 11) indoor dining increased 7.5 percent. It was also up on Friday by 3 percent, but fell on Saturday by 14 percent compared to the same day a year ago.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced restaurants to limit and change operations,” OpenTable said in a statement. “Even as cities and states begin to reopen, our community of nearly 60,000 restaurants continues to face unprecedented challenges.”
Also on Monday (June 15) OpenTable said its reviews have generated more than 10 million posts by verified diners.
Last month, PYMNTS reported the national decline in restaurant bookings started to ease, based on OpenTable data.
The results showed restaurant bookings have declined 85 percent year-over-year, but still showed an improvement over the almost total 100 percent decline from mid-April during COVID-19 shutdowns.
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