CHICAGO — It took more than a year, but American diners are coming out of hiding, starting to splurge on everything from tea to tacos and tacking on some dessert. The meals aren’t fancyand business is far from what it was before the recession sent the nation spiraling — but restaurateurs big and small say they’re breathing a tentative sigh of relief as tables fill up.
At Deleece, a restaurant on Chicago’s north side, crowds are bigger than they’ve been in months. It’s noisier, too.
“People are out, and they’re spending a little more, and maybe they’re buying that extra appetizer they didn’t before,” said Brandon Canfield, the restaurant’s chef.
Few restaurant chains release sales by month, but data from market-research firm NPD Group showed that the measure climbed in five of the past eight weeks at nearly four dozen fast-food and family- style restaurant chains. At McDonald’s, sales rose 5 percent in March, and at Maggiano’s Little Italy, March sales were up 5.2 percent.
“A year ago at this time, all we talked about was the recession and whether we were going to become cavemen because the economy was collapsing,” said Panera Bread Co. chairman and chief executive Ron Shaich. The Associated Press; AP photo
