Commentary

Red Wine Boosts Food Checks

Red Wine Boosts Food Checks

According to The NPD Group, Americans like to drink alcohol with their meals. The recent study found that 37 percent of adults (ages 21 and over) include alcohol with their casual/fine dining restaurant dinners from Friday to Sunday, compared to 34 percent between Monday and Thursday.

And, says the report, the type of alcohol consumed varies by meal as well.

  • Beverage alcohol consumption nearly triples between lunch and dinner. 13 percent of the time when an adult visits a casual/fine dining restaurant for lunch, they order an alcoholic beverage, whereas 36 percent of the time for a dinner meal, alcohol is ordered.
  • 55 percent of “drinking” lunches include beer as opposed to dinner (45 percent), but cocktails and wine take the lead at dinnertime.
  • Happy hour, between 4:00 and 7:00 PM, is the highest consumption of beer (58%), and cocktails during this time are on par with dinnertime consumption (34%).
  • Red wine garners the highest check size 
The average eater check is about $12.00 without beverage alcohol. With alcohol, the average check amount almost doubles. People tend to have a higher check when they order red wine, a moderate check with white wine, and a lower check with blush wine.
  • Desserts are ordered more often if someone had wine with their meal.
  • Thursday is the peak weekday for consuming alcoholic beverages.
  • While wine is consumed throughout the week, cocktails rely most on the weekends.

Michele Schmal, vice president of The NPD Group, says “What we’re seeing is that alcoholic beverages have an important place in people’s lifestyles that go beyond Saturday nights.”

The complete release may be found here.

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