• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

Over two thirds of consumers are spending $15 less a week on dining out than they did in 2025, per a new report. According to the study from restaurant tech provider PopMenu, available here, consumers today spend approximately $100 a week on restaurants, down from 2025 but still a slight increase from earlier this year.

The report, compiled from six months of national research on 3,000 U.S. consumers during the first half of 2026, found they’re cutting restaurant costs in multiple ways to try and stay within their dining budget.

More than half (52%) of those surveyed said they’re now “drinking water instead of purchasing a beverage,” while half (50%) said they’re taking orders to go more often, forgoing dining-in altogether. For those who still want to go out to eat, 48% use coupons or reward points, and 47% choose a less expensive restaurant.

“Around 30% of monthly food budgets go to restaurants today, down from a high of 40% in 2022,” said Brendan Sweeney, CEO and co-founder of Popmenu. “What that tells us is consumers are spending intentionally, not reluctantly. Restaurants have pushed menu prices about as far as they can go. Consumers are looking for value and incentives to come back. They're also looking for the whole experience to be easy.”

And while there’s no tax on tips, servers are still suffering the negative effects of the U.S. economy; 40% of consumers say they are “tipping less this year.” This doesn’t just affect full-service restaurant servers; 19% of fast-casual diners reported tipping “less than 10%,” 14% tipped 10%, 11% tipped 15% and only 8% tipped 20% or higher.

Over 60% of consumers say they’re dining out less frequently, with dinner taking the biggest hit.  Forty-six percent say they’ve cut back on dining out for the last meal of the day, followed by lunch (37%) breakfast (28%) and late-night snacking (28%).