As Matthew Adams, Datamonitor analyst and author of the report, explains, “Eating out is an ingrained part of national culture, and eating habits are evolving to meet the pace and structure of daily life. Consumers are responding to nutritional needs and the demands of daily life by missing meals, changing the times at which they eat and even changing the type of products they eat.”
In the process, eating out in the evening is no longer the special occasion it once was, largely the result of two factors: the decrease in cost of casual dining and the emergence of other motives. Datamonitor finds only 6% of American consumers regard “having a special occasion” as the most important reason for dining out. Instead, nearly half of consumers (49%) consider eating out ideal for connecting with friends.