According to a consumer survey conducted in late March as part of the AlixPartners' study, diners say they expect to spend about $11.60 per meal at restaurants over the coming 12 months. That is down 21% from the $14.70 per meal consumers said they spent in pre-recession 2008 in a similar poll last year and down about 4% from the $12.10 in average meal price consumers say they spent in 2009.
"This continuing price sensitivity illustrates a chasm between pre- and post-recessionary consumer expectations," said Andy Eversbusch, a managing director at AlixPartners and head of the firm's Restaurant & Foodservice Practice. "It is, by some measures, due to what we dub the 'Subway Effect,' which has led to a jump in the number of consumers who anticipate spending $5 or less per out-of-home meal. In our survey, 16% of consumers expect this price range to represent their average meal spend, up from 12% last year."