Toast Restaurant Trends Report: The Cost of Going Out to Lunch

The Q2 2024 Restaurant Trends report examines popular lunch food trends, quick-service restaurant transactions in 20 U.S. cities, restaurant employee wages, and tipping data.

BOSTON, MA — Toast (NYSE: TOST), the all-in-one digital platform built for restaurants, today announced its Q2 2024 Restaurant Trends Report, providing insight into the overall state of the U.S. restaurant industry through an analysis of aggregated data from selected cohorts of restaurants and in select U.S. cities on the Toast platform, which serves approximately 120,000 restaurant locations as of June 30, 2024. Read more details about our methodology below.

Key takeaways:  

• In Q2 2024, guests at quick-service restaurants (QSRs) paid an average of $11.26 (+4.6% YOY) for sandwiches and wraps, $12.98 (+4.6%) for bowls, $11.45 (+4.6% YOY) for burgers, $11.42 (+2.7% YOY) for salads, $10.74 (+4.3% YOY) for burritos, $6.04 (+4.4% YOY) for an order of fries, and $3.00 (+4.6% YOY) for a soda.1
• Sandwiches and wraps were the most popular food at quick-service restaurants in every state except California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas, where tacos are the most popular. Bowls were most popular in Hawaii, and salads were the most popular item in Utah.1
• Consumer spending at quick-service restaurants in 20 U.S. cities Toast explored saw a noticeable shift to breakfast and away from dinner and late-night transactions.2
• In June, cashiers at quick-service restaurants in California made a median hourly wage of $16.98.3
• Tipping dropped slightly in Q2 2024 to a total average of 18.8%. Full-service restaurant tips also dipped to 19.3%, and quick-service restaurant tips dropped to 15.9%.4
  
  

Toast Benchmarking powers the Restaurant Trends Report's menu insights. This tool leverages AI-based classification and allows users to compare restaurant and menu category performance against aggregated data from peer Toast restaurants.

The cost of going out to lunch 

1Methodology: Toast analyzed transactions at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, to determine the price growth of tacos, fries, hot dogs, dumplings, soup/stew, quesadillas, chicken tenders, burritos, sandwiches/wraps, salads, burgers, bowls, and noodles/ramen. Toast used a cohort of same-store restaurants on the platform since Q1 2023.

To gauge the cost of going out to lunch for consumers compared to last year, Toast examined same-store sales at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform among 13 different food types: tacos, fries, hot dogs, dumplings, soups/stews, quesadillas, chicken tenders, burritos, sandwiches/wraps, salads, burgers, bowls, and noodles/ramen.

Burgers, bowls, and noodles/ramen topped the list as the most expensive items, while tacos, fries, and hot dogs were the cheapest. Tacos (+5.9%), sandwiches/wraps (+4.6%), burgers (+4.6%), and bowls (+4.6%) saw the largest increase in pricing in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023.

The cost of hot dogs (+1.9%), salads (+2.7%), and dumplings (+3.8%) grew the slowest in Q2 2024 compared to last year. 

Hot dog sales dipped 9% in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023, while sales of bowls, chicken tenders, and burritos rose 1%. 

Sandwiches

Whether you call it a hoagie, hero, sub, wedge, torpedo, grinder, or simply a sandwich, there’s comfort to be found among the meats, cheeses, and veggies snugly wrapped in bread. To see just how much Americans love their sammies and how much they’re shelling out to sustain their desire, Toast examined the popularity of sandwiches/wraps, dumplings, fries, quesadillas, tacos, burgers, noodles, hot dogs, chicken tenders, salads, soups, and bowls at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform in all 50 states.1

Sandwiches won by a landslide as the most popular among these items in 44 states in Q2 2024.  Of the exceptions, tacos are more popular than sandwiches in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. Bowls are most popular in Hawaii, and salads are the most popular item in Utah.

Someone, please check on Utah. Are they OK? 

1Methodology: Toast analyzed transactions at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, to determine the price increase of sandwiches/wraps. Toast used a cohort of same-store restaurants on the platform since Q1 2023. Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming are not included in this analysis. 

Sodas

Soda sales fell a bit flat this quarter, with sales at quick-service restaurants popping down. Soda sales decreased 4.9% in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023, while prices rose 4.6% for the same period.5

On average, Americans paid $3 for a soda at QSRs on the Toast platform in Q2 2024, not taking into account size variations. 

5Methodology: Toast analyzed transactions at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, to determine the price increase of soda. Toast used a cohort of same-store restaurants on the platform since Q1 2023. Alaska is not included in this analysis.

Wakey wakey: Spending at quick-service restaurants in major U.S. cities moves towards breakfast away from dinner and late-night

2Methodology: Toast analyzed hourly transactions at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Toast used a cohort of same-store restaurants on the platform since Q1 2023. 

Toast compared same-store transactions at quick-service restaurants in 20 U.S. cities from Q2 2024 to Q2 2023. In the majority of the cities Toast explored, restaurants saw an increase in transaction counts during breakfast hours (4 a.m. to 11 a.m.) and a decrease in transactions during dinner hours (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and late night (9 p.m. to 12 a.m.).2

Richmond (+15%), Oklahoma City (+11%), Indianapolis (+8%), and Philadelphia (+8%) had the largest increases in breakfast transactions in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023.

Columbus (-9%), Minneapolis (-8%), Austin (-4%), Charlotte (-4%), and Miami (-4%) had the largest decrease in dinner transactions in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023.

Oklahoma City (-15%), Denver (-9%), Seattle (-9%), and Columbus (-8%) had the largest decrease in late-night transactions in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023.

However, there were some outliers to this shift. Atlanta (-7%), Denver (-5%), and New Orleans (-2%) all saw a decrease in breakfast transactions, while Philadelphia (+5%), San Francisco (+5%), and Indianapolis (+4%) saw the largest increase in dinner time transactions in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023.

Lunch transactions were pretty mixed, with Philadelphia (+7%) and Atlanta (-7%) having the largest changes compared to last year.

Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Richmond, and San Francisco quick-service restaurants see healthy growth YOY

6Methodology: Toast analyzed transactions in 20 U.S. cities at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Toast used a cohort of same-store restaurants on the platform since Q1 2023. 

Looking at all hours, same-store transaction growth at quick-service restaurants was mixed, with Philadelphia (+5%), Indianapolis (+4%), Richmond (+4%), and San Francisco (+4%) seeing the largest increase in Q2 2024 transactions compared to Q2 2023.6

Atlanta (-5%), Denver (-5%), Columbus (-4%), and Minneapolis (-4%) had the largest decrease in same-store transactions in Q2 2024 transactions compared to Q2 2023.

In most cities Toast explored, ticket sizes increased, meaning that restaurants were charging more, consumers were ordering higher-ticket items, more items, or a combination of the three. Ticket size in Seattle, Oklahoma City, New York City, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia stayed flat, while Charlotte actually dropped by 4%.

How California's fast food pay changes are affecting restaurant wages

3Methodology: Data from applicable same-store quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from January 1, 2023,  to June 30, 2024. Salaried, overtime, bonus wages, and paid time off are not included. Employees included in the analysis worked a minimum of five hours in the payroll period. Hourly wages do not include tips. Base wages are the total wages divided by the number of hours worked. 

Starting April 1, 2024, California increased the minimum wage for “fast food restaurant employees” to $20 per hour. To be covered under the law, the employees must work for a “fast food restaurant,” defined as a restaurant that offers limited or no table service, has 60 or more establishments nationwide, and primarily sells food and beverages for immediate consumption.

Many quick-service restaurants in the state are exempt from this law (including some that may technically be “fast food restaurants”), though restaurant operators say they will likely need to offer similar rates to remain competitive.

To determine how these laws are affecting restaurants in the U.S., Toast analyzed both hourly wages and tips per hour for workers at quick-service Toast restaurants utilizing Toast Payroll & Team Management.

In January 2024, California raised its minimum wage to $16 per hour for all workers, including those working for businesses that are exempt from the fast-food legislation. Hourly base wages (excluding tips) for cashiers at QSRs steadily increased from $16.33 in December 2023 to $17.00 per hour in April 2024. Wages have since dropped two cents to $16.98, but they are well above the national median of $13.02.3

7Methodology: Data from applicable same-store quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform from January 1, 2023,  to June 30, 2024. Tips per hour are the total reported tips divided by the number of hours worked.

Average tips for quick-service restaurant employees dipped in California when the legislation went into effect from $4.98 to $4.77 per hour in April 2024. However, the trend line for tips per hour is similar to that of the national average, so it’s unclear from this data if the legislation had any meaningful effect on tips.7

Cashiers in California who received tips at quick-service restaurants on the Toast platform received a combined total average wage (hourly base wage plus tips per hour) of approximately $21.72 per hour in June 2024. (An average $16.98 base hourly wage plus an average $4.74 in tips per hour.)

The State of Tipping in America

4Methodology: Data from applicable restaurants on the Toast platform where a tip was added to the order via a card or digital payment from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024. Cash tips are not included in the analysis.

Tipping rates are from applicable restaurants on the Toast platform, where a tip was added to the order via a card or digital payment. Cash tips and transactions without tips are not included in the analysis.

Tips took a slight dip in Q2 2024 compared to Q1 2024, dropping a tenth of a percent across the board. Total tips averaged 18.8% in Q2 compared to 18.9% in Q1. Average full-service restaurant tips also dipped to 19.3% in Q2 compared to 19.4% in Q1, and average quick-service restaurant tips dropped to 15.9% in Q2 compared to 16% in Q1.

For another quarter, Delaware was again the best state overall for tipping, with a total average tipping percentage of 21.5% in Q2 2024. However, this number dipped from 22.5% in Q1.4

California is again at the bottom of the list for overall tips, averaging 17.3%, a slight dip from Q1’s average of 17.4%.