Are GLP-1 Guests Eating Out Less, or Just Ordering Less?

Quick answer: Among the 850 GLP-1 (prescription medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro) users we surveyed, the ordering shift is bigger than the visit shift. 51% say they eat restaurant meals less often than before starting the medication, but 62% order less food when they do go, and 98% report cutting at least one item off their usual order. The clearest opening for operators: 87% say they'd order a smaller-portion version of a regular menu item if one existed.

An estimated 11% of U.S. adults now take a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024, according to Gallup's 2026 polling.

In August 2026, Toast surveyed 850 U.S. adults who currently take a GLP-1 and buy at least one restaurant meal a week. We asked what changed after they started: how often they go out, what they order, which foods have lost their appeal, and what would make them pick one restaurant over another.

A consistent trend emerges across the survey feedback. Guests continue to visit restaurants, but their table choices have shifted.

Are GLP-1 users eating out less often?

About half of our respondents are: 51% say they eat meals from restaurants less often than before starting a GLP-1, and 21% say they eat out about the same amount.

At the same time, 28% say they're eating restaurant meals more often than before. Rather than following a uniform shift, a meaningful minority actually dines out more often.

What shifts more than frequency is the order itself: 62% say they order less food when they eat out, and 51% say they spend less on a typical restaurant meal.

What are GLP-1 users ordering less of?

Desserts, more than anything else. A vast majority of respondents have altered their ordering habits, with just 2% reporting no changes at all. Surveyed guests are ordering less:

• Desserts: 70%

• Large entrées: 52%

• Appetizers: 50%

• Sides or fries: 48%

• Soft drinks: 48%

• Alcoholic beverages: 44%

• Pre-meal bread or chips: 44%

• Value or combo meals: 34%

These reductions primarily target add-ons rather than main courses. Desserts, appetizers, sides, and drinks were each cut by 44% or more of respondents, while combo or value meals, the closest option here to a complete dish, saw the lowest rate at 34%.

What are GLP-1 users ordering more of?

The increases primarily concentrate in fresh produce, protein-dense options, and smaller portion sizes. Specifically, surveyed guests are ordering more: 

• Salads: 69%

• Grilled or lean protein: 57%

• High-protein items: 56%

• Soups: 38%

• Appetizers as a full meal: 34%

• Sparkling or flavored water: 30%

• Kids' menu items: 21%

Does taking a GLP-1 change how food tastes?

For most respondents, yes. 36% say foods they used to love no longer appeal to them, and 32% say food tastes blander or less flavorful. Only 28% report no change at all.

Certain categories have become actively unpleasant for a large share of them:

• Fried or greasy food: 57%

• Spicy food: 38%

• Large portions of anything: 30%

• Sweet desserts: 30%

• Rich or creamy sauces: 26%

• Alcohol: 26%

• Carbonated drinks: 23%

What still appeals skews simple and lightly prepared, led by fresh fruit (76%), simple grilled or roasted protein (49%), and soups and broths (49%).

What do GLP-1 users do differently at restaurants?

Since starting a GLP-1, 94% of respondents have modified how they order, with only 6% reporting none of the following:

• Ordered an appetizer as a main meal: 44%

• Split an entrée with someone: 44%

• Left more than half their food: 41%

• Asked for a to-go box at the start of the meal: 36%

• Ordered from the kids' menu: 30%

• Skipped a drink they would have ordered before: 27%

Because smaller portions are rarely an explicit menu option, diners rely on workarounds: ordering off the kids' menu, sharing entrées, or boxing food up front. Only 12% consistently finish their entire order, while 29% rarely or never do.

Would GLP-1 users order smaller portions if restaurants offered them?

Overwhelmingly. 87% of respondents say they'd be likely to order a smaller-portion version of a regular menu item.

Asked what they'd want a restaurant to do:

• Add smaller portions at a lower price: 39%

• Let me order a half portion of anything, not just a few items: 33%

• Offer more shareable small plates instead of entrées: 14%

• Keep things as they are: 14%

72% want a smaller-portion option of some kind, and a matching 72% say they've already chosen a restaurant because it had options that fit a smaller appetite, including 31% who say they do it often.

What menu features make GLP-1 guests choose one restaurant over another?

We asked how much five specific menu features would influence that choice, ranked here by the share saying each would influence them "a lot":

Counting everyone influenced at least somewhat, half portions at a lower price is the strongest draw at 95%, and a good non-alcoholic drink menu is the weakest at 75%. Every option we tested cleared 75%.

How should restaurants adapt their menus for GLP-1 guests?

The order changes more than the visit does

Reported cuts to desserts, appetizers, sides, and drinks run well ahead of reported cuts to how often these respondents go out.

Consider: keeping an eye on how often desserts, appetizers, and drinks are selling, not just how many guests are coming in. A busy dining room can hide the fact that people are ordering less once they sit down.

Portion flexibility is the clearest ask 

87% of respondents say they'd order a smaller portion, and 72% say they've already chosen a restaurant because it had smaller-appetite options. Guests who can't find one assemble it themselves out of appetizers and the kids' menu.

Consider: offering half portions at a lower price on a handful of high-volume entrées and printing them on the menu rather than leaving them to be requested. Roughly a third of respondents want the option on anything, not just a few items. 

Protein grams matter almost as much as portion size

 47% of respondents say listed protein grams would influence their restaurant choice a lot. Publishing accurate figures takes nutritional analysis and consistent portioning, so it isn't free, but it doesn't require changing a recipe or adding a menu item.

Consider: listing protein grams on the items where the number is already strong, such as grilled proteins, bowls, and salads, instead of running the analysis across the full menu at once.

How a dish is prepared matters as much as how big it is

57% of respondents now find fried or greasy food unpleasant or upsetting to their stomach, and 81% say a milder version of a dish would influence where they eat at least somewhat.

Consider: offering a grilled preparation of one or two popular fried items, noting on the menu where a dish can be made milder, and making sure the menu has at least one simply prepared protein and one soup or broth that aren't heavily sauced.