How the COVID pandemic has changed the restaurant industry

How has the pandemic affected restaurants?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Lisa Miller, a consumer strategist and the author of "The Business of Joy."

The podcast is part of our series on the impact of the COVID pandemic on the restaurant industry five years after it first hit. The pandemic wiped out a huge percentage of sales. 

More than half of the restaurant workforce lost their jobs. That period was an earthquake on the industry, and there have been many aftershocks since: supply shortages, runaway inflation and now traffic declines as consumers get frustrated over price hikes.

We discuss the lingering impact from that era. We also talk about how consumers have changed. And we talk about the potential restaurants have to get customers, even in a tough market. The U.S. diner hasn’t fully returned to the industry and still wants to eat out more often than they do.