Restaurant Sales – DC – May 2021

May: a Great Month for DC Restaurants!

DC area restaurants saw steady progress this May! Fast Casual restaurants continue to crush 2019 sales and full-service climbed from -29.8% year-over-2-year sales on May 1 to -16.1% on May 31. The end of the month boost probably had a bit to do with the way Memorial Day weekend fell in our comparison to 2019 (the weekend fell during May 24-27 in 2019 compared to May 28-31 in 2021). But even taking the holiday into account, the sales progress made in May was impressive especially given the challenges of staffing for the rapid increase in demand. Also we are seeing delivery trending down and approaching pre-pandemic numbers – crazy to think delivery made up around 40% of sales a few days in May 2020.

About these metrics: The MarginEdge monthly snapshot of DC Metro restaurant sales is based on a sampling of 300+ area restaurants ranging from fast-casual to full-service.