Published: April 23, 2026

1. Cuisine Category × Location Type: Six-Year Totals

Shows where each cuisine is actually opening: Free Standing vs. Shopping Center / Mixed Use. Mexican/Latin and Café show near-equal splits between location types. Bar Food is overwhelmingly a Shopping Center / Mixed Use format (67% of all Bar Food openings). BBQ and Chicken skew heavily Free Standing. Coffee/Tea has shifted toward Shopping Center / Mixed Use over the period.

2. Cuisine Category × U.S. Region: Six-Year Totals

Mexican/Latin dominates in every region but especially in the Southeast (4,774) and West (4,028). BBQ is a Southeast-heavy category (934 of 2,542 total = 37%). Coffee/Tea is strong in both the Southeast and West. Bar Food shows its highest concentration in the Southeast (1,388). Asian is disproportionately concentrated in the West (1,494 of 3,972 = 38%). Italian is notably weak outside the Northeast and Southeast.

3. Cuisine Category × Year: Trend Analysis

The six-year trajectory reveals three distinct stories. Mexican/Latin grew steadily every year, peaking in 2024. Bar Food was essentially absent through 2022, then surged from 40 projected in 2020 to 1,984 in 2024. Coffee/Tea grew through 2024 then declined in 2025, suggesting possible saturation. Pizza is in a clear multi-year decline, falling from 830 in 2020 to 638 in 2025. Asian showed the most volatile trajectory, tripling from 414 in 2020 to 1,148 in 2024 before settling at 818 in 2025.

4. Region × Location Type × Year

The Free Standing → Shopping Center / Mixed Use shift happened fastest in the Northeast and Southeast. The Northeast went from 2,334 Free Standing openings in 2020 to just 458 in 2025, an 80% decline. The Southeast went from 2,260 to 1,482 (-34%) while Shopping Center / Mixed Use in the Southeast grew from 1,776 to 3,832 (+116%). The West and Midwest show similar trajectories but with less extreme magnitude. The Southwest has the smallest absolute shift but still crossed over in 2023.

Northeast

Southeast

Midwest

Southwest

West

5. Region × Year: Total Opening Volume

The Southeast is the single largest region in every year and accounts for 33,464 projected openings across the six-year period, 32% of the national total. The West is the second-largest at 25,608 (25%). The Northeast held third through 2022 before being overtaken by the West in 2023. The 2024 surge was felt across every region but most dramatically in the Southeast (+29% vs. 2023) and West (+33%).

6. Service Segment × Region × Year

Based on classified records only coverage varies by year (30–97% of all openings). Casual/Family Dining dominates in every region in every year. Fast Casual is strongest in the Southeast and West. Quick Serve shows the sharpest decline across all regions from 2020–2021 peaks. Upscale Dining is growing fastest in the West nearly tripling from 4 projected openings in 2020 to 110 in 2025 and the Southeast, where it grew from 34 to 74. This likely reflects both post-pandemic luxury dining recovery and the concentration of higher-income mixed-use developments in coastal markets.

Casual/Family

Fast Casual

Quick Serve

Upscale Dining

7. Independent vs. Chain × Region × Year

Chain openings are most concentrated in the Southeast, accounting for 37% of all chain activity across the six years. The Southeast is the only region where chain openings exceeded 700 projected in 2024 and 2025 (796 and 718 respectively). The West showed the largest chain growth from 2023–2024, nearly doubling from 316 to 528. Independent restaurants dominate in every region in every year, but the independent share has been rising particularly in the Northeast (97% in 2023) and West (93% in 2023).

Independent openings by region

Chain openings by region

8. Cuisine × Location Type: Year-by-Year Trajectories

The following tables show how each major cuisine shifted between Free Standing and Shopping Center / Mixed Use formats over the six years. The crossover point, when Shopping Center / Mixed Use overtook Free Standing, differs by cuisine and reveals which categories led vs. lagged the overall market shift.

Mexican/Latin: location type by year

Bar Food: location type by year

Coffee/Tea: location type by year

Pizza: location type by year

Chicken: location type by year

9. Summary: Cross-Tab Findings

All figures are projected full-year estimates based on verified tracking data from Restaurantdata.com. Data covers 2020–2025. Brand names excluded. For licensing inquiries contact Restaurantdata.com.

U.S. New Restaurant Report 2024

Restaurantdata.com tracked and verified new restaurant openings across the United States throughout 2024. Intelligence was gathered through state filings and legal filings, the earliest legal pre-opening sources available, typically providing two to twelve weeks of advance notice before opening day. Figures represent projected full-year estimates based on verified tracking data. Coverage spans 49 states and more than 60 metro markets.

1. Total Openings — 2024 Overview

Restaurantdata.com projects approximately 23,330 new restaurant openings across the United States for the full year 2024. Independent restaurants account for an estimated 21,360 units (91.6%) and multi-unit chain concepts for 1,922 (8.2%).

2. Openings by Service Segment

Service segment classification is not available for every tracked opening. Restaurantdata.com records segment type when it can be confirmed from the source filing. In 2024, approximately 7,062 projected openings (30.3% of the total) carried a confirmed segment classification, with 16,268 (69.7%) unclassified. The figures and shares below reflect the 7,062 classified openings only and should be interpreted as indicative of the segment mix among confirmed records, not the full market.

Segment percentages are calculated from 7,062 projected openings with confirmed segment classification (30.3% of total projected openings for 2024). Unclassified openings are primarily independent restaurants where segment type was not determinable from the source filing.

3. Openings by Cuisine Category — Top 20

Mexican/Latin led all cuisine categories in 2024 with approximately 3,708 projected openings. Limited Menu ranked second, representing concepts with constrained food offerings such as bars, pubs, taverns, cocktail lounges, taprooms, wine bars, and similar foodservice outlets where food is secondary to beverage driven service. Cafe is considered a small restaurant, close cousins to coffee and bakery/cafe.

4. Openings by State — Top 20

Florida led all states in 2024 with approximately 4,508 projected new restaurant openings (19.3%), followed by California at 4,068 (17.4%). Together the top five states accounted for approximately 58.2% of all projected openings nationally.

5. Openings by Metro Market — Top 20

Broward/Dade/Palm Beach led all metro markets in 2024 with approximately 1,490 projected new openings. The top 20 metro markets below represent the most active new restaurant formation corridors tracked by Restaurantdata.com for the year. The metro scope includes all of Oregon, Louisiana and Washington.

6. Openings by Location Type

Shopping Center / Mixed Use led all location types in 2024 at approximately 16,498 projected openings (70.7%), firmly establishing this combined category as the dominant location type for new U.S. restaurant openings. Free Standing fell to 24.2%. Shopping Center and Mixed Use locations are combined here as a single category. Mixed Use developments may include traditional retail corridors, lifestyle centers, or multi-tenant developments with a residential component- the distinction is not always determinable from source filings. Free Standing refers to standalone, drive-to restaurant formats. Hotel, Airport, and Golf Course locations are excluded from this analysis.

7. Data Sources

Restaurantdata.com identifies new restaurant activity exclusively through public record filings, the earliest legal signals available before a restaurant opens. There are two primary source categories. State Filings include DBA (Doing Business As) registrations, fictitious business name filings, state incorporations, and LLC formations the moment an operator establishes a legal business entity, typically two to twelve weeks before opening day. Legal Filings include building permits, construction alcohol license applications, and lease-related permit filings. The operational and physical construction approvals that precede a restaurant opening, typically four to twenty-four weeks in advance. Together these two source categories accounted for 99.9% of all tracked openings in 2024, with no reliance on press releases or media coverage. Newspaper articles, regional publications, insights, and press releases were not part of the sourcing methodology for this period they were formally added as a supplemental source category beginning in late 2025.

8. Chain Openings by System Size

Of the approximately 23,330 projected new restaurant openings in 2024, the majority, an estimated 21,448 (91.9%) were independent or single-unit operators with no chain affiliation on record. The remainder carried a national location count identifying them as multi-unit chain concepts, broken out by system size below.

9. Key Findings — 2024

2024 stands out as the largest projected year in the Restaurantdata.com tracked dataset at approximately 23,330 openings- a 26% increase over 2023 and the clearest signal yet of a robust post-pandemic new restaurant pipeline. Mixed Use/Business Hub became the dominant location type at 41.5%, overtaking Free Standing for the first time. Mexican/Latin cuisine led all categories at 15.9%, followed by Bar Food at 8.7%. Florida and California together accounted for 36.7% of all projected openings nationally. Chain size tier data shows national chains (500+ locations) at 2.7% of all openings, with micro-regional operators (2–10 locations) at 1.9%. Still building toward the reversal seen in 2025.

2025 U.S. Restaurant Opening Market Findings

Published: April 9th, 2026

Restaurantdata.com tracked and verified new restaurant openings across the United States throughout 2025. Intelligence was gathered through state filings and legal filings, the earliest legal pre-opening sources available, typically providing two to twelve weeks of advance notice before opening day. Figures represent projected full-year estimates based on verified tracking data. Coverage spans 49 states and more than 60 metro markets.

1. Total Openings, 2025 Overview

Restaurantdata.com reported that approximately 16,718 new restaurants opened across the United States for the full year 2025. Independent restaurants account for an estimated 14,750 units (88.2%) and multi-unit chain concepts for 1,788 (10.5%).

2. Openings by Service Segment

Service segment classification is not available for every tracked opening. Restaurantdata.com records segment type when it can be confirmed from the source filing. In 2025, approximately 5,640 projected openings (33.7% of the total) carried a confirmed segment classification, with 11,078 (66.3%) unclassified. The figures and shares below reflect the 5,640 classified openings only and should be interpreted as indicative of the segment mix among confirmed records, not the full market.

Segment percentages are calculated from 5,640 projected openings with confirmed segment classification (33.7% of total projected openings for 2025). Unclassified openings are primarily independent restaurants where segment type was not determinable from the source filing.

3. Openings by Cuisine Category, Top 20

Mexican/Latin led all cuisine categories in 2025 with approximately 2,440 projected openings (14.6%). Limited Menu ranked second, representing concepts with constrained food offerings such as bars, pubs, taverns, cocktail lounges, taprooms, wine bars, and similar foodservice outlets where food is secondary to beverage driven service. Cafe is considered a small restaurant, close cousins to coffee and bakery/cafe.

Limited Menu category includes bar and tavern concepts, pubs, taprooms, cocktail lounges, wine bars, and similar operations offering a constrained food program relative to full service restaurant menus.

4. Openings by State, Top 20

California led all states in 2025 with approximately 3,202 projected new restaurant openings (19.2%), followed by Florida at 3,016 (18.0%). Together the top five states accounted for approximately 62.0% of all projected openings nationally.

5. Openings by Metro Market, Top 20

Broward/Dade/Palm Beach led all metro markets in 2025 with approximately 974 projected new openings (5.8%). The top 20 metro markets below represent the most active new restaurant formation corridors tracked by Restaurantdata.com for the year. In the instances of Louisiana, North Carolina, Atlanta & North GA and Chicagoland, numbers are statewide and are included in the Top list.

6. Openings by Location Type

Shopping Center / Mixed Use led all location types in 2025 at approximately 12,154 projected openings (72.7%), continuing its dominance as the primary location type for new restaurant openings nationwide. Free Standing has declined from a peak of 75.2% in 2022 to 22.3% in 2025. Shopping Center and Mixed Use locations are combined here as a single category. Mixed Use developments may include traditional retail corridors, lifestyle centers, or multi-tenant developments with a residential component, the distinction is not always determinable from source filings. Free Standing refers to standalone, drive-to restaurant formats. Hotel, Airport, and Golf Course locations are excluded from this analysis.

7. Data Sources

Restaurantdata.com identifies new restaurant activity through public record filings and, beginning in 2025, through an expanded set of media and publication sources. There are three source categories. State Filings include DBA (Doing Business As) registrations, fictitious business name filings, state incorporations, and LLC formations, the moment an operator establishes a legal business entity, typically two to twelve weeks before opening day. Legal Filings include building permits, construction and renovation approvals, alcohol license applications, and lease-related permit filings, the operational and physical construction approvals that precede a restaurant opening, typically four to twenty-four weeks in advance. Media & Publication Sources, including regional news publications, national news outlets, newspaper articles, insights, and press releases, were formally added as a tracked source category in 2025. While these sources provide less advance notice than public record filings and are used selectively, they expand coverage of openings that may not yet have triggered a filing, particularly in markets or segments that are harder to capture through records alone. Together all source categories accounted for 100.0% of all tracked openings in 2025.

8. Chain Openings by System Size

Of the approximately 16,718 projected new restaurant openings in 2025, the majority, an estimated 14,914 (89.2%), were independent or single-unit operators with no chain affiliation on record. The remainder carried a national location count identifying them as multi-unit chain concepts, broken out by system size below.

9. Key Findings, 2025

Restaurantdata.com reports approximately 16,718 new restaurant openings for the full year. California led all states for the first time at 19.2%, edging Florida at 18.0%. Mixed Use/Business Hub remained the dominant location type at 38.2% while Free Standing continued its decline to 22.3%, down from a peak of 62.3% in 2021. Most significantly, micro-regional chain operators of 2–10 locations reached 4.1% of all openings, more than doubling their 2020 share and surpassing national chains (500+ locations) at 2.8% for the first time in the tracked dataset. 2,553 records of ownership transfers (not new openings) are excluded from the annual overall count.