Restaurant service statistics for 2026, with sources

How were these figures collected?

We read each figure on the publisher's own page or PDF on 15 October 2026, and label how far to trust it.

Reliability labels. GOV: government statistics (including UN agencies). ACAD: academic, peer reviewed. ACAD-WP: academic working paper or university report, not peer reviewed. TRADE: trade association survey; the National Restaurant Association (NRA) is an industry lobby, but its research is widely cited. VENDOR: a company that sells restaurant technology. NONPROFIT: nonprofit research or a data aggregator. Secondary means we could read the figure only in an article reporting someone else's study.

Figures are for the US unless the row says otherwise. None of them is about WaiterPilot. We sell WaiterPilot, and we kept vendor figures, ours and others', out of the main tables unless they are labelled VENDOR.

Collected 15 Oct 2026; we re-check figures and update this page. Monthly series, such as the BLS job openings and quits tables, change every month, so check the source before you quote the latest month.

What do the figures say, in short?

Staff churn is high but easing, guests are split on QR codes, and the solid gain from ordering technology is speed, not bigger checks.

• Restaurants still lose people fast. 4.2% of accommodation and food services workers quit each month in 2025, against 2.2% across private industry (BLS JOLTS). Turnover is down from 5.8% in 2021 and 2022.
• About half of diners would order by QR code. 48% of US full-service diners would order with a QR code, from 69% of Millennials to 21% of Boomers (NRA, 2024).
• Most still want people. 64% would choose traditional service from employees over a restaurant that uses technology (NRA, 2024), and 69% of operators say technology will augment rather than replace staff.
• The gain is time, not check size. The peer-reviewed study of tabletop ordering found about 10% shorter meals and about 1% more per check (Tan & Netessine, Management Science). We make no bigger-check claim for WaiterPilot. See does tabletop ordering increase check size?
• Allergies need a person. In 53.9% of restaurant allergic reactions in one registry, the guest had told staff about the allergy (Oriel et al., 2020). WaiterPilot gives what the menu says and asks the guest to confirm with staff, who have the final word.

Labor, wages and turnover

Restaurants still lose staff at about twice the private-sector rate, though hiring has eased since 2022. Figures are for the US.

Guest attitudes to QR codes and technology

About half of US full-service diners would order by QR code, with a wide gap between generations, and most still prefer service from people.

Operators, technology and AI

Most operators see technology as an edge and expect it to work alongside staff; few use AI for guest orders yet.

Ordering technology: what it changes

The best evidence shows faster meals and more sales per minute, and only a small change in the check: about 1% in the peer-reviewed study.

Tipping

Tipping at a sit-down meal is still the norm in the US, but most people tip 15% or less and many dislike suggested amounts.

Languages and travel

International travel is above 1.5 billion trips a year, and more than one in five US residents speak a language other than English at home.

Food allergies

Between 6% (diagnosed) and over 10% (by symptoms) of US adults have a food allergy, and restaurants are the second most common place for a reaction.

Claims we could not verify

Figures that circulate in articles about restaurant technology but that we could not trace to a source we could read. We don't use them, and we suggest you don't either.

• "QR or digital ordering raises the average check by 20–30%." We found no independent study. Vendor case studies and blogs give figures from 9% to 30% (DoorDash, ChowNow, Adora POS), without a method we could check, and two of those pages would not open for us. An early tablet vendor claimed "10 to 12 percent" in about 2011. A likely source of "20%" is a hypothetical example in the 2016 Cornell report: if tabletop technology improved a $15 average check by just $3, "that would result in a 20-percent improvement". That was an illustration, not a finding. The peer-reviewed study above found about 1% per check.
• "42% higher average ticket sizes" with open tabs on Square self-serve ordering. Published by Square, which sells the product (Square, 7 Oct 2021). It gives no sample, time period or comparison group, and covers open tabs only. Treat it as a vendor claim.
• Average full-service tips of 19.3% (Q1 2026) and 19.1% (Q2 2026) from Toast. Every page we tried for it returned an error, including the press coverage. If you use it, label it VENDOR and "card tips on Toast's platform only".
• Online pizza orders "15% more complex, 4% pricier, 6% more calories". Attributed to Goldfarb, McDevitt, Samila & Silverman (Management Science, 2015). The abstract we could read has no numbers; the figures appear only in search snippets of 2012 news coverage.
• "54% comfortable with AI" in ordering (HungerRush, Nov 2025). A vendor survey; the press release did not open for us.
• 52% of consumers open to AI personalization; 15% trust robots to prepare a meal (DoorDash, 2025). A vendor survey we could not open.
• 73% of Gen Z and 46% of Boomers interested in QR menus (NRA, 2023). Seen only in a news article. Use the NRA's 2024 figures in the guest-attitudes table, which we read in the original report.
• 17 or 18 of 63 fatal food-allergy reactions linked to restaurants (Bock et al., 2001 and 2007). Reported in secondary sources; we did not open the full papers. The CDC paper in the allergies table cites a similar finding: "nearly half of fatal food allergic reactions over a 13-year period were caused by food from a restaurant or other food service establishment".
• Figures we looked for and did not find. A primary global figure for the share of tourist spending that goes to food and drink, and order-accuracy or wait-time benchmarks for table service (only drive-thru studies by vendors exist). For time effects, use the Cornell and Management Science rows above.

Questions about the figures

What should you read next?

• Does tabletop ordering increase check size?The research behind the 1% figure, read closely.
• Serving tourists who don't speak your languageWhat the travel and language figures mean at the table.
• Allergies and dietary questionsHow WaiterPilot answers, and what staff decide.
• Cost calculatorA flat fee against commission, with your numbers.
• GlossaryCovers, table turns, KDS and other terms in plain words.