- The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in the spring was accompanied by a surge in traffic to restaurants, according to Yelp data
- New restaurant openings in May were up 42 percent compared to the previous year
- Restaurants continue to struggle with staffing issues as demand increases
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
The spring saw the lifting of many COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, as ongoing vaccination efforts and declining case counts helped reassure officials that businesses could reopen safely. New data from Yelp shows that restaurants and food service businesses opened and reopened at a rapid clip during the season, accompanied by strong customer demand.
- Almost 6,600 restaurants and food service businesses opened in May, a 42 percent increase from May 2020 but down 19 percent from May 2019
- Almost 16,500 restaurants and food service businesses reopened in April, with more than 5,000 returning to business in May
- 3.7 million diners were seated through Yelp apps in May, exceeding pre-pandemic highs
- The biggest gain in restaurant activity as tracked by Yelp apps occurred in Wyoming, where seatings increased more than 1,000 percent compared to the previous year; however, seatings were down in eight states
