More than one-third of consumers, 34 percent surveyed in a recent AlixPartners study, said they look forward to dining out more often in the next 12 months, according to the research firm’s November 2017 update on the sector. That sounds like encouraging news for landlords around the country who are rapidly expanding food halls in urban shopping districts.
Dining out has been on an upward swing since the National Restaurant Association found that in December 2014, for the first time on record, Americans’ spending at restaurants exceeded their spending at grocery stores. Just as dining establishments are seen as a viable use to backfill vacant anchor spaces, food halls are considered the newest and hottest way to combine dining, entertainment, and even locally sustainable eating in one place.
