Media Insights into Restaurant Industry

Delivered August 6th, 2019. Contributors: Shannon L., Nehil S., Joy C., Wycliffe O. and

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Diners - Timing of Eating Out

By examining the busiest times for dining out in Los Angeles restaurants that are similar in cuisine, rating, price range, and hours of operation as Eve, the typical timing of when diners tend to eat out in Los Angeles is 1:00 p.m. for lunch and 8:00 p.m. for dinner during the week. On the weekends, 12:00 p.m. is more popular for brunch/lunch, but 8:00 p.m. is still the preferred time for dinner. Across the country, 7:00 p.m. is the preferred dining time for most diners, so Los Angeles diners tend to eat a little later than the average American. Fridays are the busiest days for dining out in Los Angeles, as well as in the United States and Americans are nearly twice as likely to eat out during the summer than in winter and three times more likely to eat out in summer as in spring or fall. Details of these findings and others are below.
LOS ANGELESEVE AMERICANA BISTROFor comparison purposes, Eve restaurant is an American bistro that serves brunch, lunch, and dinner. 
Eve's Google entry does not offer a price range, but on TripAdvisor, it has a price range of $-$$$.
The restaurant also has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. 
TRUXTON'S AMERICAN BISTROTruxton's American Bistro has a price range of $$ and a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Its peak times for lunch are 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m on weekdays.
Its peak time for dinner is 7:00 p.m on all days of the week.
On Sundays, its peak times for brunch are 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m..
CAFE BIRDIECafe Birdie is an American bistro-style restaurant that has a price range of $$ and a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
It is only open for dinner during the week and the busiest times are 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.,
On Saturdays and Sundays, the restaurant serves brunch and lunch as well as dinner and for brunch/lunch, its peak time is 12:00 p.m. on both weekend days, with Sunday a little busier than Saturday.
THE PARK RESTAURANTThe Park Restaurant is an American bistro that has a price range of $$ and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Except for Mondays, when the restaurant is not open for dinner, the peak time for dinner here is 7:00 p.m.
For lunch, the restaurant has a peak time of 1:00 p.m. on all weekdays.
On weekends the peak brunch/lunchtime is 12:00 p.m. and it is busier on Sundays than on Saturdays.
HERE'S LOOKING AT YOUHere's Looking at You is a new American restaurant with a price range of $$$ and a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
This restaurant is only open for dinner on weekdays and its peak dining time is 8:00 p.m.
On the weekends, the restaurant is open for lunch/brunch and its peak dining hours are 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.
CRAFTCraft is a new American restaurant with a price range of $$$$ and a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Throughout the week, the peak time for lunch is 1:00 p.m.
On Mondays through Thursdays, the peak time for dinner is 7:00 p.m., but on Fridays, the peak is 8:00 p.m.
Craft is not open for brunch or lunch on weekends and is closed on Sunday, but on Saturday, the peak time for dinner is also 8:00 p.m.
ANIMALAnimal is a new American restaurant with a price range of $$$ and a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Throughout the week, Animal is not open for lunch and the peak time for dinner is 8:00 p.m., with 9:00 p.m. another popular choice on Fridays.
On weekends, the peak time for brunch/lunch is 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 12:00 p.m. on Sundays.
OTIUMOtium is a new American restaurant with a price range of $$ and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Except for Mondays, when Otium is not open for lunch, the peak time for the mid-day meal is 1:00 p.m., but 12:00 p.m. is a very close second.
For dinner, throughout the week, 8:00 p.m. is slightly more popular than 7:00 p.m., but they are close.
On the weekends, 1:00 p.m. is the peak time for brunch/lunch and 8:00 p.m. is the peak time for dinner.
KALIKali is a restaurant the features contemporary California cuisine with a $$$ price range and a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
On the weekdays, 1:00 p.m. is the most popular time for lunch and 8:00 p.m. is the most popular time for dinner.
Kali is not open for lunch on weekends, but the most popular dining time is 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 7:00 p.m. on Sundays.
LITTLE BEAST RESTAURANTLittle Beast Restaurant is a new American restaurant with a $$ price range and a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars. 
This restaurant is not open for lunch on weekdays and its peak dining time is 7:00 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, and 8:00 p.m. on Fridays.
On weekends, the most popular time for brunch/lunch is 12:00 p.m. Dinner times are more varied on weekends, with 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. the most popular on Saturday, but 6:00 p.m. is the most popular dinner time on Sunday.
CLIFF'S EDGECliff's Edge is a new American restaurant with a $$$ price range and a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Cliff's Edge is not open for lunch during the week and the most popular dinner time on all days (except Sunday, when it is not open for dinner) is 8:00 p.m., with 9:00 p.m. also popular on Fridays.
On weekends, the most popular time for brunch/lunch is 12:00 p.m. 
CONCLUSIONAfter examining 10 restaurants that are in Los Angeles and are similar to Eve in terms of cuisine, open times, and ratings, the conclusions about the typical timing of when diners tend to eat out in this area are as follows
The peak dining times in Los Angeles, California for dinner during the week (Monday through Friday) range from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., but 8:00 p.m. is the busiest time at most restaurants. 
On Fridays, 9:00 p.m. is also a popular time for dinner in Los Angeles, but it does not beat out 8:00 p.m. for most restaurants.
During the week (Monday through Friday), Los Angeles restaurants that are open for lunch are all busiest at 1:00 p.m. Only one restaurant examined (Truxton's American Bistro) had a similarly busy lunch at 2:00 p.m.
On Weekends, the peak dining time for brunch/lunch is 12:00 p.m., with only four restaurants showing a higher peak at 1:00 p.m.
Dinner times on the weekends are very similar to those on the weekdays, with 8:00 p.m. prevailing, but one restaurant's Sunday dinner peak (Little Beast Restaurant) was at 6:00 p.m.
Overall, Fridays are the busiest days of the week, especially for dinner, but Sunday brunch is also one of the busiest times for restaurants that are open on Saturdays and Sundays.
UNITED STATES TRENDS IN TIMING FOR DINING OUTIn 2016, 48% of surveyed Americans indicated they most frequently eat out in the summer, and as of 2018, this appears to still be the dominate season for dining out.
 Winter was the second-most popular season, with 26% of Americans stating they most frequently eat out during this season.
 Spring and fall are less popular overall, with only 15% (spring) and 11% (fall) of Americans choosing these seasons to eat out most frequently.
This is supported by industry publications that state, "the restaurant industry tends to thrive during the summer or warm months."
The surge in diners during the summer is related to an increase in tourism in many U.S. cities and restaurants located near hotels are most likely to see an uptick in diners in the summer. 
Although winter is the second-most popular season for dining out, it trails behind summer by a significant margin, likely because "customers might feel less compelled to travel to restaurants for a meal — especially if they are dealing with snow, ice or freezing temperatures."
Holidays are also popular times for dining out in the U.S., with Mother's Day the number one holiday in terms of dining out. Other popular holidays are Valentine's Day (2nd), Father's Day (3rd), New Year's Eve (4th), and Easter (5th).
According to Brian Fitzpatrick, CTO of Tock, an online reservation management platform, the hardest time to get a reservation in the U.S. is 7:00 p.m., suggesting that this is the most popular time for dining out in the U.S.
According to tipping data from Cake, Fridays bring in the highest percentage of tips for servers, which is related to the increased number of diners on that day, suggesting that Fridays are the most popular day in the U.S. for dining out.
Even though people tip more generously on Sundays (particularly the brunch crowd), "servers still make the most on Fridays because overall revenue is higher on Friday than Sunday."
RESEARCH STRATEGYTo begin our research into insights, data, and statistics surrounding the typical timing of when diners tend to eat out and possible trends for dining when going out, we first focused our attention on Los Angeles by examining the restaurant archives of the Los Angeles Magazine, the Los Angeles City Guide, SoCalPulse, and other local publications to see if they provided the most popular dining times in the area. While we found restaurant recommendations, awards that local restaurants had won, and diner restaurant reviews, we were unable to find any information about the typical timing of when Los Angeles diners dine out. However, during this search, we discovered that Google offers data on when restaurants are the busiest throughout the week to help diners plan their visits. This provided us with our next strategy.

We determined what type of restaurant Eve is, which turned out to be a new American bistro with traditional European influences and a Los Angeles flair. Eve is open for brunch, lunch, and dinner every day of the week and has a Google rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. We also discovered that the pricing range for Eve on TripAdvisor is $-$$$. Using this information about Eve allowed us to identify 10 similar restaurants in Los Angeles for which Google has data on their busiest times to provide a snapshot of when diners in Los Angeles tend to eat out. All restaurants selected have a similar cuisine, rating, price range, and hours of operation as Eve to provide the most relevant results possible. 

After examining the data found on the 10 restaurants similar to Eve, we provided our conclusions on the typical times Los Angeles diners eat out for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch at American bistro-style restaurants. We were also able to identify the busiest days of the week for these restaurants, which were Friday and Sunday morning. Note that we did not examine all restaurant types in Los Angeles, as there are too many results and triangulating an average for all Los Angeles restaurants would require additional time. However, the results of our 10-restaurant survey indicate that eating patterns are very similar across the board and would likely not vary much for other restaurants in the area, unless they are only open at a specific time during the day (i.e. only for breakfast) or are open 24-hours a day (i.e. target late-night diners). 

Finally, we gathered some general statistics about U.S. diners overall, which provided more insights into the most popular dining seasons, holidays, times, and days of the week. Some data is older, such as the information from Statista on the most popular seasons for dining out, but since it is still quoted in recent sources, we assumed it is the latest data available. The trends that were identified were supported by numerous industry publications and hard data as indicated in the findings. 

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Insights and Trends - Paid Media Trends: Restaurants

We could not find the information on the paid media trends in the restaurant industry-specific to Los Angeles or California, hence, we expanded our search to the US. Some paid media trends in the restaurant industry in the US include Digital Marketing, Integration Of Digital Technology With Out-of-Home Advertising, and Artificial Intelligence in Advertising. Below are our deep findings and detailed methodology.

INSIGHTS AND TRENDS - PAID MEDIA TRENDS: RESTAURANTS

TREND #1: DIGITAL MARKETING Description of the trend: 
For digital marketing in businesses, content marketing is essential. The engagement to develop new relationships with customers and/or nurture any existing relationships has been seen as an essential key to the success of the restaurants. 
Content marketing is used to develop more visibility and with Facebook as the pioneer of the social ad space. A variety of new ways to deliver ads and acquire new customers can be attained through digital marketing. 
Targeting feature in the space helps isolate niche groups and deliver the content at the right time. 
Instagram TV (IGTV) focuses on long-form content and is a key tool for brands and restaurants with adequate resources. 
Why it is a trend: 
Content marketing through email marketing saves time as the restaurants don’t have to manually copy all the information across to all the customers, which in turn saves money.
Content marketing also increases impact as the automation allows the tracking of communications and promote the brand, food options, and changes to the customers easily. 
Advertising on Instagram has become a preference. Ad spending on Instagram and Facebook grew by 40% and 177%, respectively. 
This trend experiments with different ad features across platforms to find what combination generates the highest ROI and user engagement. 
The percentage of restaurants advertising on social media and Google or search engines is 63% and 26%, respectively.

TREND #2: INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL WITH OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING
Description of the trend: 
The digital signs that get updated in real-time are replacing static billboards. The digital signs can be activated by connected cars or mobile devices, hence, integration of digital tech with out-of-home advertising.
Digital out-of-home advertising across the country is becoming popular, this is, is being used as signage in restaurants, to make signs on the highways, among others.
The digital billboards can be geofenced so that the drivers who have seen the ad can be targeted again by sending them a personalized ad on their mobile devices.
Billboards and out-of-home advertising are proven to be highly successful in reaching people when they’re out and deciding where to eat. 
Billboards drive people to mobile apps for many quick-service restaurant chains which in turn increases their app usage and mobile ordering and delivery.
Why it is a trend:
Out of home campaigns are 17% more likely to engage with the brand on their mobile phone. 
Digital out-of-home advertising units can be tracked, same as to any other digital ad, hence, analytics results can be delivered faster compared to traditional methods' metrics. 
"Follow the Arches" campaign for McDonald's restaurants to be adapted globally was based on the actual logo, showing the directions to the drivers to follow the curves of the "M" to the restaurant.
McDonald’s is always at the top of the list of companies spending the most on out-of-home advertising. 
Out-of-home billboard advertising can help an ad campaign increase its reach to social media, mobile, radio, and TV by 212%, 316%, 45%, and 18%, respectively.
Last month, 40% of people who viewed the out-of-home advert visited the advertised restaurant.
Directional billboard advertisements reportedly increased the sales by 32% during the campaign. 

TREND #3: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ADVERTISING Description of the trend:  
For internal marketing for food delivery, companies now use bot technology to allow merchants to re-target digital diners through Facebook, Twitter, SMS, and even the new voice assistants. 
The companies are now using robots to create ads, for example, Burger King.
Burger King said the algorithm “was able to discover intricate patterns and gather insights for strategic and effective communication.” 
Customer-facing tech advancements powered by AI help boost sales and delight customers.
Why is it a trend: In the next five years, 25% of all restaurant sales will shift to digital ordering and delivery. 
Restaurants are now partnering with marketing technology companies such as SaaS platforms to advertise because they only require a fixed fee, hence, low advertising budget. 
Automation in advertising increases the savings, efficiency, and flexibility towards advertising/marketing costs.

RESEARCH STRATEGYTo provide an overview of 2-3 trends for paid media trends in the restaurant industry, we scoured through the industry reports/blogs which generally report the current practices/trends of different industries. The main idea was to identify the trends in the paid media trends in the restaurant industry, we looked through sources like AdAge, Restaurant Business Online, qsr Magazine, Modern Restaurant Management, among others. We also scoured through the media publication like Forbes, Fortune, Inc, Bloomberg, Inc, among others to provide a comprehensive analysis of the trends. 
However, we could not find any paid media trends in the restaurant industry-specific to Los Angeles or California from the strategies below, we expanded the scope to the U.S. in alignment with the research criteria to provide 2-3 paid media trends in the restaurant industry.  
 
THE USE OF THE U.S. TRENDS IN PLACE OF LOS ANGELES OR CALIFORNIA TRENDS:
We began our search by going through industry and media reports like Business Wire, Markets and Markets, PR News Wire, qsr Magazine, Restaurant Business Online, among others looking for the key trends overall in the restaurant industry that may affect paid media advertising in Los Angeles; however, we found no relevant information. The idea here was to check if any reports provide information on the paid media trends in the restaurant industry in Los Angeles and/or California. Most information we found was for the restaurant industry in the US as a whole, but no state wise or city wise bifurcation was available.

Next, we tried to find the California trends surrounding the restaurant industry related to paid media advertising. The idea was to find the trends for paid media trends in the restaurant industry and the implementation of these trends among the restaurants in California. However, there was no mention of trends focused on California. The articles were mostly focused on the foods trending, restaurants trending, but nothing on the paid media trends in the restaurant industry. Hence, this strategy was futile. 

Further, we tried a triangulation approach by searching for industry surveys/blogs related to paid media trends in the restaurant industry in Los Angeles and/or California from Blue Cart, Up Serve, Buzz Time, Rewards Network, Gourmet Marketing, among others. The idea was to see if the local business leaders/owners or the consumers have provided information on the use of paid media marketing in the industry and/or which ads are the most remembered among them. This, in turn, could have been used to identify the medium of the paid media trending in the area. But all information available is focused on the Top Restaurant Review Blogs for 2017, The Top 10 Food Business Blogs Restaurant Owners, The 17 Best Restaurant Blogs Every Restaurateur, Best Restaurant Blogs to Follow Now, Four of the Best Blogs for Restaurant Owners, among others, but nothing on the paid media trends in the restaurant industry in Los Angeles and/or California. 

Finally, we tried identifying the information on the paid media trends in the restaurant industry in Los Angeles or California by trying to get alternate data points on the topic. The idea here was to use the paid media trends in the restaurant industry in the U.S. and look if they have detailed any trend specific to Los Angeles and/or California or the share of the market the region holds in the segment. Most information we found is for the industry in the US as a whole, but no state or city wise bifurcation was available to identify or highlight the region based trends. 

NOTE: 
Since we couldn’t find any trends specific to Los Angeles or California from the strategies above, we expanded the scope to the US in alignment with the research criteria to provide 2-3 paid media trends in the restaurant industry.  

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Insights and Trends - Trends that Affect Paid Media: Restaurants

Overall trends in the restaurant industry that may affect paid media advertising include geo-targeted ads, loyalty programs, user reviews, foodie photos, and overall social media presence. Marketers who have worked in print, radio, and TV for decades are now trying to adapt to the advertising, marketing, and branding potential presented social media. Without adapting to the current trends, these older forms of paid advertisements may become obsolete. 

GENERAL INSIGHTS
Overall trends in the restaurant industry that affect paid media advertising include geo-targeted ads, loyalty programs, user reviews, foodie photos, and social media.
Traditions that have historically shaped the advertising industry are being disrupted by new media.
This has affected paid media advertising adversely because print, radio, and TV marketers are now trying to adapt.
Current trends in the restaurant industry have negatively affected paid media advertisements through its advantages. These advantages include metrics, image building, real engagement, agility, and audience targeting.
"According to Social Media Today, digital advertising is expected to surpass television spend to become the largest line item in your ad budget and the fastest growing segment will be mobile."

GEO-TARGETED ADS
Geo-targeting advertisements help save money by guaranteeing that only users in specific urban areas or inside a specific range can see the restaurant’s ads and promotions.
 Numerous online advertising services, including Google Ads, Facebook, and Twitter, offer geo-targeting ad options and other alternatives.
Restaurant owners are encouraged to take advantage of this trend as a way of accessing the best advertisements for the best customers.

LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Loyalty Programs encourages customers to return twice as much as they would have without the program.
Rewards program build a rapport between the customer and the restaurant, making a great incentive for them to return over and over.
Offering customers a free purchase or discount for visiting a certain number of times motivates them to participate and engage with the restaurant's brand.

FOODIE PHOTOS
Visual content is in high demand and having delicious-looking photographs on a restaurant's website and across their social media accounts is essential for drawing customers.
Foodie photos are the best approach to drawing attention to a restaurant. It is also one of the fasting-growing trends used to promote restaurants online.

USER REVIEW SITES
When potential customers search for restaurants, they are most likely going to read reviews as a way of narrowing down where they want to eat.
"Yelp has tremendous power in the restaurant industry, and having a strong backing of positive Yelp reviews is like having a flock of golden geese as reviews from Yelp can do wonders for your business."
People can and will review a restaurant, even if it means setting up an account first.
Therefore, restaurant owners are encouraged to be proactive on their restaurant's Yelp account so it works for, rather than against, the restaurant.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND HASHTAGS
Hashtags and active social media engagements are some of the best opportunities for a restaurant to get trending.
"Beyond focusing on gaining more followers for marketing purposes, it is imperative to ride on the creation of different social media hashtags to create lasting impressions in diners."
If they are clever and express an awareness of the restaurant's environment, hashtags make dining fun and exciting experience. 
Also, having a strong presence on Instagram is crucial. Experts consider this to be a non-negotiable aspect of having a well-known and successful restaurant. 
"There’s an increased use of Instagram to promote a business’ best visual content by showing off storefronts, getting up close with top dishes, and using this social media main stage as a place to play around with your brand identity."
For example, an all-natural health food store might post photos of customers doing activities that will draw a fan base, such as cooking, gardening or farming.


RESEARCH STRATEGYWe began this research by searching through market research websites and industry-related databases and media websites such as Global Market Insights and PRNewswire for the key trends in the restaurant industry that may affect paid media advertising in Los Angeles. However, we found no relevant information because most of the data we found was for the US industry as a whole. We also looked through these sources for trends in the California restaurant industry, hoping to find any information on paid media advertising, but the majority of the information we found focused on food and aesthetic trends. However, using this strategy, we were able to gather multiple insights on paid advertising in the US as a whole.

As a second method, we looked for polls, case studies, and surveys performed by industry experts. We looked for reports on key trends in the overall restaurant industry and once found, we focused on those that may affect paid media advertising in Los Angeles. However, none of the reports that we found included specific breakdowns on regions, including the West Coast, California, or Los Angeles. Once again, this strategy provided us with insight on paid advertising in the US restaurant industry. 

As our third approach, we attempted to find data that would help us triangulate information about Los Angeles or California specifically. To do this, we looked for case studies and interviews done by the restaurant owners. We look for those that mention the current trends most affecting the industry or their business in consideration to paid media advertising. However, this strategy did not return any useful data. We only found information on the general trends and cost of paid media advertising in the US restaurant industry as a whole. 

Because we could not find any trends specific to Los Angeles or California from the strategies above, we began to focus solely on the US. Initially, we focused on key trends/hot topics from 2019 to 2018. However, due to limited information for these years, we expanded the scope to include a larger time frame.

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Diners -Decision Making Processes

When deciding where to eat out, Americans always go to friends and family first for recommendations. The primary drivers for consumer decision on where to eat in the US include taste, health, and convenience.

HOW DINERS DECIDE WHERE TO EAT OUT
FRIENDS AND FAMILY According to a 2015 Toast study, word-of-mouth remains critical to restaurant marketing since every guest has a network, both digitally and physically, that influences their choice. 
Loyal customers are more likely to act as the brand advocates for restaurants once their expectations are consistently met with quality service. 
ONLINE REVIEWSAccording to statistics, 1 in 3 consumers in the US visit a restaurant they saw on social media, and this, 1 in 5 diners plan to visit a restaurant in future after encountering it on social media. 
According to the Pew Research Center, Facebook remains the major social media platform for many Americans. 68% of the US population uses Facebook, while 1 billion people are currently using Instagram. 
When choosing a restaurant, 99% of Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to rely on social media and online reviews compared to Gen X and Boomers. Also, 33% of Gen Z state that ads on social media usually make them try new restaurants, compared to 21% of Americans overall. 
According to TripAdvisor’s latest survey, online reviews influence more than 94% of diners in the US. Good reviews have a positive effect on restaurant ratings in addition to getting customers through the door. 
In a survey conducted by Small Business Trends, 31% of American respondents were more likely to spend more money at a restaurant that has positive reviews, indicating a big incentive to get review ratings up. 
According to Upserve Restaurant Insider, 90% of guests research restaurants online before dining, compared to other business types. From this group, 57% view restaurant websites before selecting one.
WHERE EXACTLY ARE DINERS LOOKING FOR RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONSWith the ubiquity of smartphones and social media platforms, restaurants have built their reputations online. Consumer decisions on restaurants are currently influenced by reviews left on platforms like Yelp, Google, and TripAdvisor. 
As the majority of diners read through Yelp for recommendations, about a third of them skip restaurants that have less than 4-star ratings. 
American restaurants have access to Google profiles and Yelp pages regardless of whether they are logged in. Thus, it is always crucial to take control of the information available by updating menus, photos, and hours. For most restaurants, perceptions live primarily on Yelp, where the majority of consumers look for reviews.
According to Gloria Food, Yelp is the 4th biggest review site with over 67 million reviews. As such, most customers visit the site before deciding where to dine.
WHAT AFFECTS THE CONSUMER'S DECISION IN CHOOSING WHERE TO EAT
The primary drivers for consumer decisions when choosing a place to eat in the US include taste, health, and convenience.  
TASTEUS consumers seek out new menus that they don’t always make at home. At least one in four US consumers (27%) consistently dine out to get something new to eat. As such, they perceive dining out as a place to indulge a bit and treat themselves.
According to Touch Bistro, restaurant-goers consider the type of food and ‘great food’ as the key indicator of the best restaurants. 
The majority of diners (63%) say that the type of food cooked has a significant impact on their restaurant choice, a factor that is ranked higher than other factors including recommendations from friends, location, popularity, and online reviews. 
More than three-quarters of US consumers (70%) agree that they would re-visit a restaurant that had a bad customer service but good food.
HEALTHAccording to the National Hog Farmer, health is an essential factor for every consumer in the US. Although health is not the main reason why people eat away from home, it is vital to consumers that menus have healthy options. 
Currently, restaurants expand their menus to include healthy food options, including healthy proteins such as chicken, seafood, and tenderloin. 
When considering the role of health in dining out, 6 out of 10 diners are ready for foods that are “reasonably healthy,” while 4 out of 10 want foods that ‘fit’ their diet. 
CONVENIENCEConvenience is another critical factor affecting consumer choice of dining out. In the US, 38% of consumers consider convenience a priority in away-from-home dining. When out to eat, consumers have high expectations for convenience, a need that has been met due to technology and the proliferation of on-the-go dining options. 

RESEARCH STRATEGYTo find hard data on the decision-making process of consumers when making dining out choices in Los Angeles, we began our study by looking through market research and industry reports, and webpages such as Econsultancy, PRNewswire, The New York Times, and other restaurant and dining related resources which provided Los Angeles-based case studies. However, we could not locate any established statistics specific to Los Angeles. We were only able to find an article that outlined the ‘top’ and ‘best’ restaurants for dining in Los Angeles. 

Our next strategy involved finding data detailing information on the decision-making process of restaurant consumers who dine out in California. Similarly, we could not find relevant data addressing the specific area, except for data regarding the top restaurants in California. We, therefore, began to look through market research and industry reports, and webpages, which provide information for US consumers who look for options when dining out. Here, we found data from different sources that offer hard statistics on the consumer journey of restaurant consumers. 
Our findings have been outlined in the above section. 

Sources

From Part 01

Eve American Bistro, Los Angeles - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Reservations - TripAdvisor

tripadvisor.com

Eve American Bistro

evedtla.com

Los Angeles American Bistro Restaurants - Google Search

google.com

Screenshots of American Bistro Restaurants

docs.google.com

What Are the Busiest Periods in the Restaurant Business?

bizfluent.com

Publication Year: 2017

The ex-Googler reinventing restaurant reservations gives his best tips for booking the busiest joints in town

businessinsider.com

Publication Year: 2019

What Day of the Week Do Servers Earn the Most Tips?

eater.com

Publication Year: 2017

From Part 02

Top Five Restaurant Marketing Trends for 2019 | Modern Restaurant Management | The Business of Eating & Restaurant Management News

modernrestaurantmanagement.com

Publication Year: 2019

Pay-to-Play Social Media for Restaurants

foodnewsfeed.com

Publication Year: 2019

Restaurant digital marketing trends to watch in 2019

content.myemma.com

Publication Year: 2019

The Top 5 Restaurant Digital Marketing Trends of 2018 [Infographic]

pos.toasttab.com

Publication Year: 2018

Top 5 out-of-home advertising trends

marketingdive.com

Publication Year: 2018

Best of 2018 Print/OOH/Design No. 3: McDonald’s golden arches directs travelers to the nearest restaurant

adage.com

Publication Year: 2018

6 Ways to Get OOH in the Restaurant Marketing Budget | OAAA Thought Leadership

thoughtleadership.oaaa.org

Publication Year: 2018

Why Quick Serves Should Invest in Out-of-Home Advertising

qsrmagazine.com

Publication Year: 2019

How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping the Restaurant World

qsrmagazine.com

Publication Year: 2018

Burger King lets AI do its new ads, with predictable results

restaurantbusinessonline.com

Publication Year: 2018

The Future of Restaurant Advertising: Let Tech Do the Work

qsrmagazine.com

Publication Year: 2019

Top Restaurant Review Blogs for 2017 | Gourmet Marketing

gourmetmarketing.net

Publication Year: 2017

From Part 03

Restaurant Advertising Trends | Gourmet Marketing

gourmetmarketing.net

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Digital advertising is a complex, ever-changing industry. Online marketing is one arena where trends are important from year to year, and often even month to month. "

Top 27 Creative Restaurant Marketing Ideas

fitsmallbusiness.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"While restaurant marketing is critical to bringing in diners, it’s not always clear what strategies work best. That’s why many owners choose to get creative with their marketing, leveraging everything from email blasts to special events. Fortunately, we’ve tapped restaurant industry experts to learn what types of marketing are best for restaurants. "