---
title: Gen Z Says Eating Out Is Too Expensive. Gen Z Keeps Eating Out.
description: Despite rising costs, Gen Z continues to prioritize dining out, driven by social connections and wage growth, presenting opportunities for restaurants to adapt.
image: https://popcorngtm.com/hubfs/GenZ%20Goes%20for%20broke.jpg
---
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# Gen Z Says Eating Out Is Too Expensive. Gen Z Keeps Eating Out.
[By \- Jason Molinari,](https://popcorngtm.com/blog/author/jason-molinari) Oct 19, 2026
Ask anyone my age and you’ll hear that food, rent, and pretty much everything else costs too much. Then look at where we spend. In July, Gen Z restaurant spending rose 7% year over year, almost double the rate of millennials, the next-fastest-growing generation, according to Bank of America card data reported by Restaurant Dive. Gen Z has outpaced every other generation for several months running, and it’s the only generation spending more across every restaurant type. Our spending at bars climbed between 9% and 12% over the last three months.
I see this play out every week. My friends complain about prices constantly, and then we make plans to go out to eat. Knowing what a meal costs doesn’t seem to stop us from ordering it.
## Why the spending holds up
Bank of America ties the jump to faster after-tax wage growth. Younger workers feel changes in the job market more directly, so rising pay shows up in their spending sooner. Baby boomers, many of them heading into retirement, posted the slowest spending growth. Menu prices are still climbing faster than grocery prices, though the pace of those increases has slowed in recent months.
Wages explain part of it. The rest is about why we go. When my friends and I sit down at a restaurant, we’re catching up on last night, planning a trip, or out on a date. The food matters, but the table is where our social life happens. That’s a hard habit to cut, even when money is tight.
## What operators should take from it
The broader numbers are encouraging. Restaurant traffic rose 1.1% year over year in July, and spending rose 3.3%. Lower-income consumers grew their restaurant spending 4.1%, the biggest improvement of any income group. Independents outperformed chains on sales growth, and consumers shifted some grocery dollars to restaurants compared with 2025.
A couple of caveats. The bar numbers may be inflated by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which gave people more reasons to drink. And most of these figures come from a single month.
My biggest takeaway: don’t assume younger guests will stop coming just because prices go up. Give them a reason to believe the check is worth it. Cava is a good example. It grew traffic in lower-income areas by holding its price increases below the general rate of inflation.
Gen Z will keep paying for convenience, quality, and time with friends. We also notice when a price stops making sense. Restaurants that read this data as permission to keep raising prices will find that out quickly.
*Source: [Restaurant Dive, “Gen Z is boosting restaurant traffic,” Aug. 28, 2026](https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/bank-of-america-restaurant-traffic-resurgence-gen-z/829063/)*
---
Jason Molinari
Research Analyst, Popcorn GTM
Economics and Business Studies Student at New York University
[Connect on Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-molinari-812227380/)
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