Food & Beverage

Survey: Only 1 in 12 would dine in a restaurant today

A Denver-based market research firm's latest poll shows Americans are still -- for the most part -- very uncomfortable with the idea of either eating out or returning to life as usual, amidst the constraints put in place by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Americans are still showing a lot of caution about the whole idea of eating out in a restaurant. (Photo: iStock)

May 15, 2020

Going out to eat in a restaurant may be possible in many American cities, but a new survey indicates there might be few takers for that opportunity. The survey by marketing research firm, ROI Rockets founds just 12% of those polled said they would be likely to dine in a restaurant today. However, another one in five, or 20%, expected to do so within 30 days, but most said it was more likely they would resume "eating out" within the next 90 days or more. 

The results are among numerous uncovered in the May poll that show Americans are still not comfortable with "business as usual" at most businesses. In fact, nearly half of Americans who live in places that are permitting businesses to reopen — including restaurants — said they think the process is happening too soon. Conversely, just 12% of respondants thought these reopenings weren't happening fast enough, according to a news release. 

According to this survey, about two in five Americans (42%) reported living in a community that has relaxed one or more of the stay-at-home restrictions that were initially imposed in connection with the pandemic. But just 4% said they actually thought their communities were prepared for these reopenings, according to the survey results. 

In fact, a mere 27% of those surveyed thought a reasonable reopening date would be today, May 15. The remaining 73% said that believe June 1 or later would be a better time to open businesses' doors again, though the survey did not break down these preferences specific to restaurants. 

The poll also found that few Americans are willing to resume many routine pre-pandemic behaviors right away. The survey found that if stay-at-home restrictions were lifted completely today, fewer than one in 10 Americans, for instance, reported they would likely go to a restaurant, movie theater, concert or sporting event.

The prospective change with the greatest immediate support among those polled was for in-home services or repairs. Still, just one in three or 31% said they were even comfortable with permitting those types of activities to resume.  

And finally, men were more willing to take these perceived "risks" than women surveyed, with the ratio of men to woman saying they would participate in the following activities: 

• Dining in a restaurant (16% vs. 7%). 
• In-person dating (27% of men, versus 15% of women). 
• Taking a flight (16% vs. 6%).

These last findings are consistent with other, previous results from ROI Rocket's ongoing study, which show men have been significantly less concerned than women about the personal risks associated with COVID-19 from the beginning of the outbreak.

This study of 1,002 U.S. residents aged 18 and older was fielded between May 5 and May 8 this year. The results come within plus or minus 3.1% of the results that would have been obtained given a census of all qualified individuals. 

The study is projected to run for another eight weeks and include separate, supplemental studies of business leaders and healthcare professionals by the Denver-based ROI Rocket, a market research, marketing and sales automation firm.