Americans still have a hunger for dining out. They’re just becoming a lot pickier about whether a restaurant dinner is worth the check.
With household finances tightening, people have sought methods to save on routine spending. Restaurants seem a natural place to start.
KPMG’s summer 2026 consumer survey found 67% of Americans were eating at home more often than dining out. Among those cooking at home more frequently, 76% blamed budget constraints.
Even people still dining out are moving their dollars elsewhere. A quarter said they have been eating at quick-service or fast-food restaurants more often, shifting expenditure away from informal and fine dining.
That seems like a tough environment for chains focused on enticing families to sit down and pay for a full-service restaurant dinner.
But Americans haven’t completely given up on the experience.
New findings from the firm that owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and a host of other large restaurant brands reveal that consumers are still willing to spend when they feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.
And one restaurant brand is standing out from the rest.
Americans get more selective about eating out
The restaurant sector is facing a customer who expects more than meals for the money.
Darden Restaurants (DRI), parent company of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and other brands, posted fiscal first-quarter revenues of $3.2 billion.
That was up from $3.04 billion a year earlier, a rise of 5.1%.
Most significant from a customer standpoint, the company-wide comparable calendar same-restaurant sales were up 3.2%. All of Darden’s segments were over zero.
That’s a stark contrast to what customers are saying about eating out.
Related: Olive Garden rival closes 18 locations since filing bankruptcy
The KPMG study indicated that financial limitations were the key driver of more Americans dining at home. Consumers are making “calculated compromises” as they assess which experiences are still worth spending money on, the business said.
And customers need not quit dining out altogether to affect businesses.
When you eat out one less time a month, order less alcohol, go to a less expensive restaurant, or decide that a $20 restaurant entrée can be made at home, you can impact the economics of a restaurant chain with thousands of locations.
Darden’s distinct brands reflect how unevenly that pressure is playing out.
Olive Garden had quarterly revenues of $1.33 billion, up from $1.30 billion a year ago. But comparable-calendar same-restaurant sales grew just 1%.
LongHorn told another story, with its quarterly revenue increasing to $860.9 million from $776.4 million.
Same-restaurant sales at comparable dates were up 6.8%, more than twice Darden’s total growth of 3.2% and over seven times the growth at Olive Garden, which was 1%.
LongHorn’s segment profit also climbed to $154.6 million from $134.9 million. That divergence may tell investors something important about today’s restaurant customer. Increasingly, restaurants may have to convince them that staying home is the worse deal.
LongHorn Steakhouse reveals what diners still want
LongHorn’s numbers are a highlight, since steak is hardly a recession-budget dinner.
But the business had the highest comparable-calendar sales increase of Darden’s main reporting categories.
LongHorn is in a restaurant segment where it is easy for customers to determine the experience is not worth the price.
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Steak is easy to obtain in supermarkets. Cooking at home cuts away restaurant markups, gratuity, and many of the incidental costs of eating out.
But comparable sales at LongHorn jumped 6.8%. The comparison implies that the value of a restaurant is getting more nuanced than just serving the cheapest meal.
Consumers might measure value by the size and quality of the meal, the service, and whether dining at a restaurant offers an experience that is qualitatively different from cooking at home.
That’s especially significant at a time when customers are telling us they’re diverting some of their restaurant expenditure to lower-cost quick-service options.
“The first quarter was a solid start to our fiscal year,” said Darden President and CEO Rick Cardenas, who noted all of the company’s businesses had positive same-restaurant sales during the period.
But LongHorn stands out against Olive Garden.
Darden had 624 LongHorn restaurants at the end of the quarter, compared to 595 a year ago. Olive Garden was still far bigger, with 953 restaurants versus 933 a year earlier.
But LongHorn saw its quarterly sales grow almost 11%, while Olive Garden’s sales were up only a little over 2%.
Elsewhere in Darden’s portfolio, same-store sales in the company’s fine-dining category, which includes The Capital Grille and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, were up 1%.
The “other business,” which includes names including Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, and Chuy’s, saw healthier 4.5% growth.
Together, the data implies that customers haven’t generally fled from sit-down meals.
They are, however, making decisions that have a huge impact, even among restaurants owned by the same company.
Restaurant spending faces a new value test
Darden’s successes don’t mean consumer pressure has evaporated.
Costs are another aspect of the problem. Food and beverage prices grew to $984.9 billion from $929.1 billion, while restaurant labor costs jumped to $1.03 billion from $988 million.
Operating income was $319.3 million, down from $339.2 million.
Net income fell to $233.4 million from $257.8 million a year ago, although items in the prior-year quarter make the comparison difficult. Darden reported diluted profits from continuing operations of $2.05 per share, up 4.1 percent from last year’s adjusted number.
Darden reiterated its expectation for the full fiscal year 2027, including diluted profits from continuing operations of $11.10 to $11.35 a share amid these headwinds.
The corporation bought back almost 1.1 million shares for $222.3 million during the quarter and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share.
But for customers, the most telling figures may be hidden away within Darden’s individual restaurants.
KPMG found two-thirds of Americans are dining at home more often. Most of those customers point to their budgets. And that’s on top of a 6.8% rise in comparable sales at a steakhouse chain.
It indicates that Americans have not simply split restaurants into “affordable” and “too expensive.”
They are choosing what foods and activities are worth their highly scrutinized discretionary expenditures. That might be excellent news for restaurant firms that can supply what customers see as value.
The middle is a much more unpleasant place to be, too pricey to compete on price, yet not different enough to persuade them that dining out is worth the extra money compared to staying home.
Darden’s own portfolio is an example of that difference.
Comparable-calendar sales at Olive Garden rose 1%, while LongHorn’s were up 6.8%.
Same parent company. Same consumer setting. Very different outcomes.
That disparity may be the biggest indicator of what customers are still ready to pay for.
Related: Olive Garden rival shuts down 20 more stores in fight to survive