Purpose

This report shares data from a poll Zeeto ran on the public’s willingness to dine out once the quarantine is lifted.

Methodology

On April 21-22, we surveyed 5,304 US citizens in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of +/- 2-5 percentage points depending on the subset of data being looked at. Each chart displays its details regarding statistical significance.

First we asked the following question: “Before the coronavirus pandemic, how often did you eat at a restaurant?”

Answers

At least once a month
Once a week
Multiple times a week
At least once a day
Less than once a month

To control for positional bias, we rotated each answer every time the poll was run. Only those who answered “once a week” or more we considered as regular restaurant patrons and moved on to the next question.

Next we asked the following question: “Once the quarantine is lifted, how long will it be before you start dining out again?”

I’ll start dining out immediately and a lot
I’ll start dining out soon thereafter, but continue to be very careful
I probably won’t dine out for a few months just to be extra safe
I won't dine out until there's a vaccine
I don’t have an opinion right now

Once again, we systematically rotated the first four answers to control for positional bias.

Results

“Before the coronavirus pandemic, how often did you eat at a restaurant?”
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In the states we targeted, nearly half of the people we polled said they had dined out once a week or more before the coronavirus pandemic, which we considered as regular restaurant patrons who moved on to the next question. Specifically, 7% answered “at least once a day,” 18% answered “multiple times a week,” and 24% answered, “once a week” (see Graph A). Looking at the data by income, the top two income groups had the highest percentage of regular restaurant patrons prior to the pandemic, whereas the bottom two income groups had the lowest percentage (see Graph B). Males had a slightly higher percentage of regular restaurant patrons than females, at 51% and 48%, respectively (see Graph C). Looking at the data by age, younger people had a higher percentage of regular restaurant patrons, at 54% across the three youngest age groups. This compares to 47% of people in their 50s, 45% of people in their 60s, and 42% of people in their 70s or older (see Graph D). At the state level, with the exception of New York (44%), every state had about 50% of regular restaurant patrons prior to the pandemic, plus or minus one percentage point. California and Florida had the highest percentage of people (18%) dining out multiple times a week (see Graph E).
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“Once the quarantine is lifted, how long will it be before you start dining out again?”
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In the states we targeted, nearly half of all regular restaurant patrons plan to dine out cautiously after the quarantine is lifted, with 66% evenly split between those who answered “I’ll continue to dine out soon thereafter, but continue to be very careful” and “I probably won’t dine out for a few months just to be extra safe.” Another 16% is split in half between regular restaurant patrons who plan to dine out immediately and those who plan on holding off until there’s a vaccine. The remaining 38% have not made up their mind (see Graph F). Looking at the data by income, regular restaurant patrons who earn 50-74k annually are the most likely to dine out immediately (12%), whereas those who earn 75k or more annually are the most likely to hold off until there’s a vaccine. With the exception of those with no income, about 50% of regular restaurant patrons across all income groups plan to dine out cautiously after the quarantine is lifted (see Graph G). While female and male regular restaurant patrons are evenly split across most answers, a higher percentage of males (10%) plan to dine out immediately, compared to 7% of females (see Graph H). Looking at the data by age, regular restaurant patrons in their 30s are the most likely (10%) to dine out immediately, while those in their 70s or older are the least likely (6%). Regular restaurant patrons between 18-29 years of age are the most likely to dine out cautiously once the quarantine if lifted, with 27% answering “I’ll continue to dine out soon thereafter, but continue to be very careful” and 26% answering “I probably won’t dine out for a few months just to be extra safe” (see Graph I). At the state level, while Michigan has the highest percentage of regular restaurant patrons (50%) who plan to dine out cautiously, California has the highest percentage of regular restaurant patrons (9%) who plan to dine out immediately, which is slightly higher than 7% in Florida, New York, Illinois, and Michigan (see Graph J).
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Appendix

“Before the coronavirus pandemic, how often did you eat at a restaurant?”
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Graph A: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan Combined

● 95% Confidence level, 2% MOE
● https://zeetogroup.looker.com/explore/polling/restaurant_poll?qid=za8BbAdoR0M1PuBMKTfzNd&toggle=dat,fil,vis

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Graph B: Response by Income

● 95% Confidence level, 5% MOE
● https://zeetogroup.looker.com/explore/polling/restaurant_poll?qid=7jsFCLQvWLxEdwskNDtZXm&toggle=dat,pik,vis

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Graph C: Response by Gender

● 95% Confidence level, 3% MOE
● https://zeetogroup.looker.com/explore/polling/restaurant_poll?qid=qZE0jw9FUROHX3Hi4pwO9l&toggle=dat,vis

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Graph D: Response by Age

● 95% Confidence level, 4% MOE
● https://zeetogroup.looker.com/explore/polling/restaurant_poll?qid=y59cjKoE55uKR9hvJdQkl7&toggle=dat,vis

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Graph E: Response by State

● 95% Confidence level, 3% MOE for CA & FL; 95% Confidence level, 4% MOE for NY; 95% Confidence level, 4.5% MOE for MI & IL
● https://zeetogroup.looker.com/explore/polling/restaurant_poll?qid=saW79dFl0hY7HQ55Ct8KCZ&toggle=dat,pik,vis

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“Once the quarantine is lifted, how long will it be before you start dining out again?”

Graph F: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan Combined