Feb. 24--It's getting a bit tougher to get a good table these days.
The number of restaurants in the Chicago area is 1 percent lower than it was a year ago, research firm NPD Group said Wednesday. The area's total number of restaurants fell to 19,322.
Out of the top five metro areas based on population, Chicago was the only one to see a decline, NPD said. The others -- New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston -- all saw increases. The biggest gain was New York, which saw 3 percent growth.
Nationwide, NPD said the number of restaurants fell 0.6 percent to 629,488 establishments, as an increase in chain restaurants was offset by a decrease in independent restaurants. Most of those independent restaurants were full-service, sit-down restaurants.
Within the so-called "quick service" or fast food independent restaurant segment, sandwich and Mexican restaurants showed the steepest declines. That's perhaps not surprising considering that Subway has more locations than any other chain, as well as the popularity of chains like Chipotle.
Visits to quick-service restaurants, which includes chains from McDonald's and Burger King to Panera and Chipotle, rose 1 percent from a year ago, NPD said.
