Jan. 28--Americans' appetite for dining out is showing no signs of slowing down. Especially when it comes to hamburgers.
The National Restaurant Association predicted Tuesday that 2015 sales at U.S. restaurants will grow to $709.2 billion, a gain of more than 3.8 percent from last year.
"It's a substantial increase," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research for the National Restaurant Association, who called the restaurant industry "a substantial economic juggernaut."
Restaurants account for 47 percent of the total spending on food in the country, he said.
Meanwhile, a report issued by NPD Group Tuesday said 9 billion burgers were ordered at U.S. restaurants and food service locations in 2014, a gain of 3 percent from a year earlier. Other sandwiches lost ground, with grilled chicken sandwich servings down 9 percent and overall sandwich servings down 2 percent from a year earlier, according to NPD.
In Chicago, the burger boom continues. Good Stuff Eatery, the growing chain from Spike Mendelsohn, is opening its first Chicago location Wednesday at 22 S. Wabash Ave. And Red Robin Burger Works, a smaller, fast-service version of Red Robin, is doubling its number of Chicago locations to four. Red Robin Burger Works is set to open at 190 W. Madison St. on Feb. 9, and at 204 N. Wells Street on Feb. 23.
The National Restaurant Association's 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast comes as restaurants are feeling a little relief after big price increases for ingredients such as butter, pork, beef, veal and eggs in 2014.
The trade group expects some price relief on several major industry commodities this year, including dairy products and pork. And restaurant sales are expected to get a boost as consumers save on lower gasoline prices. Still, there are concerns that labor costs will continue to rise because of minimum wage increases, higher health care costs and other issues.
Illinois is not expected to be one of the top states for restaurant sales growth. That distinction rests with Arizona, Florida, North Dakota, Texas, and Colorado. Overall, sales at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants are expected to grow at a faster clip than at restaurants with table service.
The association expects the pace of restaurant employment to grow faster than that of the overall employment market. Restaurants are expected to have 14 million workers this year, trailing only retail in the number of employees in a private sector industry. Both industries have a large number of part-time workers.
Domino's Pizza said Tuesday it wants to hire 2,000 part-time and full-time workers for its 103 stores in the Chicago area, which include franchised and company-owned locations. The company said it needs to hire more people to keep up with "high demand." While franchisees set their own wages, Domino's said that nationwide its drivers make an average of more than $10 an hour, when including wages and tips.
The National Restaurant Association predicted there would be 15.7 million restaurant industry employees by 2025.
jwohl@tribpub.com
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