Consumers Sour on Restaurant Affordability

Affordability is the one attribute a meaningful share of consumers say is actively getting worse, according to Datassential’s 2026 segment guides. 

Between 15% and 31% of consumers call affordability declining, depending on whether they are rating QSR, fast casual, casual dining, midscale, fine dining, c-stores, or supermarkets. No other attribute measured, including food quality, cleanliness, convenience, and  friendly service, exceeds 10%.

In every restaurant segment, more consumers say affordability is declining than improving, and midscale shows the widest gap: 31% call it worse against 14% who see it getting better. Casual dining and QSR follow a similar pattern, at 30% versus 18% and 29% versus 19%, respectively. Only c-stores and supermarkets buck the trend, with more consumers seeing affordability improve than decline: 29% to 15 % for c-stores and 26% to 20% for supermarkets. Even in those two segments, though, affordability’s declining share still runs more than double that of any other attribute.

Satisfaction ratings tell a similar story. Affordability carries 78% importance across all seven guides, yet no segment’s performance clears 55%. Midscale rates it lowest, at 47%, while c-store rates it highest,  at 55%. QSR is the only segment where the rating fell year over year, down 4 percentage points to 52%. 

“Affordability is quietly turning into the segment’s soft spot,” the QSR guide notes. 

Price also tops the list of reasons consumers stay away. Nearly six in ten consumers said fine dining restaurants are too expensive, but more than half said the same of the other restaurant segments, with casual dining at 56%, fast casual at 54%, and QSR and midscale each at 52%. 

By comparison, the percentage of consumers that said the same of supermarkets and c-stores was far lower, at 38% and 36%. 

Some consumers point to cheaper alternatives directly: 18% of fine dining consumers say they would rather go to a casual dining restaurant, and 15% of casual dining consumers would rather go to a QSR. 

The effect shows up at the register, too. Fifty-four percent of consumers said prices seemed higher at quick-service restaurants, 48% at fast casual, and 50% at sit-down restaurants, according to Datassential’s most recent Table Stakes Tracker report.