Wednesday April 8, 2026, 07:00:00
By Mark Kalinowski
With this report, we update our data-driven Kalinowski Restaurant Industry Index for Q1 2026 to +2.2%. Glass-half full, this marks the best quarter for the domestic restaurant industry in this regard since a +3.6% number was posted back in Q4 2023. Glass-half empty, the +2.2% figure for Q1 2026 is still below the long-term (Q1 2015-Q4 2025) quarterly median of +2.6%. Things are getting better, but not rapidly so.
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Tuesday April 7, 2026, 07:02:00
By Mark Kalinowski
With this report, we update our data-driven Kalinowski Quick-Service Pizza Index for Q1 to +0.1%. Comparing to Q1 2019 levels — a pre-pandemic basis — the Kalinowski Quick-Service Pizza Index for Q1 2026 is at +15.7%. Our +0.1% figure is based on our latest proprietary checks/data as regards same-store sales performance for this segment during January, February, and March.
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Wednesday April 1, 2026, 07:00:00
By Mark Kalinowski
With this report, we update our data-driven Kalinowski Casual Dining Index for Q1 to +3.5%. On a pre-pandemic basis (compared to Q1 2019), the Kalinowski Casual Dining Index for Q1 2026 is at +35.9%. These numbers are based on our latest proprietary checks/data as regards same-store sales performance for this segment during January, February, and early-to-mid March.
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