Following a long period of growth, the restaurant industry is hurting nationwide, with an overabundance of restaurant options and competition from grocery stores and delivery services like BlueApron.
There is local evidence of the industry’s woes: a steady stream of closings, a slower pace of openings.
On the other hand, turnover in the restaurant business is normal and to be expected, and a walk through neighborhoods like Clarendon and Shirlington reveals plenty of crowded eateries on most nights.
One factor influencing how local restaurants fare is how often local residents go out to eat. So today we’re asking: are you going out to eat more or less often than you were two years ago?