Mexican restaurants did better than other restaurants in the year ending September 1, 2012 in two of three traffic categories measured by NPD Group. The research organization polls thousands of Americans every day about their eating habits to determine where people are buying their food and eating it.
NPD Group data shows that traffic at quick-service Mexican restaurants rose 5 percent in the year ending September 1, 2012 compared to the previous year. This compared to a 2 percent rise for all quick-service restaurants. Traffic at sit-down family dining Mexican restaurants dropped 1 percent during that period, compared to a 3 percent drop at all such restaurants.
The only category Mexican restaurants lagged in was casual dining. Traffic at Mexican restaurants dropped 5 percent in this category, compared to 2 percent drop at all restaurants in this category.
NPD Group does not break out data by ethnic categories for fine dining. However, the fine dining category as a whole rose 4 percent during that period. That made fine dining, of all types, the fastest growing overall category.
To learn more about NPD Group, visit www.npd.com.