You already know your customers are being more careful with how they spend. You’ve seen them skip the dessert, order one fewer round of drinks, or ask for the cheaper pasta instead of the special. What you might not have known is just how widespread that shift is, and exactly what to do about it.
Lightspeed’s 2026 State of the Hospitality Industry Report surveyed more than 1,000 Australian consumers and 300+ venue owners and decision-makers. The findings are a rare window into the gap between what diners want and what operators are currently delivering — and for restaurant owners willing to act on them, the opportunity is real.
As your leading reservation platform and a Lightspeed partner, our team here at Now Book It has simplified the data into 6 quick takeaways for your restaurant. More importantly, we break down how to turn these into better decisions for your venue, from your menu and pricing through to how you attract and retain guests.
1. Your customers are still coming, but they're spending differently
The good news: eating out isn’t going anywhere. Australians dined out an average of three times per month in 2025, spending $111 on restaurants and $99 at cafes each month. That’s a healthy level of habitual engagement with hospitality.
But how they spend within a visit has shifted. Operators reported that 44% of customers opted for lower-priced menu items, 40% ordered fewer or no drinks, and 35% skipped dessert altogether. At bars, the pullback was even sharper — 53% chose cheaper options and 51% cut back on drinks.
What this means for your restaurant: Your pricing system matters more than ever.
Customers aren’t leaving hospitality; they’re making deliberate trade-offs within it. Giving them a clear path to great value (not just a cheaper option) is what keeps them coming back.
Consider how your menu is structured. Are your mid-tier dishes doing the work they should? Is your drinks list approachable enough to encourage that first glass, rather than a polite pass? These aren’t small details. They’re the decisions that keep your average spend healthy even when wallets are tighter.
For more on how to structure your reservations and maximise revenue per cover, the Now Book It blog has practical guides built for operators navigating exactly this environment.
2. The menu gap that's costing restaurants reservations
One of the most actionable finding in the entire report is that there’s a clear disconnect between what your customers want on the menu and what operators are planning to offer.
In 2026, the top three things customers want to see at restaurants are health-conscious food (29%), sustainable food sourcing (28%), and wellness food (24%). These aren’t niche preferences — they’re mainstream expectations, particularly among Baby Boomers (34%) and Millennials (30%), two generations with significant spending power.
Now look at what operators are prioritising: fusion food tops the list at 46% of venues, followed by bottomless drinks (37%) and alcohol-free beverages (36%). Meanwhile, health-conscious food sits at just 8% of planned operator menus, and wellness food at 11%.
What this means for your restaurant: That menu gap is your opportunity.
If your competitors are all moving toward fusion and cocktail-focused formats while your customers are asking for food that aligns with how they want to live, the restaurant that bridges that gap will earn loyalty and a new guest base.
This doesn’t mean overhauling everything. It might mean adding two or three high-protein options, calling out locally sourced ingredients on your menu, or working with your chef to build a dish that genuinely represents clean, wholesome cooking.
3. Takeaway is cooling down — this is the moment for dine-in
One of the most significant trend reversals in the report: takeaway orders dropped sharply in 2025 following strong growth in 2024. After years of delivery-led growth, Australians are pulling back from ordering in.
For restaurants that rely on third-party delivery platforms for a chunk of their revenue, this is worth watching closely. But for venues focused on dine-in, it’s a tailwind. People are choosing the table over the couch again.
At the same time, operators’ own data shows that dine-in’s share of total revenue fell from 31% in 2024 to 20% in 2025, as other channels — catering, events, pre-packaged meals, and subscriptions — grew.
What this means for your restaurant: The takeaway here isn’t that dine-in is declining; it’s that there is a need to diversify how revenue comes in.
Ask yourself: are you capturing every revenue opportunity around your table? Private dining and special events were cited as a growing channel. Now Book It’s event booking tools let you take enquiries, confirm bookings, and manage deposits without the back-and-forth.
4. Understanding who your diners are is key to keeping them
The generational data in this report is a useful reality check, and it challenges some assumptions we make about restaurant customers.
- Gen Z dines out the most (roughly four times per month) and is also the highest delivery user. They’re the most open to AI in venues (36%), and their top dining trends are bottomless drinks, limited-edition menus, and sustainable sourcing.
- Millennials drink out three times per month and spend more at restaurants than any other group. They want sustainable food sourcing, health-conscious options, and wellness food. They also show the highest acceptance of AI tools in hospitality at 42%.
- Baby boomers are solo dining more than the middle generations, with solo dining rates that actually rise again after dipping through the Gen X cohort. They prioritise health-conscious menus above everything else — and a remarkable 34% of boomers nominated health-conscious food as their top ask from venues.
What this means for your restaurant:
Firstly, if your restaurant skews toward a baby boomer or millennial crowd, this is the most direct data you’ll get that health-conscious options are worth the menu refresh.
Second — across every generation, solo dining is more common than operators often plan for. An average of four solo dining occasions per month suggests that bar seats, communal tables, and single-cover-friendly booking flows aren’t a niche offering — they’re an increasingly mainstream need.
Now Book It’s table and reservation management tools let you set floor plan configurations, manage covers, and flag special seating preferences so every guest has the right spot waiting for them.
5. Tipping and surcharges require clarity
You already know that Australia’s tipping culture is deliberate, not habitual. The report is clear on this: 44% of customers are likely to tip when they know the full amount goes directly to staff, or when the occasion feels special. Just 23% will tip when prompted by a counter payment device.
This finding points out that tipping is really about transparency and trust where we are. Customers respond to clarity. When they understand where their money goes and feel the value of an occasion, their behaviour shifts in your favour.
That thinking also extends to how you approach surcharging. The report shows that 31% of restaurants adjusted their surcharging logic in 2025 — far higher than bars (7%) or cafes (17%).
What this means for your restaurant: If you’re looking to encourage tipping, adding a weekend surcharge, a public holiday loading, or a service charge, the way you communicate it matters.
Clear and upfront explanation builds trust and motivates action.
Now Book It’s white-labelled booking widget allows you to integrate notices seamlessly within your reservation journey and send reminders along the way. Make sure to leverage your existing tools for the best bang for buck.
6. Word of mouth is still king — and Google is your front door
Word of mouth is the number one discovery channel across every generation — from 39% of Gen Z to 69% of the Silent Generation. Google search and reviews are the consistent second channel, particularly for Millennials (39%), Gen X (33%), and Baby Boomers (32%).
Operators, meanwhile, are leaning into Instagram and Google equally (48% each), with influencer partnerships at 34% and TikTok at 28%. Facebook has dropped sharply — from the leading platform in 2024 to 27% in 2025.
What this means for your restaurant: Your Google Business profile and your reviews are working hard for you — pay attention to how you manage these.
If your profile is incomplete, your photos are two years old, or your response rate to reviews is low — fix that before you consider a paid social campaign.
And word of mouth compounds when you give people a reason to talk. An experience worth recommending, a staff member who remembered a regular’s name, a dish that genuinely surprised someone — these are the moments that drive organic discovery no algorithm can replicate.
Now Book It’s guest engagement tools help you build the profile data and post-visit follow-up that turns a good experience into a repeat booking and a five-star Google review.
The operators who act on this data wins
The gap between what customers want and what restaurants are currently offering is, fundamentally, a business opportunity. Health and wellness menus. Solo dining-friendly spaces. Clear surcharge communication. A strong Google presence. Menu structures that reward the value-conscious diner without training them to never order the premium option.
Most of these requires clarity about who your customer is and the ability to design the experience for them.
Now Book It is trusted by over 11,000 hospitality venues to manage reservations, understand their guests, and build the kind of direct relationships that drive long-term revenue.
If you're ready to make smarter decisions about your bookings, your data, and your guests, book a demo today.
