The restaurant industry was one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, restaurants did see some growth in 2020. Tech companies TOP Data and Zenreach recently conducted a study on nationwide restaurant habits for 2020.

Overall, nationwide restaurant spending is only down 1 percent from where it was during January 2020. Many states saw a double-digit increase in spending, with the highest increases in Washington (26 percent), Utah (24 percent), South Dakota (20 percent) and Alaska (19 percent). Other states didn’t fare as well. Those with the highest percentage of spending decreases are Idaho (47 percent), Massachusetts (41 percent), Rhode Island (34 percent), California (29 percent) and New Jersey (24 percent).

The same can be said for nationwide food and beverage merchants. Some merchants saw an increase in spending in 2020, with Grubhub showing the largest increase of 56 percent. Sonic and Chick-fil-A also saw increases of 42 and 23 percent, respectively. Unfortunately, other chains encountered spending decreases this past year. Olive Garden (33 percent), Subway (27 percent) and Chili’s (17 percent) all saw double-digit spending decreases.

“If you can create a safe dining environment, effectively target your best customers, and maintain (or even boost) your marketing spend, the more likely you are to successfully drive customers into your locations and sustain your restaurant business during this challenging time,” said John Kelly, CEO, Zenreach.