Darden Restaurants is seeing sales grow in the face of spiking food costs.By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions .Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.The company, which owns chains that include Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse, posted qua ...

Core Insights - U.S. restaurant spending increased by 3.7% year-over-year in August, up from 2.5% in July, indicating a recovery in the sector as consumers returned to both chain and independent restaurants [1] Group 1: Restaurant Performance - Chain restaurants reduced their decline to 0.9% from a 2.9% drop in July, while independent eateries saw growth rise to 5.3% from 4.3% [2] - Quick-service restaurants, excluding pizza, experienced a decline of 1.3%, though this was an improvement from July's 2.9% contraction [3] - Pizza restaurants improved their performance, with spending down 2.8% compared to a 4.8% decline in the previous month [4] - Fast-casual dining establishments nearly returned to growth, with declines slowing to 0.6% from 2.6% [4] - Casual dining chains rebounded with a 2.4% increase after a 1.1% contraction [5] - Specialty coffee chains surged by 16.7%, following a 14.3% gain in July [5] Group 2: Consumer Behavior and Spending Trends - Brick-and-mortar spending increased by 2.5% year-over-year, up from 1.0% in July, indicating rising foot traffic [6] - Online orders showed slight deceleration, growing at 8.6% compared to 8.7% in July, but remain significantly ahead of in-person sales [6] Group 3: Income and Regional Analysis - Households earning $50,000–$125,000 led spending growth at 7.4%, followed by high-income consumers over $125,000 at 5.8%, and lower-income households under $50,000 at 4.2% [7] - Online spending was particularly strong among middle- and lower-income groups, growing over 11% compared to 8.5% for higher earners [7] - Cleveland experienced the highest growth at 8.3%, while Denver lagged at 2.9%, highlighting the impact of local economic conditions [8]