The Infatuation's CEO on dining trends: non-alcoholic boom, 5:30 dinners, and LA's tough year
Nov 10, 2025 with Paul Needham
Key Points
- Non-alcoholic beverage trends are squeezing restaurant margins as operators lose high-margin wine and cocktail sales, putting real revenue pressure on those slow to adapt their programs.
- 5:30 PM has become a competitive dining reservation slot, forcing restaurants to rethink staffing and kitchen schedules around earlier eating patterns.
- Los Angeles restaurants faced a particularly difficult year amid softer consumer spending and reduced alcohol consumption.
Summary
Declining alcohol consumption is reshaping restaurant economics in a meaningful way. The Infatuation's CEO points to the non-alcoholic trend as a direct headwind for operators, given that wine and cocktail sales carry some of the highest margins in the business. Restaurants that have not adapted their beverage programs are absorbing real revenue pressure.
Behavioral shifts are showing up in reservation data as well. 5:30 PM has emerged as a genuinely competitive dining slot, reflecting earlier eating patterns that operators are now having to plan staffing and kitchen cadence around.
Los Angeles is cited as having faced a particularly difficult year, though the transcript does not detail the specific drivers beyond the broader context of softer consumer spending and the alcohol pullback.