For the first time since January, a majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales.

Fifty-two percent of restaurant operators said their same-store sales rose between May 2024 and May 2025, according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey. That was up from 45% of operators who reported higher sales in April.

Thirty-eight percent of operators said their sales declined in May, down slightly from 41% in April.

Restaurant operators also reported an improvement in customer traffic readings in May, though overall levels remained negative.

Forty percent of operators said their customer traffic rose between May 2024 and May 2025, while 42% reported lower traffic.

Although May’s results were an improvement from softer readings during the last three months, it still represented the fourth consecutive month of net negative customer traffic.