Restaurant operators reported a net increase in same-store sales in May, with results coming in similar to April. 

Fifty percent of restaurant operators said their same-store sales rose between May 2025 and May 2026, according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey. That was up slightly from 48% of operators who reported higher sales in April. 

Thirty-three percent of restaurant operators said their sales declined in May, unchanged from April.In contrast to the positive sales results, customer traffic levels remained dampened in May. 

Twenty-nine percent of operators said their customer traffic rose between May 2025 and May 2026, up slightly from 27% in April. Forty-five percent of restaurant operators reported lower traffic in May, down from 49% in April. 

May represented the 15th time in the last 16 months that operators reported a net decline in customer traffic.