A somber milestone for the restaurant industry, March 2025 marked the passage of five years since COVID-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home orders changed the business forever.
While the manner in which the restaurant industry was impacted by COVID-19 was profound, in many instances those changes reflected the amplification of trends that were already present before March 2020, rather than being pattern-breaking disruptions of their own.
Third-party delivery is an example; most of the major services like DoorDash and Uber Eats were active when the pandemic began, but their acceptance and growth was supercharged by events post-2020. Orders for delivery have more than doubled over the last five years and now represent nearly one out of every five restaurant purchases.
Problems with restaurant staffing were another major consequence of the pandemic, and those staffing issues, along with supply chain problems, helped trigger another hangover from the pandemic experience - a rapid run-up in restaurant prices, which have increased more than 30% since 2020. Those staffing shortages were in part presaged by a pre-2020 shortage of trained kitchen personnel.
Nonetheless, dramatically higher restaurant prices may be leading to an invidious sort of consumer price fatigue, a factor which may help explain persistent month-over-month declines in restaurant traffic, a trend that begin last fall and continues to date.
The way in which consumers are using restaurants has also changed. For example, more people are dining alone than ever before-estimates are nearly one in three customers are doing so. And a whole new food-away-from-home pattern has emerged that restaurant industry insiders are labelling the “road trip daypart.” That label describes the increasingly popular practice of ordering food for takeout and parking somewhere else to eat it.
Similar resets in restaurant-related consumer behavior are likely to have significant impacts on how the industry does business in the years ahead.
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Side Dishes:
Costa, the Italian restaurant located off the casino floor at the MGM Springfield casino complex, is bringing back its Costa Supper Club next month.
On April 6, 13, and 27, the Supper Club will feature a fixed price, three-course menu along with a Las Vegas-style show. The performance at each supper club event will feature Elvis impersonator Mike Slater.
The dinner and show are priced at $90; an optional package that also includes wine service is $125. Performances each evening are scheduled at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets can be ordered online at sevn.ly/xKBbZS3p.
The general information number for MGM Springfield is 413-273-5000.
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The Bubble Mug Cafe at Pottery Cellar in Westfield is hosting a Homestead Dinner on Saturday, April 5, with service beginning at 5 p.m.
An eclectic assortment of entree selections will be available, including options like Short Rib Beef Stew, Turkey Potpie, Pecan-crusted Salmon and Baked Mac ‘n Cheese. Dinners include salad, bread service and a dessert; live piano will also be part of the evening.
Reservations can be made by calling 413-642-5524.
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The Notch 8 Grille in Northampton will host a wine dinner on Friday, April 11 starting at 5:30 p.m. The event, which was rescheduled from March 6, will be featuring wines produced by Cakebread Cellars of Rutherford, California, a producer of fine Napa Valley wines for more than 50 years. Each course of the dinner will be paired with a different Cakebread Cellars vintage.
Tickets for the evening can be ordered at Eventbrite.com.
The Notch 8 Grille answers at 413-326-4151.
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On Saturday, April 5, the Munich Haus German Restaurant in Chicopee is collaborating with Hot Mic Events to present a “Not the Wurst Comedy Show Ever.”
The laughfest, which is scheduled for 8 p.m., will feature Tracy Locke, Steve Nagle and Rick Fink, with Gary Marino hosting. General admission to the show is $25.
A VIP buffet dinner, beginning at 6:30 p.m. will precede the comedy show. The dinner, which will feature favorites from the Munich Haus culinary repertoire, is priced at $50, tax and gratuity not included, when packaged along with the comedy show
Tickets for either the dinner package or the show alone should be ordered online at hotmicevents.com.
The telephone number for the Munich Haus is 413-594-8788.
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Deep Roots Distillery USA in Sturbridge is hosting a farm-to-table dinner and wine tasting on Thursday, April 10. The evening, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is a collaboration with Agronomy Farms Vineyard in Oakham and a number of other farmers and local suppliers.
Tickets for the three-course menu are $95; they can be purchased online at deeprootsdistilleryusa.com, where the menu for the dinner can also be viewed.
Deep Roots Distillery USA answers at 774-241-0045.
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In celebration of National Deep Dish Pizza Day, Uno Pizzeria & Grill in Springfield is hosting a cooking class on Saturday, April 5, starting at noon and running through 2:30 p.m.
The class is designed to guide participants through the process of making a deep-dish pizza, beginning with the preparation of the dough and progressing right up to the selection of toppings.
Tickets for the class, which includes pizza, salad and beverage, are $40 plus a convenience fee. They can be ordered by going to eventbrite.com/e/1267380070909.
Uno Pizzeria & Grill is located off Boston Road in Haymarket Square. Their telephone number is 413 543-6600.
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The Delaney House in Holyoke is presenting a special wine dinner event, “Truffle & Tannins,“ on April 3.
The menu for the three-course dinner is to begin with a mini truffled croque monsieur; the course that will follow is to be a truffle risotto.
A lamb chop in a truffle-mushroom crust will serve as the main course; a cheese course of triple creme camembert and truffle-infused honey will follow.
Dessert is to be a dark chocolate truffle oil cake.
An eclectic selection of red wines will be partnered with the various courses.
The “Truffle & Tannins” Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and is priced at $99 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at delaneyhouse.com/truffles-tannins; dial 413-532-1800 to reach the Delaney House.
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Olive Garden Italian Restaurants have brought back a popular promotion in the form of a “Buy One-Take One” deal. Last offered in 2020, the Buy One -Take One offers applies to seven entrees: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Four-Cheese Manicotti, Lasagna Classico and Chicken Parmigiana, to name four of the seven.
Guests purchasing one of the entrees for in-store dining can get a second portion of the same entree “to go.” Pricing for the deal, which will run through May 4, starts at $14.99 and includes breadsticks and a choice of soup or salad.
There are Olive Garden Italian Restaurant locations on Riverdale Street in West Springfield and on Hazard Avenue in Enfield.
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There’s only a few days left to enjoy two limited-time-only menu items at IHOP locations.
March’s Pancake of the Month, Bananas Foster, features IHOP’s buttermilk pancakes layered with sliced bananas and garnished with additional banana slices, a Bananas Foster syrup and whipped topping. The Bananas Foster pancakes are available a la carte as a four-cake stack or as part of a combination breakfast with eggs, breakfast meats and hash browns.
IHOP is also featuring an Ulti-Mint Milkshake made with vanilla ice cream, mint syrup and chocolate chips. Whipped topping and a sprinkle of chocolate complete the drink presentation.
There are IHOP locations on Riverdale Street in West Springfield and in the Five Town Plaza in the Sixteen Acres section of Springfield.
Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College’s hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 50 years of restaurant and educational experience. Robert can be reached online at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com.