1315 ET - Casual dining restaurants have raised prices judiciously and are now seeing the benefits, says Mizuho analyst Nick Setyan. Due to casual dining's growing affordability relative to other restaurants, consumers are now turning to restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, Cheesecake Factory and Chili's for meal-replacement rather than just event-driven occasions. "The consumer is now aware that a casual dining meal is no longer meaningfully more expensive than QSR, and with the growth of third-party delivery, it's no longer less convenient, either," Setyan says. Conversely, fast casual restaurants like Chipotle, Cava and Shake Shack, will likely have to lower prices to grow transactions, hurting their margins. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 29, 2025 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)
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