Last year was one of the worst for the restaurant industry. The number of restaurants per million people hit a 10-year low, and traffic for most categories was lousy, especially in casual dining. And this year’s not off to a great start. Overall traffic was down another 2.5 percent in January, according to TDn2K. With grocery prices falling and prepared foods and delivery on the rise, diners need a really good reason to leave the house. And restaurants are struggling to give them one.
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