Casual dining real estate faces perfect storm and high vacancies

Property sales for some footprints collapsed as fast casual formats grew, leaving landlords with few buyers and costly renovations

While brands like Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden continue to thrive, many casual dining chains have halted expansion, closed stores or filed for bankruptcy, leaving a glut of former restaurant properties with few buyers.

Casual dining real estate is in a major slowdown, as property sale success rates have plummeted from 72% in 2021 to just 37% in 2024, according to data from Northmarq, a commercial real estate firm. This decline is primarily driven by fundamental mismatches between available properties and the changing needs of restaurants, which make it increasingly challenging to repurpose former casual dining locations.