Which Restaurant Types are Strongest in OC?

Seferian: “The halls or marketplaces are also great meeting places for today’s social media-focused society.”

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—The quick-service restaurant segment seems to do well in almost all submarkets of Orange County, whereas the polished-casual venues do best in stronger socioeconomic areas, CBRE’s first VP Mark Seferian tells GlobeSt.com. According to the firm’s recent report on Southern California restaurant trends, America is a food nation, which has created a hot market for restaurateurs and resulted in a prominent increase in dining options over the last few years. In nearly every market, the fast-casual sector dominated the growth trend, providing consumers with a bevy of food options. Premier locations for leading concepts acted as major draw and remained successful because of high consumer needs. On the other hand, the report states, while Americans are eating better than ever before, economic shifts point toward the start of a slowdown. In addition to customer demand for quality options at low prices, the rising employment costs, rent increases and a glut of similar restaurant concepts are shrinking profit margins.

We spoke with Seferian about Orange County restaurant trends and which geographic areas are the strongest.