Independent restaurants are recovering well from the pandemic despite bearing the brunt of COVID-era lockdowns and restrictions, according to a new report from The NPD Group.

Independent restaurants with one to two locations still represent 53% of all restaurants in the US, NPD's Fall 2021 ReCount restaurant census reveals. Such locations slumped by 8%, or 28,399 units in 2020, but increased by 1% or 2,893 by the end of last year.  Independent locations are also growing in seven of the nine census locations and in large cities like Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Seattle-Tacoma.

Independent restaurant operators are also increasing their spending and orders from broadline foodservice distributors, with an increase of 27% year-over-year in the 12 months ending March 2022 compared to the same period a year ago and 5% above the pre-pandemic level in the period ending March 2019. Dollars shipped from broadline foodservice distributors to independents were up 47% in the year ending March 2022 compared to the same period a year ago, a 25% increase compared to the pre-pandemic period in the 12 months ending March 2019, according to NPD's SupplyTrack service.