One Restaurant Category Could Be the Industry’s Next Big Growth Engine, New Data Shows

Restaurant operators across the U.S. are still contending with soft consumer spending, higher costs, and pressure to find sales beyond the core lunch and dinner dayparts. New data released August 25 by the National Restaurant Association narrows that search to one category with unusual momentum: beverages.

Beverage sales are moving from side item to traffic driver

The National Restaurant Association said in its 2026 Restaurant Beverage Trends report, released August 25 and sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, that beverages are becoming a significant growth lever for restaurant operators nationwide. According to the association, 87% of full-service operators and 80% of limited-service operators said beverages can be an important driver of restaurant traffic. The group’s press release described drinks as one of the most dynamic and innovative growth drivers in the business, reflecting a broader shift in menu strategy.

The report also found that majorities in both service segments said offering a wider variety of beverages matters more now than it used to. Michelle Korsmo, the association’s president and CEO, said consumers increasingly want beverage options that feel personal, memorable, and worth leaving home for. That framing is important because it places beverages not just in the refreshment category, but in the experience category, where restaurants can differentiate themselves without building a full new menu platform.

Association research released earlier this year had already pointed in the same direction. In its 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry materials, the group said 54% of consumers want more beverage choices on restaurant menus, including about seven in 10 Gen Z adults and millennials. Together, those figures suggest operators are seeing the same opening that younger consumers are already signaling in survey data.

Younger consumers and off-peak visits are shaping the opportunity

The strongest growth signal in the new report comes from beverage-only occasions, which create traffic outside traditional meal periods. The National Restaurant Association found that 37% of consumers make beverage-only purchases at least weekly, including 50% of Gen Z adults and 47% of millennials. The afternoon was identified as the most popular time of day for those purchases, giving restaurants a clearer window for incremental sales between lunch and dinner.

The report said younger consumers are also driving experimentation. Seventy-one percent said their favorite restaurant beverages offer flavor experiences that are not easy to replicate at home, while roughly seven in 10 younger adults said they want more beverage options on menus. Across all consumers surveyed, 72% said restaurants are a good place to discover beverages they have never tried before, and 54% said they enjoy being adventurous when choosing a drink.

That helps explain why chains and independents alike are expanding beverage menus beyond standard fountain drinks and iced tea. Nation’s Restaurant News, summarizing the report, pointed to rising competition from beverage-focused brands such as Swig, HTeaO, Ziggi’s, and Scooter’s, while more traditional restaurant chains are adding seasonal, house-crafted, and customizable drinks in response. The company-specific winners will vary, but the national demand signals in the report are already clear.

Operators are targeting coffee, tea, mocktails, and better delivery packaging

The report indicates that growth is not concentrated in one drink format. Among limited-service operators, the National Restaurant Association said the leading expansion categories are coffee at 46%, tea at 31%, smoothies at 29%, lemonades at 27%, energy drinks at 26%, and wellness beverages at 24%. In full-service restaurants, operators are expanding both alcoholic and nonalcoholic choices, including mixed cocktails at 55%, alcohol-free cocktails at 49%, beer at 45%, wine at 42%, and alcohol-free beer at 39%.

The delivery channel is another part of the equation, though the association said packaging remains a barrier. Eighty-three percent of delivery customers said they would order drinks more often if improved packaging let restaurants offer more beverage options, and that share rose to 89% among Gen Z and millennial consumers. Two-thirds of operators also said they would promote beverages more aggressively for delivery if packaging made transportation easier.

For customers, the practical takeaway is that restaurant menus are likely to keep adding drinks that are more customizable, seasonal, and occasion-specific rather than treating beverages as a fixed side offering. For operators, the message from the report is more direct: in a year when overall traffic remains hard-won, beverages may offer one of the clearest paths to new visits, higher check averages, and sales beyond standard meal occasions.