Philly’s lunch scene still recovering from pandemic

May 29, 2023

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

Philly's lunch scene has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, per new data from restaurant platform Toast.

Why it matters: Remote and hybrid work remains strong in the Philly area, which hurts downtown businesses and restaurants that rely on commuters.

What's happening: Philly metro's lunchtime transactions were down an average of 22% during the first three months of the year compared to the same time in 2019, per Toast.

Between the lines: Philly's downtown activity is only about half of its pre-pandemic rates.

Zoom out: The only metro areas that saw their weekday lunchtime transactions rise since 2019 were Kansas City and Charleston, increasing 3% and 2% respectively, per Toast.

Meanwhile: Average weekday transactions were down in the NYC area (23%), San Francisco (22%) and Austin (9%), according to Toast.

Of note: Toast's data looked at weekday transactions on its platform from a cohort of restaurants. Toast can't access data from restaurants that don't use its platform.

Flashback: Several restaurants that catered to Philly's lunch crowd closed during the pandemic, including the Marathon Grill at 1818 Market St.

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