• Bucharest, March 12, 2026: The restaurant and food services market in Romania is estimated at approximately 7,8 billion euros in 2025, but consumer behavior indicates a clear change: Romanians go out to restaurants less often, are more careful about spending and are becoming more selective in relation to the experience offered.
The data comes from the latest studies conducted by the Hospitality Culture Institute together with Exact Research, which analyzes consumption behavior in restaurants, the food delivery market and other food service formats in urban areas.
"A key takeaway from two new studies we conducted in recent months is that the restaurant is increasingly becoming a social space, while food delivery remains the market's convenience driver. At the same time, consumers are quickly penalizing valueless prices and incomplete experiences.", he says Florin Maxim, founder of Hospitality Culture Institute.
Romanians say they go out to restaurants less often
According to the study, 50% of respondents say they go to restaurants less or much less often compared to the previous year.
In the case of type commands delivered, the setback is smaller: 38% of respondents say they ordered less often, which confirms the stable role of deliveries in a more tense economic context.
The shift also reflects a transformation in the role of the restaurant in consumers' lives. Today, going out is less associated with daily eating and more with social experiences.
77% of respondents say that the main reason they go to a restaurant is to socialize with friends or spend quality time with family, confirming the restaurant's transition from the area of daily consumption to the area of experience.
Consumers are reducing spending in restaurants
The pressure on budgets is visible in consumer behavior:
- 28% of respondents say the budget allocated to restaurants has decreased
- 40% skip dessert
- 37% give up drinks
- 34% choose more accessible locations
This data indicates a market that is becoming much more disciplined and less willing to accept additional products through upsell strategies.
Quality and atmosphere, more important than promotions
Data published by the Hospitality Culture Institute shows that customer loyalty is not built exclusively through promotions or loyalty programs.
For consumers, the quality of the product and the atmosphere of the location matter more than the mere existence of discounts when they decide to return to a restaurant.
Technology is welcome, but it should not replace hospitality
In recent years, the digitalization of the HoReCa industry has accelerated significantly.
According to the study:
- 79% of respondents are comfortable paying exclusively by card or phone
- 74% use food delivery apps
- 67% feel comfortable with digital or QR menus
The Romanian consumer accepts technology, but does not want it to replace the human component of hospitality.
8 out of 10 Romanians use online services delivered
In parallel, food delivery services are consolidating their functional role in the market. Consumers order mainly to save time or for the convenience of eating at home.
In the study conducted in five major cities in Romania:
- 80% of respondents have used food delivery services in the last 6 months
- 21% of the total value of the food services market is generated by food deliveries
Extrapolating the same share to the national estimate, the delivery segment would reach approximately 8,6 billion lei, while standard restaurants, which hold 27% of the market, would represent approximately 11 billion lei.
The pastry and bakery segment is becoming a major consumption channel
For the first time, the Hospitality Culture Institute study separately measures the pastry and bakery segment (bakery), providing a more complex picture of urban consumption in the food industry.
The data shows that:
- the pastry and bakery segment generates approximately 3,36 billion lei
- 67% of consumers bought products bakery in the last 6 months
These figures confirm that bakery is no longer a peripheral area of food consumption, but a high-frequency mass channel with increasing relevance in the urban consumer's food budget.
Restaurants remain a dominant consumption channel
In the study on consumption behaviors and occasions conducted by the Hospitality Culture Institute, 79% of respondents say they have gone to standard restaurants in the last 6 months, 67% have bought from bakery, 66% used food delivery services, and the average value of the voucher dropped to 53,3 lei, from 61,1 lei in 2024. This data shows us that the market is functioning, but under a much more careful regime of selection and spending control.
"The market has not disappeared. It has matured brutally. The Romanian consumer is not giving up the restaurant experience, but is becoming much more attentive and with clearer expectations. They no longer buy just food. They buy the justification of the price, the coherence of the experience and the feeling that it is worth returning", adds Florin Maxim.
Hospitality Culture Institute believes that 2026 will be the year in which the big winners will not necessarily be the cheapest players, but those operators who will manage to intelligently combine three things: flexibility of offer, consistency of experience and real understanding of new consumer behaviors. In a market estimated at over 40 billion lei, the difference will not only be size, but the ability to read the consumer correctly.
About studies:
The data presented comes from two surveys conducted for the Hospitality Culture Institute together with Exact Research. The Usage & Attitudes 2026 study was conducted through CATI interviews on a sample of 822 respondents from Bucharest, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Brașov, between January 8–27, 2026, and assesses the restaurant market, fast food-, food deliveries, canteens, supermarkets with gastro areas, gas stations, self pickup and bakery.
The Consumer Behavior in the Romanian Hospitality Sector study was conducted on 808 respondents from 10 cities, in December 2025, and analyzes changes in behavior, budget, value perception, services, digitalization and loyalty in hospitality consumption.
Comprehensive data, detailed analyses and insightSector-specific trainings are available through the Hospitality Culture Institute for companies and organizations interested in understanding in depth the current dynamics of the Romanian restaurant and food service market.
About Hospitality Culture Institute
The Hospitality Culture Institute (HCI) is the European research and leadership platform that studies how gastronomic culture, hospitality and services shape human behavior and economic value. HCI uses hospitality as a living laboratory for the experience economy, bringing together leaders, researchers and decision-makers to build sustainable, human-centered business models.
Article source: Press Release Hospitality Culture Institute
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