The Wow Generation

Meet Zoe. She’s a 23-year-old junior marketing exec at a boutique branding agency in any mid-tier to large U.S. city. She wears oversized blazers, low-rise baggy jeans, pulls her hair into a claw clip, and always carries a tiny notebook, earbuds and a clean-ingredient protein bar in her tote. She eats out two to three times a week – sometimes with a friend, a date, or a group for Friday happy hour or weekend brunch. She won’t always order a drink – maybe a craft NA cocktail or a low-ABV vermouth spritzer if she’s hitting 8 a.m. yoga the next day. Instagram is her Yelp. She finds restaurants through chefs, influencers and newsletters like The Infatuation, Cherry Bombe and Broadsheet.

This is today’s Gen Z diner. Your next best customer.

Yes, millennials were the last big wave. But Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – is now entering adulthood in force with major buying power. The core dining group includes 18- to 28-year-olds: college students, young professionals and those starting families.

Generational experts call them “the loneliest generation.” A 2018 Cigna study found 18- to 22-year-olds reported the highest loneliness scores – blamed on too much screen time, not enough face time. Then came the pandemic.

All that’s changing: Research from Technomic indicates that Gen Z'ers dine out often, with 74% visiting restaurants at least once per week. They’re even surpassing millennials as the most frequent restaurant users.

5 Ways to Win Over Gen Z Diners

Get back to great service

Hospitality’s back, baby.

If you’ve dined out post-pandemic and noticed a decline in service, you are not alone. A 2024 study on restaurant reputation rankings from Chatmeter, an intelligence platform, indicates that reviews by customers mentioning “mistakes” were up 6.9%, while also noting that references to staff attitudes were up 21.8%.

Translation: The bar is low. That’s an opportunity.

Whoever figures out how to give great service again – those are the restaurants that are going to win. You can have the best food in town and the coolest place, but if your service sucks, diners – especially Gen Z'ers, who just want to be treated well and heard – will go somewhere else.

This is the view of Kevin Boehm, co-founder of Chicago’s Boka Restaurant Group and a 2019 James Beard Award winner. “We’re in a period where hospitality is becoming really important again, because there’s been a lot of consternation in this world in the last five years, and I think people are really yearning for kindness again.”

At Minneapolis hot spot Bûcheron – 2025’s James Beard Best New Restaurant – co-owner and hospitality director Jeanie Janas Ritter says it’s about caring. “It really just comes down to giving a sh$t and making an effort – and the guests see that.” Ritter and her GM are on the floor nightly, clearing tables, talking with guests and modeling service.

Bûcheron also includes an 18% hospitality charge and runs on a four-day workweek. “If you look at our reviews, everybody mentions the service because they’re surprised – they’re not used to it. People don’t give hospitality anymore. You might get service, but genuine hospitality is becoming rare.”

Make fine dining more casual

Good service doesn’t have to mean stiff.

“It started with the bistronomy movement in Paris – fine dining without the stiffness,” Ritter says. “At our restaurant, you can come dressed up, or in jeans and a T-shirt, and still have a great time.”

Any generation appreciates great food and service. “Even if you’re younger and looking at restaurants differently, you still appreciate good lighting, good music, great people who care,” Ritter says.

Boka’s latest tavern-style pizza spot proves the point. “It’s beautiful and trendy, but the check average is still low and doesn’t break the bank,” Boehm says. “They like scarcity, they want to be respected, and they have high standards for food.”

Focus on that “wow” factor

Give that surprise and delight.

Elm Street Diner in Norwalk, Connecticut – 35 miles from NYC – is made for diners like Zoe.

“Our demographics skew much younger – we have many Gen Z and younger millennial diners,” says owner John Moshos.

The menu is built for buzz: mile-high chicken parm sandwiches, pancake tacos, waffle towers, candy-bar french toast, cake shakes and more. Viral moments fuel more than 700K followers.

“TikTok is a huge part of our business,” Moshos says.

Weekend brunch is a hit, but the draw is year-round. “We have core regulars, college students, and even people traveling from other countries who’ve seen videos of our food.”

“This is the wave of the future,” Moshos says. “With younger demographics, it’s all about creating memorable experiences, innovating, and being consistent on social media. The Gen Z diner is more knowledgeable about food and willing to pay for quality and uniqueness.”

USF Food Fanatics® Chef Eric Tirone says operators should create that “holy sh%t” moment. “From bone marrow with a whiskey shot to cheese pulls that look like tightropes – whatever it takes to wow them.”

Family-style also resonates. “Six apps, two entrées, two desserts for three people. That old-school one-app-one-entrée-one-dessert model is going away,” Tirone says.

Austin Kosater, US Foods® New Business Manager, agrees. “COVID made us scared of each other, but we’re craving that human interaction again – especially Gen Z. You can plate a bunch of apps beautifully, offer dipping sauces and mocktails, and charge more.”

Case in point: Elm Street’s Super Sampler – chicken fingers, wings, fried mozzarella, cheesesteak egg rolls, onion ring tower and sauces – sells for $25.

US Foods Food Fanatics Chef Jennifer Steakley adds: “It’s more about the experience – where can I go to relax with friends or a date? What’s going to bring the excitement to the table?”

Sizzling platters are also booming. Datassential reports a +2,348% jump in U.S. menu growth last year. Hibachi-style experiences – once limited to teppanyaki steakhouses – are popping up at catering pop-ups, trucks and even meal kits. Cozymeal calls them a top dining trend of 2025.

Serve street food with a story

Street food couture is in. Think walking tacos, corn dogs, bao buns and empanadas – reimagined.

“There are a lot more second-generation, mixed-race American chefs,” says US Foods Food Fanatics Chef Valerie Rubin. “I’m half Filipino and half Jewish. I bring that influence – growing up eating all those foods – into the menus I make.”

Rubin notes Filipino, Vietnamese, Persian and Armenian cuisines are growing. “I’m also seeing Moroccan and Middle Eastern, especially at breakfast. And there’s a convergence of South American, Filipino and Pacific Island food – it scales easily and has bold flavor.”

Indian cuisine is also trending. At LA’s Pijja Palace, achaari wings and Malai rigatoni join pizzas topped with tikka, kofta and tandoori onions. Mazala Pizza in Illinois, New Jersey and California offers Manchurian, tikka and samosa pies. In Cincinnati, Crown Restaurant Group’s Marigold blends an Indian curry house with a London gastropub, serving dishes like curried lamb shank with kachumber and housemade pot pies.

Revisit your bar business

Gen Z’s drinking habits are shifting. They’re drinking less – or not at all.

“The [Gen Z] generation doesn’t drink like we do,” says Ritter. “Drinking isn’t in trend like it used to be. We’ve adapted with more NA [non-alcoholic] options than we’ve ever had.”

Bûcheron offers a Pentire Coastal Spritz, Crocus with yuzu and bay leaf, and a phony negroni. None of the Above in St. Louis features housemade shrubs and zero-proof cocktails.

Still, when Gen Z does drink, it’s often vodka, tequila or hard seltzers. Nearly two-thirds of non-drinkers say they’ve never had alcohol and don’t plan to, citing taste and health.

Gen Z’s desire to drink less and operators’ need to drive profitability is a recipe for success. You can use bar and kitchen staples to build an NA menu without adding inventory. Also, consider experimenting with dirty soda – labeled a “megatrend” by Datassential – which can be customizable with a wide range of syrups, fruit purée and creams.

Gen Z diners crave connection, creativity and authenticity. They’ll reward restaurants that offer great food, genuine hospitality and a vibe worth sharing. Focus on creating experiences that make them feel seen, and you’ll win not just Gen Z, but every generation.