Food industry experts are tracking growth in new restaurant openings in Massachusetts, just a few years after a tough period for local eateries.
A lot of the new openings are replacing spots that closed down during the pandemic, though, and restauranteurs are looking at areas outside of Boston when planning their next location.
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Take Dedham, for example.
If you take a drive down Route 1, you'll pass by the newly-opened Capitol Grille, plus the soon-to-be-open Kelly's Roast Beef and Tavern in the Square.
"Previously there was a little bit of a pause in the restaurant business," senior planner for Dedham Michelle Tinger said. "But now things are a little different, being outside of COVID, people want to get out there more... And as a result we’re seeing a big increase in restaurants within Dedham."
The town recently rolled out specific guidelines for outdoor dining, which has become an important feature for so many businesses in recent years.
"Just trying to make it a little easier and friendly for restaurants to come here and be successful within Dedham," Tinger said.
More restaurants are eyeing suburban communities like Dedham, according to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, in part because of the lower cost.
"Additionally, you have people working from home, they’re not traveling into the city as much," Steve Clark said, who is president of the restaurant association. "Even people working in the office three days a week, they're still home 40% of the week, so there's other opportunities for suburban dining."
Clark said he's hearing of a growing number of restaurant openings, but he said there's an important caveat to that trend. Massachusetts isn't necessarily increasing the total number of restaurants it has, because so many closed during the pandemic, according to Clark. So the new ones are basically replacing the ones that closed.
"There's very few activities that people are pursuing that feed that human connection, and restaurant operations are the ones that do that," Clark said.
The biggest concerns facing restaurants are food cost and inflation, as well as staffing — although help hasn't been as hard to find, Clark said.
