Russian Restaurateurs: “Traffic and Revenue Have Reached Their Lowest in 25 Years” 0 11

Russian restaurants faced a decline in attendance at the beginning of 2026 on a scale not seen in several decades.

According to Kommersant, citing participants in the restaurant market, year-on-year traffic for many restaurant chains has decreased by 10–15%, and for some, by 30–40%. Since the beginning of the year, traffic and revenue in restaurants have reached their lowest levels in the last 25 years, noted Alexey Nebolsin, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers.

In Moscow's restaurants and bars, the number of purchases has decreased by 12% year-on-year, while in St. Petersburg, it has dropped by 8%, as reported by Kommersant with statistics from the OFD Platform.

In the Teremok chain, traffic has collapsed by 15-20%, says its founder Mikhail Goncharov. In the Rakovaya chain, the number of checks has decreased by 10–12% compared to last year, reported the company's founder Yevgeny Nichipuruk: “In all ten years of our network's existence, this is the worst indicator.”

One of the main reasons is the decline in real incomes of the population, which began last summer, explains Goncharov. According to Rosstat, in 2025, real disposable incomes of Russians grew by 7.4%, and real wages by 4.4%. However, restaurateurs did not feel this. The deterioration is felt across all segments: people's incomes are falling, they are “tightening their spending,” and this affects both expensive restaurants and fast food establishments equally, notes Goncharov.

Serious problems began after the New Year against the backdrop of rising tax burdens on the restaurant business, as well as food and alcohol suppliers. For example, alcohol prices have risen due to increased excise taxes, and food prices have increased due to suppliers switching to VAT, notes Nebolsin. Even in the fast food segment, which is traditionally considered more resilient, consumers have started to reduce the frequency of visits and the total amount of orders, agrees Mikhail Zhiganov, director of the Corporate Finance practice at Strategy Partners.

Amid the decline in traffic, a wave of restaurant and bar closures began. The number of liquidations of companies in the catering sector in January–February increased by 29% year-on-year, reaching 7,300 organizations, according to Kontur.Focus. At the same time, interest in opening new establishments has sharply declined. In January–February, the number of applications for opening a franchise point decreased by 47.5%, while overall demand for franchises in the industry fell by 38% in January–March, with coffee shops down by 51% and fast food by 26%.

In Moscow, since the end of 2025, Shokoladnitsa has closed about 20 restaurants, Rostic’s has closed 25 locations, Yakitoria has closed 8, and Menza has closed 2. The following have completely exited the market: Khleb Nasushny, Fornetto, the bar chain Dorogaya, Ya Pereznaku, the Valenok restaurants, and The Toy. According to 2GIS, by March, the number of restaurants in million-plus cities decreased by 5% year-on-year, cafes by 6%, and bars by 11%.