Chipotle rival Mexican chain closes all U.S. restaurants

For galore Americans, eating retired has go a luxury.

Some radical person been trading down, portion others person decided to devour astatine location much often.

In my decades of covering restaurants, I've ne'er seen a play wherever consumers person been deed by some precocious prices and a challenging economy. Even immoderate higher-income consumers person go much cautious with spending due to the fact that of rising costs, an unpredictable occupation market, and broader economical uncertainty.

"Survey information shows that 3 retired of 10 Americans person reduced their spending astatine retail stores and are eating retired astatine restaurants little often than a twelvemonth ago," according to an S&P Global Data study from March.

Prices person played a ample relation successful keeping Americans distant from restaurants.

"Consumer prices for nutrient distant from location accrued 39.3% from January 2019 to January 2026. By comparison, the scale accrued 19.2% crossed the erstwhile 7 years, from January 2012 to January 2019," according to different S&P Global Data report.

Almost fractional of U.S. edifice operators, however, person seen their income climb.

"Forty-six percent of edifice operators reported little postulation successful March, compared to 30% successful February." according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey.

Rising prices person enactment unit connected edifice visits.

"These higher prices person caused lawsuit postulation to U.S. restaurants to diminution for 2 consecutive years, with lone humble maturation projected for 2026," Rich Shank, elder main and vice president of innovation with Technomic, told S&P Global. "Growth is truly challenging, and consumers are decidedly changing their behavior."

That situation has forced immoderate edifice chains to adjacent locations, and present different fashionable Mexican chain, Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen, has closed each its U.S. restaurants.

Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen offered a "clean" instrumentality connected Mexican

When you sojourn the Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen website, you're greeted with a elemental message: "All GYG USA restaurants permanently closed." The leafage says each U.S. locations closed connected May 22 and acknowledgment customers for their support.

The company, founded successful Australia, offered what it described arsenic "clean" Mexican food. Its Australian website touts nary added preservatives, nary artificial flavors, nary added colors, and nary unacceptable additives.

Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen founders Steven Marks and Robert Hazan are autochthonal New Yorkers, truthful they considered their 2020 opening successful the U.S. arsenic a instrumentality home.

"We some grew up successful New York and it's ever been our imagination to bring the marque backmost to the U.S.," Marks told Business News Australia. "We person looked astatine sites each implicit the U.S. for a fig of years, and we were truly peculiar astir it due to the fact that we knew our archetypal edifice successful the U.S. had to beryllium special."