Wine is a meaningful part of restaurant beverage planning, but demand is not uniform. In 2023, 31% of U.S. adults age 21 and older said they drank wine with a meal at a restaurant. That share varied by age, income, region, and community type. The same research also shows that wine service extends beyond the dining room: bottles, glasses, pickup, delivery, tastings, pairings, and low- or no-alcohol options all have measurable customer interest.
Contents
- Who orders wine at restaurants
- Wine’s place in restaurant sales
- Bottle and glass service for takeout
- Off-premises demand and preferred styles
- Wine programs, pairings, and promotions
- Restaurant sales context
Who orders wine at restaurants
The National Restaurant Association’s On the Menu: Trends in On- and Off-Premises Beverage Alcohol report measured wine ordering among U.S. adults age 21 and older in 2023. Overall, 31% said they drank wine with a meal at a restaurant. The published breakdown shows a relatively broad age profile, with millennials the highest of the listed generations.
| Group | Share who drink wine with a restaurant meal |
|---|---|
| Gen Z adults, ages 21–26 | 27% |
| Millennials, ages 27–42 | 37% |
| Gen X adults, ages 43–58 | 29% |
| Baby boomers, ages 59–77 | 30% |
| U.S. male adults age 21+ | 32% |
Source: National Restaurant Association, On the Menu: Trends in On- and Off-Premises Beverage Alcohol, 2023.
Income differences were pronounced. Among adults age 21 and older, 19% of people in households earning under $50,000 said they drank wine with a restaurant meal. The share was 36% for households earning $50,000–$99,999 and 52% for households earning $100,000 or more. These are survey shares, not estimates of wine revenue or spending per guest.
The same 2023 report recorded regional differences. Wine with a restaurant meal was reported by 38% of adults in the Northeast, 26% in the Midwest, 30% in the South, and 34% in the West. Community type showed an even wider spread: 42% of urban adults said they drank wine with a restaurant meal, compared with 17% of rural adults.
For a bistro, these figures describe potential audience composition rather than a guaranteed sales mix. They indicate that wine service may have especially broad relevance among higher-income and urban diners, while still reaching customers across every listed generation and region.
Wine’s place in restaurant sales
The National Restaurant Association’s 2023 report on alcohol beverage services found that alcohol beverages accounted for an average 21% of total sales at fullservice restaurants that offered them. At limited-service restaurants that offered alcohol, the average was 6% of sales. Those percentages cover alcohol beverages overall; they are not wine-only sales figures.
Customer experience can also influence venue choice. Among adults age 21 and older who drank wine, beer, or cocktails when dining out, 84% said restaurants were a good place to learn about beverages they had not tried. In the same report, 82% trusted local restaurant staff to make good alcohol-beverage recommendations.
Alcohol availability was associated with restaurant selection for each major drinking group measured. Seventy percent of beer drinkers said availability made them more likely to choose one restaurant over another. The comparable shares were 69% among wine drinkers and 67% among cocktail drinkers. These results describe stated preferences, not proof that availability caused a visit.
The sales opportunity also includes orders consumed away from the restaurant. The 2023 National Restaurant Association analysis reported that off-premises orders made up about 75% of all restaurant traffic. That context matters when wine service is planned as part of pickup, delivery, or takeout rather than only table service.
Bottle and glass service for takeout
Among restaurants with alcohol on takeout or delivery menus, bottle service was more common than glass service in every restaurant category measured in 2023. Fine-dining restaurants had the highest reported availability for both formats, while limited-service restaurants had the lowest.
| Restaurant type | Wine by bottle | Wine by glass |
|---|---|---|
| Family dining | 65% | 41% |
| Casual dining | 74% | 38% |
| Fine dining | 92% | 43% |
| Limited service | 48% | 27% |
Source: National Restaurant Association, On the Menu: Trends in On- and Off-Premises Beverage Alcohol, 2023. Percentages refer to restaurants with alcohol on takeout or delivery menus.
The format gap is visible within each category. Family-dining restaurants reported a 65% bottle offering and a 41% glass offering. Casual-dining restaurants reported 74% and 38%, respectively. Fine-dining restaurants reported 92% and 43%, while limited-service restaurants reported 48% and 27%.
More recent service-format context comes from the National Restaurant Association’s 2024 report, Beverages are key to ringing up bigger sales. It found that 93% of restaurants serving alcohol to go offered it with pickup orders. Approximately 50% of fullservice restaurants selling alcohol included it in delivery orders. The figures concern alcohol to go generally, so they should not be read as wine-specific delivery rates.
Off-premises demand and preferred styles
The 2023 beverage-alcohol report found that 24% of U.S. adults age 21 and older who had ordered restaurant takeout or delivery during the prior six months included an alcohol beverage. The age breakdown was higher among younger adults: 44% for Gen Z adults ages 21–26 and 42% for millennials ages 27–42. It was 19% for Gen X adults ages 43–58 and 7% for baby boomers ages 59–77.
Among wine drinkers who wanted wine by the glass with takeout or delivery, the preferred styles were measured as follows:
- 65% would likely order a red wine.
- 57% would likely order a white wine.
- 47% would likely order rosé.
- 40% would likely order sparkling wine.
These percentages describe likely ordering within a survey group and can overlap because respondents could select more than one style. They are not a market-share ranking or a forecast of bottles sold.
The age pattern for alcohol included with takeout or delivery also differs from the overall restaurant-meal wine pattern. Younger adults reported the higher off-premises alcohol-inclusion shares, while baby boomers reported the lowest share in the listed groups. For a bistro, that distinction supports treating table-service wine demand and takeout wine demand as related but separate planning questions.
Wine programs, pairings, and promotions
The National Restaurant Association’s State of the Restaurant Industry 2025 — Sales & Economic Forecast reported planned wine-program changes among fullservice restaurants that served alcohol. Forty-five percent planned to add new wine offerings in 2025, while 15% planned to add new non-alcohol wine offerings. The 2025 figures are forecasts or reported plans, not completed sales results.
Several ideas had strong stated interest among wine drinkers in that 2025 report. Seventy-seven percent wanted the option to order wine made by a local winery at a restaurant, and 77% said they would participate in restaurant wine-tasting events. Seventy-six percent wanted to order by the glass a wine typically offered only by the bottle, while 74% wanted smaller tasting-sized glasses.
Food-and-wine experiences also tested strongly. Seventy-two percent said they would attend a restaurant wine dinner with a special food-and-wine-pairing menu. Seventy-one percent wanted restaurant-selected wine paired with food items on the menu. These figures align closely with a bistro setting where wine can be presented alongside dishes rather than treated as a separate purchase.
Promotional timing was another measured preference: 75% of wine drinkers said they would take advantage of discounted wine during less-busy restaurant times or days. Off-premises options also had majority interest. Fifty-nine percent wanted wine by the bottle included with a takeout or delivery order, while 53% wanted wine by the glass included. Fifty-seven percent would join a restaurant wine club offering staff-selected bottles.
Demand was not limited to conventional alcoholic wine. Forty-nine percent wanted the option to order low- or no-alcohol wine at a restaurant. Together, the results describe interest in broader choice, staff guidance, tasting formats, local products, pairing, and time-based promotions. They do not establish that every option will be profitable or suitable for every restaurant.
Restaurant sales context
Wine-service planning sits inside a much larger restaurant economy. The 2025 industry forecast reported U.S. eating-and-drinking-place food and beverage sales of $605 billion in 2020, $1.012 trillion in 2023, and $1.060 trillion in 2024. It forecast $1.103 trillion for 2025. The 2025 value is a forecast, and these totals are not wine-only sales.
The fullservice segment also grew in the reported series:
| Year | Fullservice food and beverage sales |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $260 billion |
| 2021 | $376 billion |
| 2022 | $442 billion |
| 2023 | $490 billion |
| 2024 | $513 billion |
| 2025 forecast | $533 billion |
Source: National Restaurant Association, State of the Restaurant Industry 2025 — Sales & Economic Forecast. The 2025 value is a forecast.
The same forecast placed bars and taverns at $38 billion in food and beverage sales for 2025. That category is separate from the fullservice restaurant series and is also a forecast. For wine-service decisions, the relevant distinction is that broad restaurant sales totals provide market context, while the consumer percentages above identify specific service formats, customer groups, and wine-program preferences.