The Gen Z Tipping Point We Didn’t See Coming

For years, restaurants assumed the challenge with Gen Z would be about digital habits or menu preferences. But research shows something more fundamental: Gen Z has arrived without the shared experiences that shaped Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers.

That’s the real tipping point we didn’t see coming.

It shows up in two ways: first, as guests, they didn’t grow up with the rituals of dining out; and second, as employees, they didn’t get the early workforce reps that previous generations take for granted.

The good news?

Both gaps are solvable, and restaurants have an unprecedented opportunity to reintroduce themselves to a generation that doesn’t yet know what it’s been missing.

Tipping Point #1: Gen Z Guests Without the Guest Experience

When we asked Gen Z about mealtime, their answers revealed a massive, yet actionable void. Compared with the U.S. overall, they were more likely to say that rituals and meaning were missing from their mealtimes:

That absence matters.

Life’s meaningful moments happened around the table. Restaurants facilitate genuine connection between family and friends over a meal and a drink. The meal isn’t the main event. It’s the backdrop for conversations like first dates, weddings, milestones, and everyday moments.

Gen Z grew up with the pandemic disrupting those rituals, compounded by inflation and tipping expectations that make eating out feel like a splurge instead of a given. Thirty-five percent describe themselves as “very lonely,” nine points higher than the U.S. average.

Dining out has the potential to be an antidote: a social connector, not just a meal. Restaurants that design “first-time friendly” experiences with affordable entry points, social rituals, and hospitality that teaches the “dance” of dining without judgment can turn what’s missing into what’s meaningful.

Tipping Point #2: Employees Without Shared Norms

This gap is just as striking – it’s how they show up at work.  

Only 15% of Gen Z had their first job before age 16, compared with 26% for Millennials, 39% for Gen X and nearly half of Boomers (47%). For decades, restaurants, retail, and neighborhood gigs, like mowing lawns and babysitting, were the training ground where young people learned punctuality, teamwork, and resilience. Today, many of those jobs have disappeared, replaced by wage laws, liability restrictions, or apps that assign tasks without human mentorship.

This lack of early experience matters. When Gen Z arrives on the line, the floor, or at a corporate internship, they’re starting from a different baseline. They’re not less capable; they’re just less practiced. And they’re more mobile: 78% of Gen Z say they’re looking for or are open to new opportunities, compared with two-thirds of the total workforce.

What they expect from employers is also different. My research shows Gen Z places greater emphasis on training opportunities and clear growth plans (30%), mental health and wellness coverage (29% vs. just 10% of Boomers), and feeling heard (32%). They expect leaders to be approachable, fair, supportive of growth, and to provide regular constructive feedback. Yet the “joy gap” is real: 42% expect joy at work, but only 33% feel it.

For operators, this isn’t a reason to pull back from hiring Gen Z, it’s the reason to lean in. Taking a chance may feel harder with rising minimum wages, where every hire carries more cost. But think back to your own story. Someone once took a chance on you when you didn’t know all the rules yet. For many leaders I’ve interviewed, that first chance came at a dishwasher station, as a busboy, or with a paper route.

Gen Z needs that same shot, but with more structure. Treat onboarding as education, not paperwork. Train shift leaders as micro-coaches. Build consistency across frontline and HQ cultures, where trust is modeled daily. The payoff is not just lower turnover, but a generation of workers who see restaurants as more than a stopgap, but as a launchpad.

Why It Matters

If ignored, these tipping points could leave restaurants with guests who don’t see dining out as part of their lifestyle, and employees who never feel anchored. But if embraced, restaurants have the chance to win both sides of the equation.

The tipping point doesn’t have to be a loss. It can be the moment the restaurant industry reclaims its role as a guide — for how we gather, how we work, and how we grow.

Article originally published September 12, 2025 by Lisa Miller

Data source: Lisa W. Miller & Associates

N= 3,000 across three distinct quantitative surveys – January, March and July 2025