Gen Z is experiencing anxiety when dining out at restaurants, a study has found. Up to 86% of Gen Z is impacted by what is called “menu anxiety,” compared to 67% of all respondents. British restaurant chain Prezzo surveyed over 2,000 people in the United Kingdom about their attitudes toward dining.
The main source of anxiety when eating out is due to the cost of the meal, as well as other factors such as not being able to find something they like on the menu and regretting what they ordered. Nearly 40% of Gen Z and millennials also said they would not go to a restaurant if they hadn’t looked at the menu beforehand.
“[While] most people look forward to dining out during the [holiday] season, we know — as our research shows — it can be stressful for some,” Dean Challenger, CEO of Prezzo, told The New York Post.
This echoes Gen Z’s attitudes toward their finances. In a study conducted by Bank of America, 73% were found to have made changes to their lifestyle and spending habits in order to deal with inflation. This includes cooking at home more frequently rather than dining out, spending less on clothes and limiting grocery purchases to essentials.
Prezzo’s study also found that a third of Gen Zers ask other people to order at restaurants because of their “menu anxiety.”
“They are digital natives but, between COVID and other factors, they have missed out on important in-person social skills,” Gabriel Rubin, Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, told The Post. “Because so many Gen Zers are anxious and because so many have trouble in non-digital social spaces, even activities as simple as ordering food sometimes become things to be avoided.”
Another similar study conducted by OnePoll found that 3 in 10 Americans have “menu anxiety.”
