“Americans, now that they are increasingly vaccinated, with capacity restrictions being lifted across the country, with good weather, with a strong economy, people are returning to restaurants,” he told Nation’s Restaurant News after the earnings call. “And it's because they want to gather and celebrate community and literally hug each other again, because we haven't done that for 13 months.”
He also said Dine Brands was still shopping for another concept.
Peyton told investors that the improvement in sales at Applebee’s and IHOP also was driven by historically high consumer savings and federal stimulus checks as well as unemployment rates that are at their lowest level since the pandemic started. Sales might be buoyed further if a new federal infrastructure bill is passed, he said.