GlobeSt.com: In which submarkets or areas do these restaurants do best?

Seferian: The quick-service restaurant segment seems to do well in almost all submarkets, whereas the polished-casual venues do best in stronger socio-economic areas with a higher median income and a large higher-education population base with a propensity to dine out. These areas tend to be in or close to successful retail offerings such as at Segerstrom' s South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, where a strong synergy exists between the restaurants and retailers, driving consistent traffic to the property. Darden's Seasons 52 and the Capital Grille do extremely well at this property, and Maggianno's has also had consistently strong sales. Sam King's Water Grill took over the Scott's Seafood location and is off to a fantastic start. The Irvine Spectrum has very successful polished-casual restaurant offerings, including Javier's, Yard House, Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen and Brio Italian, along with Capital Seafood.

Fine-dining restaurants definitely do best in the higher-income submarkets, alongside “better” retail shopping in areas such as Newport Beach. where the Irvine Co.'s Fashion Island Mall features a group of thriving restaurants including Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Canaletto's and the Fig and Olive. This property also has very successful polished-casual offerings such as Cucina Enoteca, Great Maple, True Foods and Hop Doddy.

GlobeSt.com: What are the hot new trends in restaurants in this market moving forward?

Seferian: The hot new trend in restaurants across the country is food halls, originally founded in Harrod's London in the 1800s. These developments offer a variety of good-quality foods at moderate price points. These food locations work well since they offer something for everyone. The halls or marketplaces are also great meeting places for today's social media-focused society. Additionally, we also see a continuing move toward take-out and delivery. We know a restaurant operator in Costa Mesa who excels at social media and utilizes it to drive off-premise sales to the 30% range. Social media, along with delivery services such as UberEats, if leveraged properly, can be a huge opportunity today with people being so very busy and time constrained.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about restaurant trends in general?

Seferian: Restaurant trends in general remain focused on fresh and locally sourced product, fresh food fast at a fair price, often served out of a smaller physical space. Our very mobile society is responding to this every day.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—The quick-service restaurant segment seems to do well in almost all submarkets of Orange County, whereas the polished-casual venues do best in stronger socioeconomic areas, CBRE's first VP Mark Seferian tells GlobeSt.com. According to the firm's recent report on Southern California restaurant trends, America is a food nation, which has created a hot market for restaurateurs and resulted in a prominent increase in dining options over the last few years. In nearly every market, the fast-casual sector dominated the growth trend, providing consumers with a bevy of food options. Premier locations for leading concepts acted as major draw and remained successful because of high consumer needs.
On the other hand, the report states, while Americans are eating better than ever before, economic shifts point toward the start of a slowdown. In addition to customer demand for quality options at low prices, the rising employment costs, rent increases and a glut of similar restaurant concepts are shrinking profit margins.

We spoke with Seferian about Orange County restaurant trends and which geographic areas are the strongest.

GlobeSt.com: Which types of restaurants are strongest in Orange County?

Seferian: Most restaurant segments in Orange County are doing well since there is such an incredibly strong economic base. The county population profile supports the propensity to dine out as evidenced by successful quick-service restaurants, polished casual and fine-dining segments.

GlobeSt.com: In which submarkets or areas do these restaurants do best?

Seferian: The quick-service restaurant segment seems to do well in almost all submarkets, whereas the polished-casual venues do best in stronger socio-economic areas with a higher median income and a large higher-education population base with a propensity to dine out. These areas tend to be in or close to successful retail offerings such as at Segerstrom' s South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, where a strong synergy exists between the restaurants and retailers, driving consistent traffic to the property. Darden's Seasons 52 and the Capital Grille do extremely well at this property, and Maggianno's has also had consistently strong sales. Sam King's Water Grill took over the Scott's Seafood location and is off to a fantastic start. The Irvine Spectrum has very successful polished-casual restaurant offerings, including Javier's, Yard House, Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen and Brio Italian, along with Capital Seafood.

Fine-dining restaurants definitely do best in the higher-income submarkets, alongside “better” retail shopping in areas such as Newport Beach. where the Irvine Co.'s Fashion Island Mall features a group of thriving restaurants including Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Canaletto's and the Fig and Olive. This property also has very successful polished-casual offerings such as Cucina Enoteca, Great Maple, True Foods and Hop Doddy.

GlobeSt.com: What are the hot new trends in restaurants in this market moving forward?

Seferian: The hot new trend in restaurants across the country is food halls, originally founded in Harrod's London in the 1800s. These developments offer a variety of good-quality foods at moderate price points. These food locations work well since they offer something for everyone. The halls or marketplaces are also great meeting places for today's social media-focused society. Additionally, we also see a continuing move toward take-out and delivery. We know a restaurant operator in Costa Mesa who excels at social media and utilizes it to drive off-premise sales to the 30% range. Social media, along with delivery services such as UberEats, if leveraged properly, can be a huge opportunity today with people being so very busy and time constrained.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about restaurant trends in general?

Seferian: Restaurant trends in general remain focused on fresh and locally sourced product, fresh food fast at a fair price, often served out of a smaller physical space. Our very mobile society is responding to this every day.