Full service restaurants are rising to the top of the retail leasing food chain. In the past few years, restaurant and food options have been a go-to for retail landlords, who see food service as being Internet resistant, but that trend is changing. According to new research from CBRE, full-service restaurants signed most of the 400 food-service lease deals completed last year in Southern California. Fast food restaurants came in number two followed by fast casual or quick service restaurants.

“The restaurant retail landscape is changing as sit-down establishments are creating experiences and environments that allow the customer to enter into that specific culinary world and escape from the outside setting,” Brandon Cohan, senior associate at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “Similarly, newer quick-service restaurants have found their foothold by offering the consumer more than just a sandwich, but a specialty product in that category and a story to take home with them. Restaurateurs and well-known chefs recognize that consumers want more than just a regular meal, but an engaging and memorable experience. That is a concept that has cut across pretty much all aspects of retail and food retailers, specifically, are chasing that sixth sense to stay ahead of the curve.”

Los Angeles is one of the leaders in restaurant leasing trends, and many restaurant concepts begin in Los Angeles before expanding nationally. As a result, Los Angeles leads in restaurant leasing volume. “What we're seeing here in LA and Southern California is eventually reflected across the nation,” says Cohan. “Increasingly, food and beverage is catering to the population of 25 to 35-years old. It used to be that a new chef of an upscale cuisine was the talk of the town, but now it is the new, 500-square-foot coffee shop in a cool space and original interior design with a line out the door, drawing customers who are willing to pay $5 or more for a handcrafted latte. Customers want an experience. You can buy an iced latte from anywhere, but how about the ambience of the store, the branding, how does it make you feel while you're there? That story, that experience is now often times the make or break for retailers.”