Brunch Survey: Meal Popular on Sundays, Special Occasions

Brunch is a popular but somewhat divisive meal, according to a report from the Washington Post. But online searches for brunch have increased in recent years. And new trends and menu items have popped up at restaurants all over the country. So how many consumers and families are going out for brunch on a regular basis? We asked 1,000 respondents about their thoughts on this popular meal and how often they actually take part.

Brunch Consumers

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest online survey, 5% of respondents said that they’ve gone out for brunch in the past day. 11% have had brunch at a restaurant in the past week. 14% have within the past month. 9% have within the past three months. Another 9% have within the past year. 14% said they last ate brunch more than a year ago. And 39% said they aren’t brunch consumers at all. IHOP was the most popular restaurant mentioned by brunch consumers. But many also said that they regularly go out to brunch at independent local restaurants. And others mentioned chains like Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral and Denny’s.

Brunch Habits

The most popular time for brunch seems to be Sunday mornings; 33% of brunch consumers said that they normally go out to brunch on Sunday mornings. 29% said they usually eat brunch on holidays or special occasions. Another 29% eat brunch on Saturday mornings. 21% eat brunch on Sunday afternoons. 19% eat brunch on Saturday afternoons. 17% eat brunch on weekday afternoons. And 14% regularly eat brunch on weekday mornings. As far as the actual food is concerned, 66% said that they normally enjoy eggs at brunch. 63% eat meats. 57% regularly enjoy fruit at brunch. 45% enjoy baked goods. 37% enjoy sandwiches. And 36% eat vegetables at brunch.

Meal Preferences

On the other hand, 6% of respondents said that they’ve gone out for breakfast in the past day. 14% have gone to breakfast in the past week. 18% have within the past month. 15% have within the past three months. 12% have within the past year. 15% said that they last went out to breakfast more than a year ago. And 20% said they aren’t breakfast consumers at all.Again, IHOP was named as the top breakfast destination. And respondents also named McDonald’s, Denny’s, Cracker Barrel and Waffle House. Overall, just 9% of respondents named brunch as their favorite meal of the day. 38% named breakfast as their favorite meal, making it the most popular.

Key Takeaways

Brunch doesn’t seem to be as popular of a meal as breakfast, though there appears to be quite a bit of overlap in terms of consumers and their preferences. In fact, many of the same restaurants were named by both breakfast and brunch consumers. However, it seems that a lot of consumers look at brunch as a meal that’s more aligned with weekends and special occasions. So for popular breakfast restaurants like IHOP, it’s possible to take advantage of the brunch trend by potentially offering special menu items, extended hours or other promotions that could entice even more customers to patronize the business. Then it could convince even more people to go to those restaurants for breakfast as well, since more consumers seem to go out for that meal on a regular basis. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Brunch by Erica Firment under CC BY 2.0What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on January 8-14 via AYTM’s online survey panel.