Americas late-night fast-food culture may be making a comeback following years-long drastic decline

Late-night fast food and 24-hour dining — once staples of American convenience — have shrunk dramatically in recent years, though some chains are beginning to expand overnight hours again.Across the country, fewer chains are keeping locations open overnight, a shift that began during the COVID-19 pandemic and never fully reversed. Restaurant sales plunged 47% in April 2020 from a year earlier, forcing operators to cut hours and reduce costs, according to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data cited by Tasting Table.Years later, many of those reduced schedules remain in place.Between 2020 and 2024, the number of restaurants offering 24-hour service declined by 18%, according to Yelp data.“The underlying consumer demand just isn’t there the way it was pre-pandemic,” David Henkes, senior principal and head of strategic partnerships for Chicago-based Technomic, a food service consultancy firm, told Fox News Digital.“I’ve been saying for two or three years now — and I wish I could stop saying it — but it’s never been more challenging to profitably run a restaurant than it is today,” Henkes said.Rising food costs, inflation and thin profit margins have made late-night service harder to justify, while keeping overnight shifts staffed continues to be a challenge.Safety concerns and local regulations have also played a role, with some cities restricting late-night operations — including a Philadelphia measure requiring certain businesses to close by 11 p.m., according to local reports.Dining costs, or “Food Away from Home” prices, have surged nearly 30% since 2020 in US cities, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.Costs are up across the board for everyone, Henkes also said, and for restaurants, that means steeper prices for labor, food, rent, insurance, energy and more.“When wages were lower, it was often cheaper to leave a store or restaurant open with a skeleton crew than to go through the processes associated with closi...