Latin American Cuisine: A Look at the South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type

2015 – When there is a chill in the air many Americans turn to food to warm them up. In addition to soups and hot beverages, adventurous diners also seek out spicier dishes.

Latin America is an extremely diverse area that’s home to many delicious and unique dishes. The majority of these dishes enjoy a distinctive flavor, thanks in part to different spice blends. Americans looking for a bit of spice often turn to Latin American food to satisfy their cravings. At CHD Expert, we classify these cuisines under the South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type.

At CHD Expert we have comprehensive data on a variety of menu types and we recently evaluated the most recent data in our foodservice database and pulled out some interesting facts on the South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type that we’d like to share with you.

Here are the top facts about South & Central American/Caribbean restaurants we pulled from our Easy2FIND database:

There are over 60,800 restaurants with a South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type in the United States. Menu Types included in this category are Mexican, Brazilian, Caribbean, Other Latin America, and South & Central America/Caribbean Unclassified.

The FSR and LSR segments are pretty evenly split for Latin American cuisine. Full Service Restaurants make up 57% of the South & Central American/Caribbean industry landscape while Limited Service Restaurants account for 43%.

The average check at 38% of restaurants with a South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type is $10-$15. This is followed by an average check of $5-$7 at 20% of South & Central America/Caribbean restaurants and an average check of $15-$20 at 19% of these restaurants.

Independents dominate this restaurant landscape. The majority (76%) of restaurants with a South & Central America/Caribbean Menu Type are Independent while 24% are classified as chains. (CHD Expert defines an independent restaurant as one with less than 10 units in operation.) The top five chain restaurants in this segment are Taco Bell (39%), Chipotle Mexican Grill (12%), Qdoba Mexican Grill (4%), Moe’s Southwest Grill (3.49%), and Del Taco (3.43%).

The Latin America restaurant segment enjoys longevity. CHD Expert’s data shows that 60% of South & Central America/Caribbean restaurants have been open 5+ years and 20% have been in business for 2-5 years.

The South & Central American/Caribbean Menu Type is popular in the Southwest. The states with the highest percentage of South & Central American/Caribbean restaurants in the total state restaurant landscape are: Texas (18%), California (14%), New Mexico (14%), Arizona (13%), and Colorado (12%).

Would you like to learn more about South & Central American and Caribbean restaurants in the United States?

CHD Expert is an industry leader in collecting, managing, and analyzing foodservice data. We have all kinds of foodservice data available, including Latin American restaurant data, and our database features 40+ filters you can use to segment data.