During the company’s earnings call this past week, Chipotle said diners between the ages of 25 and 35 are cutting back on dining at the chain because they’ve stopped eating out altogether, reported Fortune.

“This group is facing several headwinds, including unemployment, increased student loan repayment and slower real wage growth,” said Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright. “We’re not losing them to the competition. We’re losing them to grocery and food at home.”

Other customers that are spending less on dining out at Chipotle include customers making less than $100,000, who reportedly make up about 40% of Chipotle’s consumer base, Fortune wrote.

For the third quarter in a row, Chipotle has cut its same-store sales forecast as quarterly revenue missed expectations and traffic declined by 0.8%.

Fortune also reported that “40% of Gen Z and millennial renters were eating out less to afford monthly payments. More than 20% reported skipping meals entirely to make ends meet,” citing a survey from Redfin conducted in August.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Restaurant Brands International (RBI) is “proving resilient against a cautious consumer, posting higher quarterly sales driven by its Tim Hortons chain and a pickup from Burger King’s international operations.”

In an earnings call this week, RBI said that while it saw a slight decrease among lower- and middle-income customers, consumer habits across income levels have largely remained stable throughout the year.

“Tim Hortons’ system-wide sales growth was 4.8% to $2.03 billion, while Burger King’s was 2.3% to $2.96 billion. As for the Popeyes brand, it posted system-wide sales growth of 0.7% to $1.52 billion, and Firehouse Subs reported 11% growth to $332 million. The international segment rose just over 12% to $5.45 billion,” wrote the Journal.

Last month, foot traffic research firm Placer.ai reported that visits to QSRs were down 3.4% year over year in August 2025. Chipotle in particular saw visits down 6.3% in Q2 2025 compared to Q2 in 2024.