Fish and shellfish were on around 75 percent and 68 percent of U.S. restaurant menus, respectively, in 2024, which were decreases of 4 percent and 3 percent over 2020 totals, according to data from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.-based market research firm Datassential.
By species, tuna, crab, and scallop suffered the sharpest drops in menu penetration during the period, dropping by 11 percent for the former and 14 percent apiece for the latter two species.
Though seafood is finding its way onto fewer restaurant menus, seafood consumption is actually growing, and there are still plenty of opportunities to target consumers with innovative seafood dishes, Datassential Vice President of Customer Experience Kelley Fechner said at the 2025 Global Seafood Market Conference in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A., on 23 January.
Leading a discussion titled “Seafood Across the Menu,” Fechner said that seafood consumption in the U.S. rose 20 percent in 2024 – a trend that played out across all age ranges, with the biggest gains coming from Gen Z customers restaurants are eager to attract.
"It is good to see Gen Z consumers interested in consuming more seafood," she said.
Younger consumers particularly enjoyed such dishes as crispy tuna rice and lobster bisque in 2024, causing restaurants to adjust their menus accordingly.
"It's an appetizer, so it is not as expensive as ordering a whole lobster, but you still get that little luxury," Fechner said regarding the latter offering.
Other seafood dishes also gained popularity last year, according to Fechner, including crudo appetizers and entrees, sashimi dishes, shrimp dumplings, and wood plank grilled fish main plates.
Getting seafood onto restaurant menus in unique ways is not only important to the restaurant industry, Fechner said. It’s also important to retailers, as a top motivator for continued seafood consumption, according to Datassential, is trying an item first in a restaurant and liking it, which sparks future purchases.
Looking ahead to how 2025 will play out, a Datassential survey found that 22 percent of consumers aim to increase their seafood consumption this year, while 66 percent of consumers aim to maintain the same seafood consumption levels. Therefore, 88 percent of consumers aim to either maintain their seafood consumption or increase it – an encouraging finding, according to Fechner.
Restaurants will need a mixture of innovation and accessibility to take advantage of those statistics, she said.
"How do we continue to keep seafood approachable?" she said.
The U.S. restaurant industry overall faced a tough year in 2024, marked by mounting menu prices, fewer guests, and bankruptcy filings from some of the biggest names in U.S. foodservice.
