National Restaurant Association - Florida Data

How big is the restaurant industry in Florida? Pretty big if you ask the National Restaurant Association. The association publishes state-specific brochures which profile the restaurant industry in each state, including data on jobs, locations, annual sales and more. According to the association, the statistics are based on their internal research and federal government data.

The brochures also point to some interesting facts on the restaurant industry in the US in general, such as the fact that more than one out of four American adults got
their first job in a restaurant, nearly half of all Americans have worked in a
restaurant at some point in their working careers and America’s eating-and-drinking places employ more minority managers than any other industry.

As for Florida, the state had 32,274 eating and drinking establishments in 2007, and estimated revenues for 2009 of $27 billion. Restaurant jobs represent 11% of employment in Florida, with 193,400 new jobs projected by 2019 (22.9% job growth).