Chicagoans grab more breakfasts on the go

More Chicagoans are grabbing breakfast and lunch at fast food spots compared to last year, according to a new report by Toast , which analyzed ordering data from more than 120,000 restaurants nationwide.

Why it matters: The shift is a positive sign for local businesses that rely on office worker traffic, which slumped during the pandemic.

State of play: Chicago regained nearly 70% of its pre-pandemic office occupancy this summer, based on foot traffic tracked through mobile devices by start-up Placer.ai.

Zoom in: Breakfast spending at Chicago's quick-service spots (fast-food restaurants) grew by 6% between the spring of 2023 and this summer, while lunch spending rose 3%.

• At the same time, dinner and late-night fast food spending dropped by 1% and 3%, respectively.

Zoom out: The trend mirrors other cities where fast breakfast spending also rose, including Richmond, Virginia, (15%), Philadelphia (8%), and Columbus, Ohio, (7%).

Food inflation: The report also tracked national data on rising lunch prices. It found the biggest increase in tacos (5.9% to $5.81) and the smallest in hot dogs (1.9% to $6.32) and salads (2.7% to $11.42).

Dig in: When it comes to fast-food lunch items, sandwiches and wraps win the popularity contest in most states (including Illinois), but tacos dominate in California, Texas, Oregon and Nevada.

The intrigue: Bowls rule for Hawaiian lunches while salads win out in Utah.