People love going out to eat at restaurants. Roughly 29% of consumers eat out at least once a week, while nine out of 10 people would say they enjoy going to a restaurant. The love of dining out has sales in the restaurant sector on track to reach $1 trillion in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association. Given our love for dining out, that number should continue rising.
The industry's long-term growth prospects bode well for restaurant stocks. However, the restaurant industry can be challenging since the economy, inflation, labor market, and other external and internal factors can affect performance.
Investors looking to play the long-term upside potential of the restaurant sector might want to consider taking a broad-based approach by investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on the industry. Here's a closer look at several ETFs with high concentrations of restaurant stocks.
Three top ETFs
Three top restaurant ETFs in 2025
Investors don't have a lot of restaurant ETF options. Only one ETF focuses solely on the industry. Others hold restaurants along with other food stocks, beverage stocks, and consumer discretionary stocks. Investors need to carefully review restaurant-related ETFs to determine the best fit for their situation. The top restaurant ETF options are:
| Restaurant ETF | Ticker Symbol | Market Value/Assets Under Management (AUM) | ETF Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF | (NYSEMKT:EATZ) | $2.5 million | The only pure-play ETF in the restaurant sector. |
| Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF | (NYSEMKT:PEJ) | $236.9 million | This ETF holds companies engaged in the design, production, or distribution of goods or services in the leisure and entertainment industries. |
| The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund | (NYSEMKT:XLY) | $18.9 billion | This ETF holds shares of consumer discretionary companies in the S&P 500 Index. |
Here's a closer look at these restaurant ETFs.
1. AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF
1. AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF
The AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF, launched in 2021, is the only ETF solely focused on investing in the restaurant and food industry. The ETF's holdings include restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food, takeout facilities, and food catering services. This ETF also features a creative ticker symbol (EATZ) and a catchy mission to allow an investor to "put your money where your mouth is."
As of mid-2024, this ETF held almost 50 restaurant stocks, led by the following five:
- Brinker International (EAT 1.61%): 7.3% of the fund's holdings
- CAVA Group (CAVA 2.05%): 7%.
- Wingstop (WING 0.59%): 6.4%
- Dutch Bros (BROS -0.06%): 5.6%
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG -0.16%): 5.3%
Because of its short operating history, this ETF is quite small. That makes it riskier than other ETFs with restaurant holdings. On a positive note, it has a reasonable ETF expense ratio of 0.6%.
2. Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF
2. Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF
The Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF holds more than 30 leisure and entertainment companies, including those engaged in designing, producing, or distributing goods and services. As a result, the fund doesn't focus on restaurants. It had the following sector allocation in mid-2024:
- Hotels, restaurants, and leisure: 63.5%
- Entertainment: 21.2%
- Media: 5%
- Food and staples retailing: 4.7%
- Airlines: 3%
- Interactive media and services: 2.6%
However, it's worth noting that two of its top five holdings were restaurants:
- Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ): 4.9%.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill: 4.8%
It has a fairly reasonable expense ratio of 0.58%. Overall, the fund is a larger, more diversified way to invest in the entire entertainment and leisure industry rather than focusing solely on the expected growth in restaurant spending.
3. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund
3. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund allows investors to focus on the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 index. These companies depend on consumer spending. The ETF had more than 50 holdings in mid-2024 in the following industries:
- Specialty retail: 24%
- Broadline retail: 23.4%
- Hotels, restaurants, and leisure: 22%
- Automobiles: 18.9%
- Household durables: 5.1%
- Textiles, apparel, and luxury goods: 4.3%
- Distributors: 1.2%
- Auto components: 0.8%
- Leisure products: 0.2%
Because of its diversification, this ETF doesn't offer as much exposure to the restaurant sector as the other ETF options. However, it does count three in its top 10 holdings: McDonald's (4.6%), Starbucks (3.4%), and Chipotle Mexican Grill (2%).
On the plus side, this large ETF also boasts a low expense ratio of 0.09%, making it a low-cost way to invest in overall consumer spending growth, including restaurants.
Related investing topics
Many options for investing in restaurant stocks
Investors have limited restaurant ETF options since only one focuses on the sector, while others offer a more diversified approach that includes other consumer discretionary companies. Consequently, investors who want exposure to the restaurant industry need to decide which ETF best fits their approach. Another option to consider is creating your own restaurant ETF by investing small amounts in a basket of your favorite restaurant stocks. The general idea is to find the way you're most comfortable with investing in restaurant stocks.
