Consumers’ appetite for dining out has grown significantly from six months ago, according to a new study from consumer research firm Market Force Information.  This is another great indication that the hospitality industry is strong and can survive anything the economy tends to throw at it.  Americans love food and love to eat out!

About 25 percent of the 4,600 respondents to a Market Force poll indicated that they plan to eat at restaurants more in the next three months than they did during the previous three months, compared with only 5 percent of consumers surveyed in December 2009.

Only 8 percent of respondents projected that they would eat at restaurants less than they did the past three months, compared with 52 percent who said so in December 2009, while two-thirds of consumers said their eating-out habits would stay the same, an improvement from the 44 percent who responded that way six months ago, according to Market Force.

The study indicating growing consumer hunger for dining out comes amid broader signs of a sluggish economic recovery. While the Department of Labor reported last week that the national unemployment rate fell from 9.7 percent in May to 9.5 percent in June, much of that decrease was attributed to 652,000 people dropping out of the labor force. Private employers added 83,000 jobs in June, while government payrolls decreased 125,000 after 225,000 census jobs were phased out.

The way restaurants attract those diners also is starting to change. Some of the industry’s biggest companies are shifting their marketing from aggressive traffic-driving deals to new products. For example, quick-service chains Subway and Taco Bell, which have long focused on value offerings, are looking to make in-roads at breakfast. Burger King pivoted from value offers like $1 double cheeseburgers to a limited-time offering of Fire-Grilled Ribs, a more premium product with a higher price point.

Many restaurants, especially those with limited bar space, are turning to tableside cocktail service to provide more customers with the hand-crafted drink experience.

Toby Maloney of Alchemy Consulting turned to an old-fashioned solution as he developed the bar program at New York’s Bar Seven Five, which does not have a standard bar setup.

Inspired by the cocktail service on the historical Pullman Company trains, in which bartenders created drinks and had them finished tableside, Maloney ordered custom-made cocktail caddies for Bar Seven Five.

“When you don’t have a bar itself, so much of the show and experience is the sound of the shaking drink, the look of it being poured into the glass,” Maloney said. “There’s something so very visceral, and that’s one of the great things about being able to do tableside service.”

If a customer orders a mojito at Bar Seven Five, Maloney explained, a bartender would bruise the mint and add ingredients for the drink and ice into a cobbler shaker. The shaker is placed into a caddy along with the necessary glassware and straw. The caddies also have special compartments that hold other accoutrements like beverage napkins and are designed in a way that everything can be carried one-handed to tables. The server then shakes and serves the mojito to the guest at the table.

Arby’s, which has struggled to drive sales in its restaurants, may extend its reach by offering branded products in grocery stores.

The 3,700-unit chain said Friday that it had signed a deal with Nancy Bailey & Associates Inc., an Atlanta licensing firm, to begin fielding offers to sell packaged Arby’s items on supermarket shelves.

Arby’s spokeswoman Kathy Seifert confirmed the chain would seek to sell its products in retail settings, but she declined to offer details on what would be sold. She noted that the brand previously had licensed its sauces for retail.

The leveraging of restaurant brands in the retail market can be lucrative for chains, earning millions of dollars and creating additional revenue streams, said Bill Cross, a vice president at Broad Street Licensing Group, which is not involved in the Arby’s deal.

Several restaurant concepts have entered the retail market or increased their grocery offerings as sales slowed in their dining room, including P.F. Chang’s, Burger King, California Pizza Kitchen, T.G.I. Friday’s, Jamba Juice and Starbucks.

Arby’s has had difficulty reversing falling sales, with parent company Arby’s/Wendy’s Group reporting an 11.5-percent dive in same-store sales at the roast beef chain for the April 4-ended first quarter.

In May, Wendy’s/Arby’s Group tapped industry veteran Hala Moddelmog as Arby’s new chief executive and charged her with executing a turnaround at the chain.

Separately last week, Wendy’s/Arby’s Group chairman Nelson Peltz disclosed that he had received an inquiry expressing interest in the acquisition of the fast-food company, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Peltz, whose Trian Fund Management LP owns 23.5 percent of the company, said he is considering the offer, which was made by an unnamed third party.