I am looking at it from a variety of Eater based blogs and when I combine it with WSJ, The Economist, and made from observations of eating in restaurants and talking to manager.

I use anecdotal samples, but how long will restaurants be able to support paying rent and the basics with low volume traffic.

Now the industry has one advantage over others! The failure rate is so high, that the churn will mean if things go barren, it should sprout back fast; however, if the DNC wins senate seats and things like $15/hr flows in, that might crimp things.

Couple that with taxes (remember $200K/$400K tax thresholds combined with insurance ... more regulatory costs will hit also.

If we can minimize the hits, then things will be ok. E.g. Texas may come out as an area of sustaining operations ...

I have lived in the Midwest and spent considerable time in the Bay Area, and have spent a bunch of time on the Road in Seattle and PA/NJ area also ...

That is the basis of observation