Just as the nation's economic forecast includes mixed signals, restaurants across the U.S. face a varied landscape of expected trends in 2012.

Buoyed by stronger same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index topped the 100 mark in September for the first time in three months.

Food trucks are one of the hottest trends in the restaurant industry right now, and consumers are showing increasing interest in mobile foodservice, new research by the National Restaurant Association ( www.restaurant.org ) confirms.

Bolstered by solid improvements in same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the outlook for the restaurant industry continued to strengthen in March.

As consumers become more confident and increase spending, the restaurant industry is well positioned to begin growing in 2011.

Sausage may have the dollar menu at McDonald’s to thank for its resilience last year. Savvy breakfast eaters could find sausage biscuits, burritos and McMuffins at their local drive-throughs, and other fast-food and quick-serve restaurants (QSR) — including a surprising rebound from pizza restaurants — offered more low-priced options.

Consumers have had to modify many aspects of their lives over the last two years, and their dining habits have been no exception. More people are preparing meals at home

An economic turnaround will help prevent next year from being one to forget. The year 2010 saw more brown-bag