After a tough year for the restaurant industry, executives can’t wait for 2025 to start.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for ’24 to be behind us, and I think ’25 is going to be a great year,” Kate Jaspon, CFO of Dunkin’ parent Inspire Brands, said at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas this week.

Restaurant bankruptcy filings have soared more than 50% so far in 2024, compared with the year-ago period. Traffic to restaurants open at least a year declined year over year in every month of 2024 through September, according to data from industry tracker Black Box Intelligence. And many of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, from McDonald’s to Starbucks, have disappointed investors with same-store sales declines for at least one quarter.

But green shoots have appeared, fueling tepid optimism for the future of the restaurant industry.

Sales are improving from this summer’s lows. Traffic to fast-food restaurants rose 2.8% in October compared with a year ago, according to data from Revenue Management Solutions. The firm’s data confirms anecdotal evidence from companies like Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International, which said earlier this month that its same-store sales grew in October.

Plus, interest rates are finally falling. Earlier in November, the Federal Reserve approved its second consecutive rate cut. For restaurants, lower interest rates mean that it’s cheaper to finance new locations, fueling growth. Previously, higher interest rates didn’t hurt development much because restaurants were still catching up from pandemic delays and riding the high of the post-Covid sales boom.

At burger chain Shake Shack, higher interest rates in the last few years did not slow down development, according to CFO Katie Fogertey. But she’s expecting a “big boost” in consumer confidence as rates fall.

“If credit becomes cheaper, people feel like they can borrow more, even though it doesn’t make sense that it would necessarily drive a $5 burger spend. It’s just the psychology behind it,” Fogertey told CNBC.

Shake Shack has reported increasing same-store sales every quarter so far this year, even as consumers have been more cautious.

Restaurant valuations are also improving, prompting hope that the market for initial public offerings will finally defrost.

“We’re working with a number of different folks right now on getting ready,” said Piper Sandler managing director Damon Chandik at RFDC. “The window currently is not wide open … I think that just with the traffic pressure that we’ve been seeing across the industry, the bar is particularly high.”

He added that he expects to see some restaurant IPOs next year, hopefully in the first half.

No major restaurant company has gone public since Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava’s IPO in June of last year. While Cava’s stock has climbed more than 500% since its debut, its success hasn’t encouraged any other large private restaurant companies to take the plunge. Instead, the broader market conditions have scared off other contenders.

Nearly a year ago, Panera Bread confidentially filed to go public again, but an IPO hasn’t yet come to fruition. Inspire Brands, which is owned by private equity firm Roark Capital, is another likely candidate for a blockbuster IPO in the future. Inspire’s portfolio includes Dunkin’, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Sonic, Arby’s and Baskin-Robbins.

Still, it’s not all optimism within the industry.

“I think we’ll still see headwinds next year within the macro and within the industry,” Portillo’s CFO Michelle Hook told CNBC.

The fast-casual chain, best known for its Italian beef sandwiches, has reported falling same-store sales for three straight quarters. Portillo’s has stayed away from some of the discounts offered by others in the restaurant industry, like McDonald’s and Chili’s.

The value wars will likely continue into 2025, pressuring restaurants’ profits and intensifying the competition between chains. For example, McDonald’s plans to unveil a broader value menu in the first quarter, after extending its $5 value meal through the summer and into the winter. For some restaurants, the looming threat of bankruptcy hasn’t disappeared, particularly for the chains that are leaning on discounts to win back customers.

And while a recession looks unlikely next year, the consumer might take longer to bounce back from years of high costs than anticipated.

Burger King and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands have pulled onions from select restaurants following an E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s.

“As we continue to monitor the recently reported E. coli outbreak, and out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed fresh onions from select Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants,” a Yum Brands spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. “We will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food.”

Yum did not specify how many of its restaurants are included in the measure.

It comes after restaurant supplier U.S. Foods on Wednesday issued a recall notification for four onion products produced by Taylor Farms. It is unclear if Yum removed the onions from select locations in response to the recall.

Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King is removing onions from 5% of its U.S. restaurants after reviewing its supply chain and determining those onions originated at the Taylor Farms Colorado facility at the center of the recall.

The burger chain said it only uses whole, fresh onions. Its employees cut, peel, wash and slice the onions at its restaurants.

“Despite no contact from health authorities and no indications of illness, we proactively asked our 5% of restaurants who received whole onions distributed by this facility to dispose of them immediately two days ago and we are in the process of restocking them from other facilities,” a Burger King spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

U.S. Foods does not distribute onions for McDonald’s restaurants, and the company has not publicly named Taylor Farms as a supplier. Taylor Farms has not responded to CNBC’s request for comment.

Health authorities are currently investigating the source of the E. coli outbreak, which has led to one death and 49 confirmed cases across 10 states, including Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has interviewed 18 people, 14 of whom remember eating a Quarter Pounder burger from McDonald’s, as of Tuesday.

In response to the outbreak, McDonald’s has pulled Quarter Pounders from roughly a fifth of its U.S. restaurants. The investigation has honed in on two ingredients in the burgers: the fresh beef patties and slivered onions.

McDonald’s said the affected restaurants all source onions from a single facility, which washes and slices the onions. Its beef patties, on the other hand, come from multiple suppliers in the region. If cooked according to internal standards, the temperature would kill any E. coli in the patty.

— CNBC’s Kate Rogers contributed reporting for this story.

The hottest food and drink trend this year isn’t just spicy — it’s also sweet.

“Swicy,” a portmanteau of sweet and spicy, has taken over restaurant marketing. While the term hasn’t actually appeared on menus, the shorthand has become a popular way to describe the resurgence of foods and drinks marrying sweet and spicy flavors. The Food Institute even dubbed it the “Summer of Swicy” this year.

Nearly 10% of restaurant menus have “sweet and spicy” items, up 1.8% over the last 12 months, according to market research firm Datassential. Over the next four years, its menu penetration is expected to rise 9.6%.

A slew of restaurant chains have embraced the trend, from Shake Shack’s swicy menu to Burger King’s Fiery Strawberry & Sprite to Starbucks’ Spicy Lemonade Refreshers. Common menu items have paired fruity flavors and chili powder, or used sauces like hot honey and gochujang, a red chili paste that’s a popular Korean condiment.

Although the menu items were largely only available for a limited time, culinary experts think that the swicy trend has staying power.

Buzzy, trendy menu items are more important now to restaurants, which are leaning on both discounts and innovation to attract diners and reverse declining sales. In August, traffic to U.S. restaurants fell 3.6%, the industry’s second-worst monthly performance this year since January, according to Black Box Intelligence. Limited-time menu items are particularly attractive to Gen Z customers, a key demographic because they account for roughly a fifth of Americans.