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Valentine’s Day dates are coming out of a pandemic rut.
Restaurant dining for Valentine’s Day in the U.S. is rebounding this year, with reservations up 30 percent compared to 2021, according to data from the reservation booking site OpenTable. This year trails only 2020 — just before the start of the pandemic — for the biggest Valentine’s date night of the past four years.
“We’re excited to see this momentum leading up to what has traditionally been one of the biggest dining days of the year for restaurants,” said Susan Lee, chief growth officer at OpenTable.
New Mexico led the nation with the largest increase in Valentine's Day reservations compared to last year, at 382 percent, followed by Oregon, where bookings rose 247 percent, and Washington state, at 102 percent. Idaho and Vermont are the only states with fewer reservations than last year, with bookings down 1 percent in Idaho and 38 percent in Vermont.