The New York City Restaurant Industry is one of the City's most important and least-studied sectors. To increase public awareness and explore options for raising standards in this important industry, ROC-NY and the New York City Restaurant Industry Coalition continues to conduct groundbreaking research and engage the public in dialogue about the state of the industry, and its impact on working conditions, economic development, public health, and more.

On January 25th, 2005, ROC-NY convened the First Annual Restaurant Industry Summit to disseminate the findings of its ground-breaking report, Behind the Kitchen Door: Pervasive Inequality in New York's Thriving Restaurant Industry. Over 250 people, including elected officials, restaurant owners, and workers, gathered to discuss these important findings. Read a copy of Behind the Kitchen Door: Pervasive Inequality in New York's Thriving Restaurant Industry.

 On March 31, 2009, ROC-NY held a New York City Restaurant Industry Summit on Race and Gender at Craftsteak Restaurant, where it released the findings of its study on race and gender discrimination in New York City's highest profile, fine-dining restaurants.  In this study, ROC-NY sent teams of equally qualified "testers," who differed only with respect to race and ethnicity, to over 180 fine-dining Manhattan restaurants.  Here we were able to observe differences in treatment between white applicants and applicants of color. Over 260 people attended the summit to learn about the results of these long-anticipated findings. Read a copy of The Great Service Divide: Occupational Segregation & Inequality in the New York City Restaurant Industry at http://www.rocunited.org/files/GREATSERVICEDIVIDE.PDF

On September 11th, 2009, ROC-United and ROC-NY jointly released Burned: High Risks and Low Benefits for Workers in the New York City Restaurant Industry. Funded by the National Insititute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of NIH, the study explored occupational safety and health conditions for New York City restaurant workers, and their impact on the public health. The study was based on 500 surveys of restaurant workers, 40 employer interviews, 10 worker focus groups, and ergonomic assessments made at COLORS, ROC-NY's worker-owned restaurant.

On July 7, 2010, ROC-NY released Waiting On Equality: The Role and Impact of Gender in the New York City Restaurant Industry. Based on focus groups with female restaurant workers, government data analysis, and analysis of previous ROC worker surveys, this report outlined the various forms of intense gender discirmination faced by female restaurant workers in New York City. The report was released at La Palapa, a woman-owned 'high road' restuarant owner partner of ROC-NY.