That's a great and very practical question. For a downtown restaurant district, the "most popular" size isn't a single answer, but rather a combination of bins used in a strategic system. The goal is balancing capacity, frequent service, pedestrian access, and aesthetics.
The workhorse on the sidewalk is typically a 30 to 50-gallon (approx. 110 to 190-liter) commercial-grade container. These are large enough to handle high foot traffic litter but small enough to be emptied multiple times per day by city crews or private waste services. You'll often see these paired as recycling and landfill units.
However, the real volume is handled out back. For individual restaurants, the most common sizes are 2 to 4 cubic yard dumpsters or compactors. A 2-yard bin is often the minimum for a single restaurant, but in a dense district, 4, 6, or even 8-yard containers are prevalent to accommodate the collective waste from food prep, packaging, and customer leftovers. These are serviced nightly or several times a week by private haulers.
The key trend is moving towards standardized, durable, and often aesthetically designed bins (around 40-50 gallons) for streetscapes to maintain cleanliness, paired with larger centralized collection points for back-of-house waste. The perfect size depends on local ordinance, collection frequency, and the specific density of the district. Ultimately, a successful system uses appropriately sized bins that are emptied *before* they overflow.