What does it take for a restaurant to prosper in 2019?

”Diner forced to wait in restaurant shock!” Okay, I exaggerate to make a point, but in these continuing times of negative news feeds – Brexit shenanigans, slowing economic growth, weakening consumer confidence, restaurant CVAs, falling profits, chronic indebtedness, etc. – you could be forgiven for thinking we are locked into a vicious circle of decline. And yet, literally over the past two weeks, I have had three eating out experiences where all the tables were taken and the tills were thumping. What does this tell us and what insights can be gleaned?