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?

First up, is the cavernous Italian restaurant called Circolo Populare just off London’s Oxford Street. This ‘Aladdin’s cave’ is French restaurant group Big Mamma’s second site in the UK and is dazzling. High ceilings hosting climbing plants and twinkling lights, and walls festooned with thousands of backlit booze bottles help to create a truly impressive sense of a bejewelled place. The sense of fun (and lack of restraint) is carried over into the menu, with listings such as I Wanna Nduja, Crab Me by the Paccheri and John Malkofish; and into the food & drink offer with over the top cocktails, metre-long pizzas and supersize sundaes.

Circolo Populare roughly translates as ‘People’s social club’, and with dish prices typically in the £6 to £16 range it has a broad accessibility and appeal to the mass market. Foodies might get a little stuffy about some dubious authenticity and provenance, but this misses the point. Circolo Populare is big and to an extent brassy, but crucially, it succeeds in being uplifting – and like all good restaurants, is restorative.

Staying in London, but on a wet and miserable Monday night, I was also taken aback by the crowds at Market Hall in Victoria. Here, over two floors several hundred diners were enjoying the convenience of an immediate and broad choice of global food delights, including curries, dim sum, fried chicken, gelateria, kebabs, pasta, pizza and tacos. The standard of vendors in this street-food destination is high, and have been carefully ‘curated’. Dish prices average around £8-£9, so are not especially expensive, though some might grumble about portion size.

Some more traditional types might also be critical of the food ordering and collection process, where you go up to your desired food counter, order and pay, and then take away a buzzer and await a vibrating sound. Yes, it can be disruptive to conversation and meal flow, but it ensures groups with different food tastes and preferences are kept happy. And for sure, it is difficult to argue with the hoardes of predominantly twenty-something year olds buying into the intensely casual, unstructured and democratic dining experience. If you were in any doubt of how consumers’ eating out behaviours are evolving, this is it.

Changing tack somewhat, and venturing out into commuter land, another star operator is the Ivy in Guildford. This all-day brasserie is skilfully playing to a more affluent (and older) audience, and capturing an impressive volume (and value) of business. The Castle View site is an attractively located and fitted out, all-day café/restaurant that is a welcome premium addition to the substantial, but largely mass middle market, stock of venues in the town. That said, while a few main dishes will add up to the best part of £40, there are several popular options around the £15 mark, not least the Fish & Chips, Burger & Chips and Shepherd’s Pie. These prices compare more directly with the abundance of more upmarket pubs in the area, but which do not compete to the same extent with the quality of service or ambience.

So how best to summarise? It is too easy to get downbeat. People still very much want to eat out and to socialise. But they want more. They want a sense of fun – and Circolo Populare provides this in buckets and with bells on. They want to eat on their own terms – and Market Hall (and others) facilitates this flexibility. And also, they want to be impressed, and are willing to pay more when the total value for money proposition across the food, the service and the environment, delivers a return on their time invested. Here the Ivy excels. These examples are by no means alone, but what they have in common, is serving as useful signposts to the directions of future market development.