Revenge of the dish: Are we eating out more after Covid?

Revenge dining. You may have not heard of the term but you’re probably aware of the idea. It’s the theory that more people ate out at restaurants in 2022 following the end of lockdown restrictions as a result of not being able to for so long.

Opentable research published in January 2023 showed that seated dining numbers increased 50% between 2021 and 2022. They even increased 19% when compared with 2019 numbers.

Revenge dining is also a phenomenon seen in other countries. According to this article from Restaurant India from March 2022 some South Indian restaurants were seeing waiting lists of over an hour for breakfast as lockdown restrictions were lifted in the region.

It also found that cities such as Delhi and Kolkata were operating at nearly twice the capacity of March 2021 levels with smaller cities like Jaipur and Ludhiana operating at nearly 2.5 times more than February 2021 levels.

Questions can be asked about how likely it is to continue this year in the face of the cost of living crisis. We also need to consider what it is about eating out that makes us so desperate to get back to it as soon as possible?

We also should consider whether we could see another wave of revenge dining in the next year or so as the cost of living crisis eases and people have more of a chance to eat out.

Catering Today talks to UK Hospitality chief Kate Nichols and Arslan Sharif from Pizza Express about all this.

Does the data add up?

To start with we need to consider how accurate the Opentable data is. While the study and research methods are solid it does not mean that this translated to tangible results for restaurants.

However, when talking to Pizza Express it seems that these numbers do have some validity. “Post-pandemic we’ve seen a strong return from our customers who missed dining in at PizzaExpress with mates, dates or as a family. As well as busy restaurants, we’ve seen an increased take-up of our app, the Pizza Express Club, through this, 1.5m customers are now enjoying rewards every time,” says Arslan Sharif, digital and loyalty director at Pizza Express.

The data from Opentable and the viewpoint of Pizza Express is also one that is supported by Kate Nicholls from UK Hospitality.

She confirms: “We did see quite a lot of people go out and eat and drink out post Covid, only tempered by concerns around cost of living in sort of November time was when that first started to emerge. Certainly consumer sentiment is positive and people are retaining bookings”.

Will this trend continue?

There seems to be a level of confidence that this trend of increased dining out will continue even as people see their disposable income drop due to the cost of living crisis.

“I think what you’re seeing is a renewed passion and desire to go out, there is clearly pent up demand that comes when people have not been able to do that either through COVID, or to cost of living, we are seeing optimistic signs that demand is still remaining stronger than many people predicted as we go into the start of 2023,” adds Nicholls.

Why did this trend occur?

This begs the question not only why did people feel the need to eat out in such a big way following the relaxation of restrictions?But also why eating out is so important that many people will continue to prioritise it even when belts have to be tightened.?

Nichols believes that the answer is experience, more pointedly the experience of eating out with friends and family. She says that food brings us together and restaurants provide a good informal setting for people to come together. “A vending machine can give you a product, but only people and a good restaurant can give you that experience of going out and a special feeling that it is an event,” Nichols said.

Furthermore, it’s the experience that Nichols thinks restaurants must focus on as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. For her the key components are service and experience. Good food and good service as well as unique experience are what makes a restaurant thrive and those components are going to be very important as people have to make hard choices on how to spend their money.

Will it come back once the cost of living crisis eases?

There seems to be potential for revenge dining to pop up again even as the reaction to lockdown restrictions ending dissipates. We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis but at some point that will begin to ease similar to how lockdown restrictions did and once they do Nichols believes we may see a similar effect again.

“I think for many customers, this will be an everyday treat that they want to keep. And so I think once we do come through that if people’s personal circumstances change if confidence levels return, there’s no reason why you won’t see that boost again,” stated Nichols.

Overall it seems that eating out is an experience that many people are reluctant to give up, humans are social creatures after all and food and restaurants offer us a great way to connect with people. It therefore stands to reason that when we have that taken away from us, whether it be via a pandemic or economic crisis, we are desperate to get it back.