OpenTable: Brits plan more 'micro occasions' in 2027
The reservation platform's 2027 Dining Trends Report finds Brits eating out more often, waiting less for tables, and marking small wins with a meal.
Britons plan to eat out as often or more often in 2027, but they want less queuing and more reason to feel the booking was worth it, according to OpenTable's 2027 Dining Trends Report.
UK diners now eat out about five times a month on average, rising to nine times among Gen Z, the report found. Bookings made through OpenTable at UK restaurants rose 10% year on year in 2026, and reservations for groups of six or more climbed 18%. Growth was sharpest outside London: bookings rose 87% in Nottingham, 60% in Sheffield and 22% in Edinburgh.
Patience for tables is shrinking
Shorter queues, smaller excuses to book — 2027 is shaping up as the year of the micro occasion.
Diners are also less willing to wait. The average time Britons said they would queue for a table fell from 29 minutes in 2025 to 22 minutes in 2026, and 67% said they would rather eat somewhere else than stand in line. At the same time, 62% said they were more drawn to a restaurant when a booking felt exclusive or hard to get.
Younger diners are driving much of the shift. Some 36% of 14 to 29-year-olds want to become a regular at a restaurant in 2027, against 21% of Britons overall, citing convenience, support for local businesses and loyalty perks as their main reasons.
A meal to mark small wins
The report's other theme is what OpenTable calls "micro occasions": meals booked to mark small, everyday moments rather than set-piece celebrations. Reuniting with friends or family was the top reason, cited by 30% of diners, ahead of treating themselves (25%) and celebrating good news (20%). 68% expect to mark these smaller moments at restaurants as often or more often next year.
"For restaurants, it's not just about attracting diners through the door," said Sasha Shaker, OpenTable's senior director for the UK and Ireland, "but creating the kind of experience that keeps them coming back." Demand for live entertainment and more experiential dining featured too, with 30% and 27% of diners respectively saying either would get them out more, a pattern already visible in restaurants investing in their booking technology and in a year when London itself is opening and closing restaurants at a record pace.
