UK diners spend £95 more each time they eat out locally

UK diners who spend money beyond their bill when eating out locally spend an average of £95.20 on nearby shops, bars and other businesses, according to OpenTable's 2026 Restaurant Impact Report, published on 30 September.

More than half, 56%, of UK diners said they had spent money at other businesses the last time they ate out, whether on parking, a pre-dinner drink or a stop at a nearby shop. The figure rises with age: Gen Z diners spend £126 on average beyond the bill, Millennials £118.

A ripple effect restaurants can measure

A restaurant's real contribution to a high street rarely shows up on its own till receipt.

Restaurant staff see the same pattern from the other side. Just over half, 51%, of hospitality workers surveyed said their own restaurant visibly drives footfall or spending at businesses nearby, a claim the report frames as evidence that one booking supports several.

Restaurants contribute £44 billion a year to the UK economy and employ 1.3 million people, figures OpenTable cites to argue that a closed restaurant costs a high street more than its own takings. The report pairs that economic case with a social one: 98% of diners surveyed called local restaurants important to their community, and 53% said they would miss the atmosphere if a favourite closed.

No-shows are falling, slowly

The same report tracks the opposite problem, bookings that never show up. UK no-show rates fell 6% year on year, a trend OpenTable links to wider use of deposits, card holds and automated reminders; restaurants using deposits saw no-shows drop 60% globally this year.

Gen Z remains the least reliable group at the table despite spending the most around it: 57% of Gen Z reservation-holders admitted to having missed a booking without cancelling at least once, against an industry-wide average a single no-show restaurant staff estimate costs roughly £55.70 in lost revenue, the same generation whose extra spending the report highlights as the most valuable to local businesses.

Both numbers sit inside a market already adjusting its habits around eating out, as chains elsewhere in hospitality have cut locations this year even as independent restaurants report diners spending more around each visit.