In this article, we take a close look at how the restaurant sector has done in 2023, exploring the top likes and dislikes of British consumers.
The coronavirus crisis and subsequent lockdowns may have put a temporary stop to dining out, but now that the world has opened up, restaurant visits are firmly on the menu once again.
A quick overview of the UK’s restaurant sector:
- In mid 2023, the total turnover of the UK’s eating out market reached a value of £95m.
- The top growth drivers in this industry were fast food, sandwich and bakery, and coffee shops (generally speaking, the quick-serve restaurant sector).
- Cafes and coffee shops are doing well even amid the cost of living crisis. Also performing well were supermarket cafes, with a 3% increase in market share.
- The fast food brand awareness ranking for 2023 shows McDonald's is still leading, but KFC and Burger King are quickly closing the gap with ratings of 96% and 95% respectively.
- UK consumers rated plant-based options in fast-food venues, getting Burger King top of the list, followed by Subway and McDonald's.
- The most popular restaurant brands were Greggs, JD Wetherspoon, and McDonald's.
- The average cost of fish and chips in the UK has gone up by a fifth in 2023, reaching £9.
- As in the previous year, food delivery company Just Eat was the most popular in the country with a 65% share vs. 51% by Deliveroo.
- Overall, the UK has the third biggest food delivery market in the world, behind China and the US.
How many restaurants are there in the UK?
According to the Office for National Statistics, in March 2023 there were 88,310 restaurants, cafes, bars, and pubs in the UK. This figure includes both licenced and unlicenced restaurants - that's approximately 1 food outlet for every 767 UK adults.
The market value of UK restaurants reached £18.7 billion in 2023, which is still below pre-pandemic levels, but reporting growth.
What are the UK's favourite and biggest restaurant chains?
Greggs, JD Wetherspoon, and McDonald's top the list of most popular fast-food chains in the UK.
As for the largest food chains, Co-op Food is the biggest by number of locations in the UK, followed by Greggs and Subway.
| Name | Number of UK locations 2023 |
|---|---|
| Co-op Food | 3762 |
| Greggs | 2406 |
| Subway | 2167 |
| McDonald's | 1428 |
| Starbucks | 1285 |
| JD Wetherspoon | 811 |
| Pizza Hut | 510 |
| Nando’s | 465 |
| Pizza Express | 340 |
| Ben & Jerry’s | 169 |
| Five Guys | 166 |
What are the most popular cuisines in the UK?
Approximately 92% of Brits interviewed had tried world cuisine during the first quarter of 2023, and 85% were interested in trying different options.
Italian food is still the country’s favourite with 18% of respondents choosing it above other options.
The UK's top 10 cuisines by search
When looking at online search figures, the top two most popular cuisines in the UK are still Indian and Italian, as in 2022.
Asian food is next, including Chinese, Japanese, and Thai restaurants.
| Type of restaurant | UK Average Monthly searches (Data from Feb 2024) |
|---|---|
| Indian | 301000 |
| Italian | 246000 |
| Chinese | 165000 |
| Thai | 74000 |
| Japanese | 90500 |
| Greek | 40500 |
| Vegan | 40500 |
| Mexican | 49500 |
| Lebanese | 27100 |
| Spanish | 18100 |
The most searched-for cuisines in the UK, based on data obtained from the tool https://searchvolume.io/
Hungry for more? Find out your city’s favourite cuisine
If we look at the top 10 most populous cities around the UK, Indian restaurants come out on top in most cases, with the exception of London, Edinburgh, and Manchester, where Italian food takes the top spot.
Across most large cities, the third favourite option when it comes to world cuisine is Chinese food.
| City | 1st most popular | 2nd most popular | 3rd most popular |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | Italian 33100 | Indian 18100 | Chinese 8100 |
| Birmingham | Indian 9900 | Italian 8100 | Chinese 4400 |
| Glasgow | Indian 14800 | Italian 8100 | Chinese 5400 |
| Liverpool | Indian 12100 | Italian 5400 | Chinese 4400 |
| Bristol | Indian 6600 | Italian 3600 | Chinese 2900 |
| Manchester | Indian 8100 | Italian 14800 | Chinese 3600 |
| Sheffield | Indian 3600 | Italian 2400 | Chinese 1300 |
| Leeds | Indian 6600 | Italian 1900 | Chinese 4400 |
| Edinburgh | Indian 9900 | Italian 14600 | Chinese 5400 |
| Leicester | Indian 6600 | Italian 3600 | Chinese 1000 |
The most searched-for cuisines in major cities in the UK, based on data obtained from the tool https://searchvolume.io/
Vegan and Korean restaurants gaining popularity
In 2023, Brits chose Korean food as the top world cuisine they wanted to try more of. Those surveyed also showed interest in West African, Irish and Filipino food, all of which are well represented in the country’s restaurants.
Vegan restaurants continue to be popular. The most vegan-friendly UK cities are London with 175 restaurants, Manchester with 30, Brighton with 24, Bristol with 22, and Edinburgh with 16.
What about good old fish and chips?
According to the National Federation of Fish Friers, one in five (22%) of people visit a fish and chip restaurant or takeaway at least once a week, and 80% do so once a year.
Despite being an all-time favourite, social discussions about fish and chips were down by more than 34% in 2023. This could be due to the increasing price of the average fish and chips serving, which is now up to £9.
Takeaway and food delivery trends
Food delivery companies continue to grow in popularity following the boom of 2020 and 2021. Last year’s data show the following ranking (based on monthly data obtained from the tool https://searchvolume.io/):
- Just Eat receives approximately 6,120,000 average online searches every month.
- Deliveroo also gets a significant search volume, with approximately 1,220,000 searches.
- Third in the list is Uber Eats with more than 820,000 searches every month.
Takeaway food has always been popular in the UK. However, KPGM research shows a slight change in how takeaways are ordered. In 2023, traditional phone calls were increasingly replaced by apps or other forms of digital ordering among Brits aged 25-34, especially in the North West of England, London and Scotland.
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