The report used Bookatable’s database of 800,000 dining customers to track the most popular of Britain’s restaurants between the period between July 2013 and June 2014.
It showed London to top the list of cities with the most restaurant bookings, with 52 per cent of the overall bookings made. This was followed by Birmingham, with 22 per cent of all bookings made, and Manchester, with 20 per cent.
Top ten most booked restaurants in the UK, July 2013 – June 2014
- Oxo Tower Brasserie, London
- Afternoon Tea at the Ritz, London
- The Rainforest Café, London
- Jamie’s Italian, Manchester
- Cloud 23, Manchester Deansgate
- Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse, Birmingham
- Alton Towers, Alton
- Jamie’s Italian, Birmingham
- Covent Garden Fire & Stone, London
- Miller & Carter, Birmingham
London’s Oxo Tower Brasserie took a 21 per cent share of the bookings made through the website, while Afternoon Tea at the Ritz took 13 per cent, and The Rainforest Café took 11 per cent, suggesting customers place a high importance on dining experience as well as food.
Chain restaurants also feature high in the results. Six Jamie’s Italian restaurants in Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Glasgow and Cardiff, made up a 58 per cent share of the ten most popular restaurants in the UK outside of the capital city.
Popular cuisine types
The report also looked at which type of cuisine is the most popular with Britons eating out. Italian food came in first, with a 31 per cent share of bookings in the ten most in demand food types. Scottish restaurants saw an increase in popularity which was likely linked with the Commonwealth Games, with a 33 per cent growth in popularity compared to the year before.
The cuisines that have grown in popularity the most include Tex Mex with 120 per cent growth abd Japanese food with a 95 per cent increase in popularity. South American restaurants grew in popularity by 61 per cent, likely due to the World Cup being held in Brazil.
Bookatable’s chief executive Joe Steele said: “Given the high increase in popularity of Tex Mex, Japanese and South American food, it’s fantastic to see that Britons are becoming even more experimental in the types cuisine they are trying, and this is undoubtedly thanks to international events such as the World Cup that are bringing different cultures closer together.”
