While there has been a rise in new openings, the number of restaurant closures also more than doubled in the first half of the year.
London’s West End was home to over a quarter (26%) of all new restaurant openings in the capital in the first half of the year.
Of the 137 restaurants that launched doors across the city, 35 were in the WC and W1 postcodes, according to data compiled by food and drink website Hot Dinners and real estate consultancy Robert Irvings Burn.
High-profile openings have included Jeremy King’s Arlington in the former Le Caprice site, and Michel Roux’s Chez Roux at the Langham London.
Gavin Hanly, co-founder of Hot Dinners, said that although the West End continues to attract the “biggest names in the business”, other locations such as the City or Canary Wharf, “are seeing more high-profile openings than ever”.
The proportion of new openings in the east London areas of Shoreditch, Hoxton and the City has risen from 4% in the first half of 2023, to 10% this year, and accounted for 10% of all new restaurant openings.
Antony Antoniou, chief executive of Robert Irvings Burn, said a restaurant “will often live or die due to its location”
He added: “London’s restaurant scene has proven remarkably resilient in the face of economic headwinds, which has sustained demand for Grade A commercial space in prime central areas such as Mayfair and Marylebone.
“However, the majority of new openings (52%) have been outside of the key premium hotspots such as Mayfair. The high rents in these [prime central London] locations are pricing out many of the new restaurants and leading businesses to pursue a different strategy, with some targeting the more residential working from home and weekend trade.”
Overall, the number of new restaurant openings in London has risen 6% compared to last year.
However, there has also been surge of closures in the first half of 2024, with 33 prominent restaurants closing their doors, compared to just 14 in the same period in 2023.
Image: Shutterstock