First Restaurants of Britain: A Brief History

Eating out today can mean anything from a quick bite at our local pub to fine dining in a fancy restaurant. But in Britain, the idea of dining out as an activity took centuries to develop. The story of the first restaurants of Britain is an interesting one, intertwined with revolution, war, and social shifts.

French Chefs and the First British Restaurants

The word restaurant comes from 18^th-century Paris, where establishments served “restorative” broths to the unwell or weary (hence the name).

The idea of a dedicated food establishment with a menu, waiters, and individual tables really took off in France in the late 1700s – bringing with it a whole new style of dining.

The first restaurants of Britain arguably appeared towards the end of the 18^th century, largely due to the chaos of the French Revolution. As French chefs fled political unrest, they brought with them not just skills, but a whole new concept of eating – including the concept of a menu!

William Sitwell, in The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out, writes that London “benefitted from the French Revolution in the same way Paris had”– with French chefs setting up shop in the capital.

One of the earliest examples was Vauxhall Gardens in the 1780s, often cited as one of the first French-style restaurants to open in London. But this novelty of dining out remained firmly in the domain of the aristocracy. Curator Danielle Thom of the Museum of London notes that “the food and drink on offer at Vauxhall Gardens was so notoriously expensive, and of such limited quality, that it became a standing joke among regular visitors.”

 

So yes, restaurants existed, but they were neither accessible nor particularly pleasant.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution (roughly 1760-1840) is where eating out began for the working classes- not as a leisure activity, but a necessity. With workers moving to cities and spending long hours in factories, the need for affordable meals close to work arose.

Before the concept of the restaurant took hold, eating out in Britain usually meant heading to:

• Taverns and Inns  – ideal for tradesmen and travellers. They offered food, drink, lodging, and a fair amount of rowdy cheer. An example of this is Simpson’s Tavern (est. 1757, City of London) and is still operating today! Or how about The Albion Tavern (early 1800s, Aldersgate Street, London) – had a reputation for serving elaborate meals to city gentleman.
• Chop Houses – catering largely to male workers and professionals. They offered hearty, meat-based meals like mutton chops and steaks. These were inexpensive and filling, often served in a communal setting.
• Street Food Vendors and Pie Shops – hot pies, eel stew, bread and dripping. Often the only accessible source of nourishment during long shifts. Dining was utilitarian, not atmospheric.

Sitwell again notes that “as the Industrial Revolution took hold… many found themselves eating away from home, by necessity.” These early eateries weren’t about ambiance or experience. Interior design, if it existed at all, was little more than the odd tablecloth and a flickering candle.

Historian Rebecca Spang, in The Invention of the Restaurant, explains that early restaurant-owners marketed restorative broths to customers with “weak and delicate chests”, essentially turning food into medicine. The first restaurants weren’t about indulgence. They were functional, restorative, and designed to keep the workforce going.

So while the Industrial Revolution didn’t immediately introduce “restaurants” as we know them, it did give rise to a culture of eating out, laying the groundwork for the restaurant culture that would come later.

Victorian Tea Rooms and Respectable Spaces

Enter the Victorians – The 19^th century saw further transformation in British dining culture as the middle class expanded and industrialisation reshaped everyday life. We saw tearooms, coffee houses and department store cafes emerging.

But why did this happen? Three words: Women, women, women!

So far, eating out had been for the working men (think public houses and taverns) and aristocracy (think monocles and gentleman’s clubs). But as more middle-class women moved into public life – as workers, shoppers, educators, and campaigners – they needed respectable spaces where they could eat, meet, and chat without raising eyebrows.

• Fortnum & Mason and Harrods began integrating cafes into their stores to keep shoppers lingering longer
• Entrepreneurs such as J. Lyons & Co. seized the chance to scale dining through chains that offered reliable service, attractive interiors, and affordable menus. (Their first tea shop opened in Piccadilly in 1894 and quickly expanded, setting the template for modern high-street dining. )

In short, Victorian tearooms were a response to deeper societal changes:

• Urbanisation
• The emergence of a consumer-driven middle class
• The shifting roles of women in public life.

As one might gather from Victorian etiquette guides:

“A lady may enter a tearoom, but never alone to a chop house.”

But these oh so British tearooms had distinct international roots. Their very existence hinged on a global supply chain – most notably the tea itself, which came from China (and later India), courtesy of the British Empire.

Even the décor reflected the eastern influence: chinoiserie patterns, bamboo trims, oriental touches lent these spaces a sense of worldly sophistication. So while Victorian tearooms symbolised a polite society and progressive spaces for women, they were also heavy with Asia’s influence, both culturally and commercially.

The rise of the tearoom even spilled into popular culture – Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) famously featured a chaotic tea party, playfully poking at the rituals and formality that were fast becoming a national obsession.

Hotel Dining and the Arrival of Fine Dining

While tea rooms brought respectability to public dining, the grand hotels of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries introduced something else entirely: Glamour

Hotels such as The Langham (opened in 1865) and The Savoy (opened in 1889) set the stage for Britain’s first experiences of fine dining as we know it today. These weren’t just places to eat, they were about status. Silver service, ornate chandeliers, menus written entirely in French – these are just a few things you could expect to experience.

The arrival of the railway had a huge part to play in the opening of such hotels. With train travel booming, major cities became more accessible, and luxury hotels seized to opportunity to cater to wealthy travellers.

The Savoy, in particular, was a game-changer. Under the direction of Cesar Ritz and culinary icon August Escoffier introduced the British public to a la carte menus, individual tables, and the idea of dinner as an elegant dining experience. As one guest put it at the time:

“To dine at The Savoy was to enter a world where the butter was soft, the champagne cold, and the lighting just right for flattery.”

Dining became a theatrical experience – complete with perfect service, orchestras, and the rise of the celebrity chef. These restaurants helped define modern fine dining in Britain – but yet again, the experience remained purely for the elite.

British Restaurants and Wartime Hospitality

Fast forward to early 20^th century and eating out was still far from commonplace – that is until the war effort changed everything.

British Restaurants launched in 1940. These government-subsidised communal kitchens were designed to serve affordable meals to people bombed out of their homes, short on ration coupons, or otherwise in need. They weren’t really restaurants as we know them, but they did feed the nation.

At their peak, thousands of British Restaurants operated across the country. Run by local councils and supported by charity groups, they were practical but also subtly radical. They normalised eating in public for the masses.

Sitwell writes that British Restaurants “signified one of the vast social changes forged in the war years: the normalisation of eating away from home.” Social historian John Burnett supports this, noting that eating out, once “restricted to a privileged minority” had now become part of everyday life.

Dining Meets Design

In wartime more than ever, atmosphere matters. British Restaurants recognised this, and there was an intentional effort to create cheerful, welcoming environments.

Take the Byrom Restaurant in Liverpool, for instance, which featured glass globes hanging from the ceiling, colourfully painted walls, and patterned floors. Young architectural assistant Tom Mellow even designed wall murals to set a “keynote of bright cheerfulness,” according to the Liverpool Echo.

In London, Lady Elizabeth Clark led a campaign to improve the visual appeal of British Restaurants, borrowing artwork from national collections and commissioning original murals. As Lord Woolton noted in 1943:

“It has been proved that art is an aid to appetite.” And honestly, who can argue with that?

Immigration and Innovation

Wartime wasn’t the only force shaping UK dining. From the 1950s, waves of immigration began to redefine the British restaurant scene and the very idea of what a restaurant could be

• Italian cafes and ice cream parlours
• Jewish bakeries and salt beef bars
• Indian curry houses
• Chinese takeaways

These establishments made eating out more diverse, more informal, and more embedded in daily life (especially on the British high street). Many of them also acted as cultural anchors, serving communities and introducing British diners to global cuisine, long before it was a hashtag.

The Evolution Continues

By the time British Restaurants closed in 1957, the habit of eating out had taken hold. Though their funding ended, the public appetite for social dining remained. This isn’t just for food, but for the experience of dining away from home.

Sitwell sums it up best: “The desire and need for the experience was considerably more complicated than hunger alone.”

Too right.

What’s Next?

Of course, this is just the beginning.

The history of eating out in Britain is layered and ongoing. From the rise of Edwardian hotel dining, the explosion of café culture in the 1950s – to the gastro pub boom, motorway service stops, and much, much more.

We haven’t even scratched the surface on how restaurants continue to reflect the social, political, and cultural change in society – or how restaurants became a canvas for interior design.

And what about peoples growing knowledge of food? This has massively influenced how, where, and why we eat out. (and is one of the biggest drivers behind shifts in dining culture over the last 50 years – especially in Britain, where food was once unfairly dismissed as “all boiled cabbage and overcooked meat”).

We’ve got plenty more to delve into for future blogs, so keep checking in!