Time to scale back on food in pubs

When the smoking ban came into force in 2007, one of the biggest impacts was the widespread move by pub operators to introduce food into pubs that had previously never ventured further into the realm of selling solids than offering crisps and peanuts.

It was a revolutionary period that made the once smoky, boozy environments much more attractive to women and families, and the food undoubtedly proved a revenue-boosting boon for those venues able to add kitchens and recruit capable chefs. It certainly helped further fuel the gastropub phenomenon that continues to this day.

There have been a plethora of food-focused pubs opening in recent years that have done incredibly well – off the top of my head, in London, there’s The Public House Group, the guys behind The Tamil Prince, the team at The Baring and the JKS-backed pubs – but what marks these places out is that they are all independent co-owned/joint-ventures with proven chefs locked in that makes them dining destinations. 

Meanwhile the undifferentiated brands and pub companies with less attractive, template-driven menus are coming under severe pressure. Although the overall number of licensed premises in the UK remained flat across 2024 (something of a result), the food pub category suffered a fall of 3.2%. It was offset by growth of 5.9% in the drinks-led bars category, according to CGA by NIQ.

A lot of structural and behavioural changes have taken place in the 18 years since the smoking ban, most notably in recent years, the ongoing increases in the cost of operating. The upshot is that for the first time since the legislation came into force, the near-wholesale shift by pubs across the country into operating kitchens needs to be seriously reassessed.

One experienced pub company managing director suggested that any regular-sized suburban pub doing less than £6,000 in weekly food sales should consider whether this is a viable way to operate. Back-of-a-fag-packet calculations might put the cost of goods at around £1,500, wages at £2,000, utilities and other costs adding another £1,000, along with the various other onerous charges that are creeping in, which makes the amount of money made insufficient for the effort involved. 

Is it, therefore, time to have a strategic rethink about the model at many pubs? Maybe it is time for the pub companies to systematically run through their portfolios and strip out the food offer where it no longer stacks up financially. The argument against pulling back from food is obviously that custom would fall and thereby impact drink sales, thus inflicting serious damage on the business. JD Wetherspoon has long been clear that its food offer is what keeps the drinks flowing at the necessary volumes across its many venues. 

There is an alternative route, of course, and it is the bar snack. My favourite pubs are invariably drink-led venues run by operators such as Grace Land, Thornbridge and Pivovar, Bloomsbury Leisure and Barworks, before it was bought by Urban Pubs & Bars. They cleverly supplement their top-notch drinks offers with more snack-focused food offerings. You can find menus of pizza, cheese toasties, pies, gyozas and other easier-to-prepare offerings that suit the individual pubs.

Such has been the impact of cost increases on pub food that I have taken to ordering a batch of starters/snacks when dining out with my family. Taking eight starters/snacks at £6-£8 apiece works out much better than four mains at £20-£25 each. There’s plenty to share, lots of variety, and it is cost efficient. I cannot be the only person who has recalibrated how they approach food in pubs.

The much-loved Southampton Arms in Gospel Oak, north London, is renowned for its beer and cider range along with its concise snack menu, which it has replicated at its new pub, The Pocket, in Highbury. We are talking Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, Scotch eggs, vegan rolls and various pork pies. This offering can be undertaken without chefs, expensive kitchen facilities, and complex things like extraction systems. 

A similar offering is also available at many Young’s pubs, and it is doing brisk trade, I’m informed. It runs this bar snacks menu alongside its fully-fledged bill of fare, but maybe it should be bold and jettison its full offer and simply run the snack-only option at certain venues. 

If we are set to be in a harsher cost landscape for the foreseeable future, then some tough decisions need to be made about their food propositions by all pub companies that are running expensive kitchens for possibly questionable returns.

Glynn Davis, editor of Beer Insider 

This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Beer Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.