The rise of the 6pm dinner: the end of days?

Early restaurant reservations are rising in the UK but is this post-pandemic efficiency or a US-led wellness trend?

Group of girlfriends having breakfast together on the patio
Working from home has made late dining inconvenient
(Image credit: Maria Korneeva / Getty Images)

"In case more evidence was needed of the death of civilisation," said Ed Cumming in The Telegraph, "a boom in 'early dining' is reported."

According to online reservation platform OpenTable, 6pm bookings are up 11% year on year in London, and 6% across the country. "Worse still", 5pm bookings in London are up 10% year on year – "presumably for diners eating with their nursery-aged children". While some find the trend hard to swallow, the new appetite for early dinner is clear.

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.