Predicting trends in the restaurant sector is a fool’s errand. One can’t merely just pick trends that are already having an impact - weight loss drugs, protein-rich dishes, low-and-no drinks, sustainability (again) - and trying to understand what’s actually going to take hold and what’s not in such a capricious market as food and drink is no mean feat.
But here at Restaurant we’ve put our heads together and have done it anyway. Below are 11 trends that we think will shape the dining out sector in 2026. Don’t say we didn’t warn you...
Fat patties
In 2025, barely a week went by without someone – invariably in a trucker cap – launching a new smashburger concept. The style has its place, of course: cheaper cuts, fast cooking, big flavour, all very sensible given current beef prices. But somewhere along the way, patties got so thin they started to feel more like an aesthetic choice than actual food (on a recent visit to one particularly hyped opening, the ‘burger’ was closer to a pane of glass than a patty, requiring heroic quantities of sauce to remain edible). In 2026, expect a quiet rebellion. More operators are going old-school, championing thicker, more substantial patties that can be cooked lighter and let good beef do the talking. The fightback is already underway: Jackson Boxer’s Dove in Notting Hill serves a burger made with 50-day dry-aged grass-fed beef, crisped on the outside, beautifully pink within, smothered in melted Gorgonzola (albeit in very limited numbers) and Finsbury Park favourite The Plimsoll delivers a juicy cheeseburger with rich, bistro-style toppings. Outside of London, burgeoning brand The Beefy Boys allows diners to opt for a thick patty as well as a smashed one, and Manchester’s Bar Shrimp offers stunningly good value with a pleasingly curvaceous Dexter beef patty. Just don’t mistake this for a return to the dark days of towering, jaw-dislocating burgers that require a knife and fork (we’re looking at you, Tom Kerridge).
Hojicha becomes the new matcha
Matcha went mainstream last year, with the divisive luminous green powder delivering a meaningful boost to sales and profits for UK coffee chains including Harris + Hoole, Black Sheep Coffee, and Blank Street. Once the preserve of wellness cafés and niche independents, matcha muscled its way onto the high street via social media, iced formats and ever-more-experimental flavour pairings (with a little help, perhaps, from Hollywood’s fondness for all things green following the launch of Wicked). But operators are already eyeing the next upgrade. Step forward hojicha: a Japanese roasted green tea made by firing sencha or bancha leaves over charcoal, turning them reddish-brown and giving them a naturally sweet, nutty, caramel-like flavour with gentle smoky notes. Crucially, hojicha offers what matcha cannot – a dramatically lower caffeine hit, at around 10 mg per serving compared with matcha’s 60 mg-plus. That gap has positioned hojicha as an evening-friendly alternative to coffee, helping operators trade later into the evening. Like matcha, it can be served as a latte or – as is more traditional in Japan – as loose leaves steeped in hot water. It’s also well-suited to cold preparations.
2026: the year of the comeback?
A string of high-profile chefs and restaurateurs have chosen 2026 in which to make their comeback. Chief among them is Jamie Oliver, who is partnering with Prezzo owner Brava Hospitality Group to revive his once-loved-later-reviled Jamie’s Italian brand. The franchise deal could see the casual dining brand – which collapsed in 2019 – re-emerge as a serious high-street player, with scope for up to 40 sites over an initial 10-year period. Sticking with Italian concepts, Charlie Mellor, creator of The Laughing Heart, is making a welcome return to the London scene with Osteria Vibrato. Named after his former career as an opera singer, the restaurant will see Mellor team up with sommelier Cameron Dewar and chef Gaia Enria. Given the cult following of Hackney’s Laughing Heart, which closed in 2022, Mellor’s new project is one to watch closely. Two US chefs are also making renewed bids for London. New York-based Jody Williams brought Buvette to Notting Hill during the pandemic, but the timing proved ill-fated and the restaurant quietly closed. This spring, she will relaunch the concept in Covent Garden’s Neal’s Yard as an 80-cover, all-day ‘gastrothèque’. Meanwhile, Daniel Boulud will cross the Atlantic once again to open Café Boulud at Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch. Positioned as a high-end, all-day dining destination offering breakfast and afternoon tea alongside lunch and dinner, the opening follows the successful 10-year run of Bar Boulud at Mandarin Oriental Knightsbridge, which closed in 2021.
Dirty Soda
When the CEO of McDonald’s says he expects there to be a lot of beverage innovation in the QSR sector this year you take note, but you don’t need a crystal ball to have seen that drinks have become big business in the sector over the past few years thanks to the popularity of a certain green tea mixed with all sorts of other ingredients. KFC has already made inroads, rolling out it Gen Z focused Kwench range that includes options such as the Caramel Krunch Shake, Coconut Mango Shake, Iced Caramel Koffee, and hot honey mango lemonades, and Cherry Poppin’ and Watermelon Poppin’ Refreshers and it seems likely that some products from McDonald’s doomed US drinks-focused brand Cosmc’s could make their way onto UK menus - the sour cherry energy burst, chai frappe burst, churro frappe, and s’mores cold brew potential contenders. Utah-based ‘dirty soda’ brand Swig has become a viral sensation on social media for its drinks that include that include Loop-T-Loop (Sprite, strawberry, watermelon and peach); Buttery Beer (root beer, butterscotch and vanilla creme); and Hula Girl (Sprite, lemonade, mango, pineapple, strawberry, and coconut cream) and we all know what happens when TikTok gets its claws into a trend.
The great spud-renaissance
After a decade or so in the wilderness – at least in the very top-end restaurant world – the humble potato is set for a comeback. The spud’s resurgence is already underway at Clare Smyth’s most recent launch, Corenucopia, where she serves a dedicated potato menu. With no fewer than 10 potato preparations, options range from classics like mash to dishes such as pommes boulangère and pommes dauphine. Over at The Cocochine in Mayfair, Larry Jayasekara serves ‘fries’ alongside his tasting menus that are slabs of potato pavé layered with herbs and deep-fried to perfection. Could this mark the end of top chefs’ fear of carbs that aren’t served as part of a bread course? We certainly hope so.
Chinese bar snacks
The Chinese certainly know their way around a deep-fat fryer. Salt-and-pepper squid remains a classic, while elevated takes on prawn toast have been turning heads. Last year, Amy Poon reinvented the Anglo-Chinese staple by swapping the toast for strips of pork back fat (lardo) marinated in rose liqueur, and Eric Wan has also gained acclaim for his version at Tempo in Bethnal Green, where the dish comes coated in a complex green chilli sauce. Meanwhile, Japanese chain Kibou is experimenting with sesame prawn bao. Even American-Chinese dishes have made occasional appearances - crab rangoon, which combine cream cheese (that classic Chinese ingredient) and crab in a deep-fried wonton, typically served with sweet-and-sour sauce, are going viral in the States for reasons that remain a little mysterious beyond them proving to be perfect beer food. Expect more deep-fried, inventive riffs appearing across non-Chinese menus throughout 2026.
Stouts that aren’t Guinness
The rise of the Guinness over the past few years has been nothing short of remarkable, with TikTokers up and down the country treating a drink invented more than 250 years ago a some incredible creation dreamt up that morning. The inexplicable habit of ‘splitting the G’ might be on its way out but it would be churlish to think that a thirst for the black stuff is anywhere near being sated anytime soon (Diageo has just opened its new Guinness brewery in Covent Garden, even though it doesn’t actually brew the stuff there). This year, however, we expect to see more stout brands gaining traction as they piggy back on the popularity of the Irish drink, with the Heineken-owned Murphy’s making a concerted effort to muscle in on the space, Beamish making a comeback, and a range of new nitro stouts from smaller independent breweries also entering the fray. If you needed more proof then look to the launch this month of Caffrey’s Black Stout, which owner Molson Coors says taps into the growing momentum of the stout category, which has attracted 31% more drinkers since 2023 and which is particularly popular among 25-34-year-olds. We don’t recall seeing a pint of Caffery’s this millennium so its return in black form speaks volumes.
A late-night resurgence
Could 2026 be the year people finally tire of getting home after dinner at 9pm? Since the pandemic, later bookings have sharply declined, with diners generally preferring to eat unfashionably early. Some restaurants are now opening earlier in the evening, offering dinner from as early as 5pm – which, respectfully, is not really dinner time. While this is better for staff welfare, it’s a little sad that the appetite for late-night dining has waned, and it’s not great news for restaurant coffers, with operators under pressure to maximise every service. But change is afoot. New Mayfair hotspot Dover Street Counter is open til 12am Monday to Wednesday and 1.30am Thursday to Saturday, and you can hang out at MEATliquor’s sister site BLOODsports until 2am (it even encourages people to kick things off at 1am). Last year, Jeremy King introduced a discount for late-night dinners across both his London restaurants and in a recent missive he said it was paying off. Now he’s doubling down on his mission to ‘re-acquaint diners’ with eating and drinking after 9pm with his upcoming relaunch of Simpson’s in the Strand that will feature a late-night cocktail bar called Nellie. Nellie will be ‘hard to find and even harder to leave’ and which will positively encourage late night revelry. We’ll see you there, Jeremy.
Old Fashioneds
Move over the martini, there’s going to be a new (old) kid in town, and this time it’s whiskey based. Like the martini, the Old Fashioned is a simple affair (made with bourbon or rye, bitters and sugar with an orange peel or cherry garnish) and thus carries a similar air of sophistication and taste but provides a deeper and sweeter experience that chimes with where we find ourselves in 2026. With nostalgic Americana very much a prevailing theme in London’s restaurant scene, and martinis now almost as ubiquitous as Guinness, we expect bars and restaurants to return to this classic American cocktail with new and interesting riffs.
The old school grill and chophouse revival
There’s no school like the old school, and this is particularly true when it comes to traditional grill restaurants and chophouses, which are going to have a resurgence this year. Already on the cards is Jeremy King’s long-awaited rebirth of Simpson’s on the Strand, whose Grand Divan ground floor restaurant will see the return of its classic grill menu, and the revival of yet another Simpsons, with the team behind Cloth saving Simpsons Tavern in the City to reopen it as Cloth Cornhill. Here you can expect chops, steaks and a few nods to Simpson’s tradition (here’s hoping the steak and kidney pie returns). There’s also more to come in the space. Last year The Evolv Collection opened its Liverpool Street Chop House and Tavern and future openings of the concept are expected this year and Major Food Group, the US restaurant group that brought Carbone to London last year, is bringing it new grill concept to Mayfair this year. Called Major’s Grill, it is billed as a glamorous ode to ritzy mid century dining that draws inspiration from the classic London grill houses. That’s something we can get behind.
The low-key launch
In today’s competitive London landscape where anything but a flying start for a new restaurant can create significant problems down the line the need for a loud and effective PR launch has never been so real. Yet there is a new breed of restaurateur happy to open on the qt and let word of mouth - and no doubt a bit of healthy social media - do the work for them. Recent examples include Martin Kuczmarski’s brace of new restaurants that opened at the tail-end of 2025 - Martino’s and Dover Street Counter - that launched without much PR fanfare, and Automat in Mayfair, tucked away at the back of Tanner Krolle shop on Mount Street in Mayfair, that was more than happy to let people stumble across it. It’s worth pointing out that Kuczmarski and Automat do employ a PR agency but the tactic seems to have been to let people in the know discover their places more organically before pushing them out to a wider audience. In a world where everything is shared online (except in the case of rebellious newbie Punk Royale where phones are locked away after the initial caviar bumps), having an air of mystery is likely to prove valuable currency in 2026. Being secret is going to be big this year. Just don’t tell anyone...