Solo dining, pop-ups and Food Halls named top eating out trends for 2023

Dining out should get a whole lot more interesting in 2023, as restaurants look to entice foodies with innovative menus and more choice, according to a new survey from hospitality technology platform Resy.

Prat of this will be down to a dramatic growth in pop-ups, as established venues offer a helping hand to up and coming talent. London pub The Gunmakers has handed over culinary control to rising star chef Ramon ‘El Tigre’ Ramos and his Tigre Tacos, while Dalston wine bar Weino Bib regularly runs pop-ups.

Dining solo is also gaining favour, with an increasing number of outlets offering counter service and tables for one. Hashtags #SoloDate and #DiningAlone having 150+ million views on TikTok.

Barrafina, whose fifth restaurant has just opened at Borough Yards, SE1, and Paradise Soho, are leading advocates for solo counter dining, says Resy. 

We can also expect to see the rise of food hall style cultural hubs, with collective spaces appearing in cities across the UK, including London, Brighton and Manchester.

One such, Manchester’s Escape to Freight Island, draws in more new Resy users than any other venue in the UK. offering live music, DJs, movies alongside highly rated food and drink.

Manchester’s Escape to Freight Island, draws in more new Resy users than any other venue in the UK…

According to Food Forward: Resy’s Top Dining Out Trends for 2023, diners can look forward to an even wider global food choice in the year ahead. 

Colombian and Kurdish are cited as two cuisines to watch, while migrants and refugees from Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Ukraine, Russia and Poland could herald a boom in their respective cuisines.

West African cuisine has already given rise to multiple stars, including Brixton’s Chishuru and the elevated West African offerings of Akoko. Ikoyi, in St James, London, which heavily focused on West African spices when it first opened in 2017, has since gained two Michelin Stars and joined the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List in 2022.

Resy notes that ‘Vegetarian’ as a categorisation of restaurant is indecline, as plant and meat-eaters alike gravitate to menus where vegetables are the main attraction.

Middle Eastern plant-based restaurant Bubala (picture above) opened its second site this summer in Soho, joining plant-based residencies Tendril from chef Rishim Sachdeva, and Plates from chef Kirk Haworth, at Untitled Bar. Acme Fire Cult is a BBQ restaurant where vegetables generate the heat. 

West African restaurant Tatale currently offers a single non-vegetarian dish on the menu.

For more, download the Resy app or visit Resy online, the place for restaurant discovery, exclusive access, and chef-driven culinary events.