IRISH DINERS ARE eating dinner earlier than ever, with a significant increase in reservations recorded at traditional early bird menu times.

The trend has been attributed to the cost of living crisis and a change in dining habits since Covid-19.

While early-bird dining was originally introduced to attract customers to eat during off-peak hours, data from online restaurant reservation service Open Table suggests that the hours of 4pm to 6pm are quickly becoming a popular dining time in Ireland.

Open Table told The Journal that there has been a 21% increase in diners in Ireland opting to eat between 4pm and 6pm so far this year in comparison to the same period last year.

While this early dinner dining trend can be seen every day of the week, Fridays and Mondays recorded the largest increase, with around 25% of diners eating earlier on those days.

Open Table manages reservations for many restaurants across Ireland.

Open Table data previously shared by the Financial Times showed an increase of only 6% in earlier dining hours in the UK, suggesting the early dining trend is stronger in Ireland.

Sasha Shaker, Senior Director for the UK and Ireland at OpenTable, said: “Early bird dining is on the rise in Ireland, potentially spurred on by hybrid and remote working and lifestyle changes like a growing focus on wellness.”

“While Mondays and Fridays have seen the largest growth in early dinner dining year-over-year, the trend extends into midweek, with Tuesdays up 19% and Thursdays up 17% seeing strong year-over-year increases too.”

Lifestyle change

Michael Martin, owner of Dublin restaurants Pacinos and cocktail bar The Blind Pig Speakeasy, said the figures don’t surprise him at all.

“Ever since Covid-19, people tend to eat earlier. Maybe it’s a product of Covid regulations,” he said. The restaurateur believes the pandemic led to a change in lifestyle, with many going to bed earlier and drinking less.

The changes in dining habits has led Martin to stop serving early bird offers during the summertime as there is no need to add an extra incentive for customers to visit his restaurants early in the evening.

He has noticed the biggest change in his cocktail bar, which is much quieter late at night, however he said the change has benefited him.

“The truth is it’s worked out better with people going out earlier, their consumption is greater in the first two hours of the night than the last two hours,” he said, adding that a booking at 4pm would bring in a greater spend than one at 11pm.

As well as the pandemic, Martin said there may be less interest staying out late in Dublin due to a lack of late night taxis and safety issues in the city centre at night.

To adapt to the change in habits, Martin has begun opening the bar at 4pm instead of 5pm and playing live music from 10.30pm to attract late night customers. 

“It used to be a lot easier to get people in at 12.30am,” he said, explaining that he is considering changing weekend closing times to 12.30am instead of 1.30am.

“You like to think it will rebound. I’m holding firm in the hope we will get it back,” he said.

Martin said his trade is overall stable, but that due to cost of living expenses, costs have increased in most areas.

Cost of living

A waitress at a hotel restaurant in Athlone told The Journal she has also noticed a massive uptick in reservations for the early evening.

The restaurant generally has over 150 to 200 guests on weekends during the summer.

She said many diners make early reservations to avoid what they assume will be a busier time during traditional peak hours.

The waitress has noticed that the early evening is a particularly popular time for families with young children, and people who are not drinking. 

She puts the changes in habit down to the cost of living crisis. 

“It’s so expensive to eat out now that people can’t really afford the extra drinks or sides they might like if they had the money. It’s really obvious with some couples on dinner packages [prepaid meals at a slight discount] that only stick to the number of courses they have and get no extras.”

On top of this, the cost of food and drinks in her workplace has shot up over the last year, with some individual menu items rising by €3 or €4 each.

“I feel bad dropping the bill down sometimes, because it’s so much money for what they had.”

Additional reporting from Emma Hickey