Irish Diners Are Eating Out Less — How to Win the Visits That Remain
by CWDH, 4 min reading time
Irish people have not fallen out of love with eating out — but they are doing noticeably less of it. Research commissioned by the restaurant-booking platform First Table and carried out by Opinions.ie, published in July 2026, found that 63% of Irish adults say they now dine out less often because of the rising cost of living. In the 35–54 age bracket — traditionally the most valuable demographic for mid-market and premium restaurants — the figure rises to roughly seven in ten.
The survey sketches out how that pullback actually happens in practice, and it is rarely a clean break. A quarter of respondents said they are trading down to cheaper venues rather than staying home altogether. One in five said they order fewer courses when they do go out — the starter skipped, the dessert declined, coffee taken at home. The visit survives; the spend per head shrinks. For operators, that pattern is arguably more corrosive than outright absence, because the room still looks busy while the till tells a different story.
A behaviour shift, not a boycott
What makes this research more useful than most cost-of-living headlines is what it found about flexibility. Some 77% of Irish adults said they would be willing to dine earlier in the evening if restaurants offered an incentive to do so, and 30% described themselves as "very likely" to book an early table in exchange for a deal. First Table's own business model — 50% off the food bill for off-peak bookings at participating restaurants — is built on exactly this gap, and the company's Dublin launch partners suggest established venues see merit in it.
Read together, the numbers describe a customer who still wants the experience but has become a careful shopper about when and where they have it. The demand has not disappeared; it has moved — towards earlier sittings, midweek slots, set menus and venues that make the value case convincingly.
The economics of the empty 5pm room
For most full-service restaurants, the hours between opening and 7pm are close to pure overhead: the room is staffed, lit and heated whether four covers walk in or forty. Filling those hours at a discount is not margin given away — it is contribution recovered from capacity that would otherwise expire unsold. Hotels learned this decades ago with room pricing; restaurants have historically resisted it out of concern that discounting cheapens the brand.
The survey data suggests that concern may now be outdated. When three quarters of the adult population says it would shift its dining time for an incentive, off-peak pricing stops being a distress signal and becomes ordinary yield management. The venues experimenting most confidently with early-evening offers, prix fixe windows and midweek deals are treating the discount as a scheduling tool rather than a cry for help.
Fewer visits raise the stakes on each one
The second strategic consequence is subtler. When a household goes out twice a month instead of four times, each meal carries more expectation. The research shows diners protecting the ritual itself while economising around its edges — which means the venues that win are those where nothing about the experience invites second thoughts about value.
That is less about luxury than coherence. A dining room where the cutlery matches, the glassware is spotless, the plates are unchipped and the menu is presented well signals — before any food arrives — that the money is being well spent. In a market where one in four guests is actively comparing you against a cheaper alternative, those signals do measurable work. The reverse is also true: worn tableware and tired presentation quietly confirm the doubts a cost-conscious guest walked in with.
What the smarter operators are doing
Three responses stand out among venues adapting well to this environment. First, they are making the early evening earn its keep — publicised early-bird or pre-theatre offers, promoted where footfall actually passes, rather than an unadvertised discount for those who happen to ask. Second, they are protecting perceived value on the plate and the table even while controlling costs behind the scenes — because the guest never sees your supplier invoice, but they touch your fork every visit. Third, they are leaning into occasions: steak nights, tasting menus and set-piece service that justify the outing a guest has rationed themselves to.
None of this reverses a cost-of-living squeeze. But the research is clear that the Irish dining-out habit is bending rather than breaking — and the operators who adjust their offer to how people now buy, rather than waiting for 2022 behaviour to return, will take a disproportionate share of the visits that remain.
Related on cwdh.ie
- Fine dining tableware and cutlery collections
- Glassware for bar and table
- Chalkboards and menus for promoting off-peak offers
- Related: the 9% VAT rate is now permanent
Research figures: First Table / Opinions.ie survey, July 2026, as reported by Hotel & Restaurant Times.
