Thu 11th Sep 2025 - Harden’s: number of restaurant net openings in London at highest since Brexit, closure rate lowest in decade Harden’s – number of restaurant net openings in London at highest since Brexit while closure rate lowest in decade, price rises at expensive venues double that of cheaper ones: The number of restaurant net openings in London is at the highest since Brexit while the closure rate is the lowest in a decade, according to the new edition of Harden’s London Restaurants. The guide noted this year’s net growth rate of 81 is exceeded by only four other years in the last 35 over which the guide has tracked such stats – a result “more consistent with the start of a boom than the end being nigh”. Editor Peter Harden said: “In the last 12 months, the Harden’s London Restaurants guide has tracked 146 new openings. Except for the boom years of 2013-2017, this is a very perky growth level. As to the rate of closures: it was 65. There is no denying some of these closures were fine establishments, sadly gone before their time, but we still must accept this is the lowest rate of closures among quality restaurants in a decade. We accept our guide focuses on quality establishments rather than all hospitality outlets and the growth rate we’re seeing says nothing about the current profitability of hospitality businesses, but that does not invalidate the general picture that there are healthy, bright spots within the country, and the suggestion from our figures that investors scent future gains in backing these new openings.” In terms of the capital’s favoured cuisines, Japanese rode high this year with 11 openings and came third to the two cuisines that practically always dominate, modern British and Italian, which account edfor 25 and 15 launches respectively. Mediterranean openings were fourth with nine debuts, followed by Greek and Middle Eastern, both with five openings. The guide’s statistics for prices reveal spikes that may reflect the choppy waters restaurants are currently navigating. The average formula price of dinner for one at entries in the 2026 guide is £82.58 compared with £78.84 last year. This increase of 4.7% is above general price growth of 3.6% as judged by consumer price index growth for the 12 months to June 2025, and up on the 4.2% noted in the last edition of Harden’s. For those charging £100-plus per person, the increase was a yet-higher 6.8%, and for those charging £150-plus per person, a yet-higher 8.6%. The guide also highlights the decreasing level of affordability of a meal in the capital’s top restaurants to middle class Londoners. According to comparisons between figures in the 2026 and 2016 guides, the last ten years has seen an average price-rise among the top five awards by Michelin (Alain Ducasse, Hélène Darroze, The Ledbury, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Sketch) of 130%. Allowing for inflation, this is a 65% rise in real terms.