Dining Out in the Regency: Check, Please!
- Paullett Golden
- 12 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Publication Date: May 4, 2025
“I will endeavour to make the difference less by disordering my Stomach with Bath bunns.”
We’ll be continuing our food theme with this post, looking at the “dining out” experience during the Regency era. It'll be short but sweet! For the other posts in this dining series, check out the meals of the day, the full dining experience, tea time, and coffeehouses.
Now, back to business! Imagine it is the Regency era, and a young gentleman wishes to wine and dine a young lady at a swanky Michelin-star restaurant. Shame that didn’t exist! Or how about a group of young ladies who want to spend the afternoon at the local tearoom for cream tea and gossip—the waitress is bound to know all the juicy on dits! Gosh, shame that didn’t exist either!
What did exist, and how did it differ from the restaurant-style dining we’re familiar with today?
The Short Answer
The short answer is that England did not have in-house, sit-down dining as we know it during the Regency era or any time prior to the Regency, not until the mid-to-late Victorian era. No fine dining. No waiter or waitress hovering to refill your glass and ask how the meal is (but only after you've taken a bite and can't reply). No “check, please” at the end of a meal.
That said, the two extremes are the myths of restaurant-style dining during the Regency: (a) one extreme being that such places didn't exist at all, and the other being that (b) they were readily available to our heroes and heroines in England. Both of these are false. Restaurant-style dining was not available in England, but it did exist elsewhere. Sort of.
Dining Out in France
There were such places one could dine away from home elsewhere, such as the very first restaurant opening its doors in Paris, France in 1765 (although it was primarily for the infirm until 1786 when the first “modern” styled restaurant opened—complete with trained waiters and menus!) or other similar eateries available in China, Egypt, Japan, and Rome tracing back much further. The challenge with these is not only are they in other countries, they still weren’t quite equivalent to modern dining. If our heroes/heroines encountered a restaurant-style dining experience while travelling abroad, they would discover that most of these eateries were serviceable only to the working class, hosted by a local inn, or possibly connected to a local brothel for paying patrons only.
But don’t lose heart for those travelling abroad! It is that aforementioned French restaurant’s revamp in 1786—thank you, Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau—that established the foundation for all future restaurants to come, creating an entirely new dining experience, so however much of a needle in a haystack, a “fine dining” experience could be found on the continent. The French restauranteur “invented,” if you will, the dining experience we now know, complete with the white tablecloth! If our heroes and heroines were in France near the Louvre area, they could have very well encountered this restaurant and had their minds blown by the experience (obviously this is date depending since it’s a bit tricky to enjoy a fine dining experience when there’s a revolution, beheadings, and then a war happening!).
It was quite some time before such a restaurant would open in England. In the US, the first restaurant wasn’t until 1837, Delmonico’s in NYC, which had opened ten years prior as a pastry shop but eventually expanded into fine dining. We don’t see true restaurants in England until well into the Victorian era, closer to the 20th century. It was the new middle class who opened and popularized them, so even if our hist rom takes place knee deep in the Victorian era, our heroes and heroines may not have dined there.
But in Regency England? Nope. No such thing.
Dining Out in England
While there was not such a thing in England during the Regency, gentlemen could experience something similar. The ladies were tough out of luck, however. Gentlemen clubs, coffeehouses, taverns, and inns all offered in-house dining. This was the closest a person could get during Regency England to an “eating out” experience, but it was reserved for gentlemen only. It wasn’t equivalent to modern dining, but at least we’re getting closer.
The most likely gentleman to “eat out” was the bachelor, especially those living alone in city accommodations—no sense in bothering the cook or eating alone, just pop down to the club or coffeehouse to meet up with mates. The topic of conversation would likely be politics, but one could order their fill of food and enjoy good company while they dined. The clubs would offer the most civil dining experience, with the coffeehouses next in line—although the conversations could get rowdy—but from there, the taverns and inns would be the least genteel. The taverns were best avoided, typically, since the tables were communal, and the dining area would be shared with those imbibing more than eating—loud and crowded. While this post does not delve into the dining experience, it does offer a terrific, quick history of taverns, inns, coaching inns, pubs, etc: The Great British Pub by Ben Johnson of Historic UK.
The Dining Experience
If the gentlemen could “dine out,” how would it differ from our modern experience?
Menus: For starters, there were no menus of items from which to choose. Regardless if one was at the club or at a tavern, there would be a “meal of the day” with a flat rate, such as five shillings, and you got what they served you. No choices, no menus, no selecting sides or entrees. The gentleman arrived, and the club/tavern served what had been cooked that day. The time one ate was also restricted. Food was only on offer at certain times of the day. They served what they had available, nothing more, nothing less, and they did so shortly after cooking it. If a gentleman rocked up hours later, famished and looking for a meal, he was tough out of luck.
Payment: Payment was also a bit different from what we experience now. Money was due at time of order. No “check, please,” or paying after the meal was completed or one was served. Once the gentleman ordered, he paid right then and there or food would not be served. This applied to anything from a meal at a tavern to an ice at Gunter’s. The only exception to any of this was dining at a private club, in which case all those dining would already be a member in good standing and could thus be billed later. Club fare would also offer better selections, such as venison, while a tavern would be limited, such as getting whatever inexpensive meat they had on offer that day, but not even the private clubs had menus or options to choose from.
Other Dining Options
There were a few other options available to gentlemen that would be considered eating out but not necessarily dining out. Dining out could happen in the limited way we covered at the coffeehouse, the private club, and the tavern. But one could eat out without dining. One of those options was the oyster rooms. Oyster rooms were interestingly popular at the time. They ranged from seafood stalls for a grab and go bite to a pub-like establishments (still gentlemen only). Oysters were cheap and readily available, so even the laborers could enjoy a trip to the oyster room if they were so inclined, although only when in season. Shannon Donnelly has a great post on which foods would be available when: Regency England Winter Fare.
Street vendors were another option, but they did not offer meals, rather one specific snack-like item a gentleman could purchase on the go (such as oysters!). This was especially popular amongst city merchants and other working individuals. Between meeting with clients, a solicitor, for instance, might pop out of his office and over to a Covent Garden street vendor.
For The Ladies
As far as women were concerned, there were not clubs or coffeehouses or tearooms or anything of the sort at which women could “dine out.” Even if there were, which there weren’t, a lady of gentility could not be seen “dining out.” Only the unsavory sorts dined out, ie they were the prostitutes at the brothel connected to the coffeeshop the gentlemen would be visiting.
The closest a woman could come to a dining out experience would be if she were travelling. A young lady could lodge as a guest at a coaching inn during her travels, and she could eat in the private room with her family or chaperone present if the inn offered a private room (not many did, and a lady would never eat in the communal dining/taproom). Although the private room at a coaching inn was an option, ladies would never socialize at an inn or meet friends there for dinner or anything of the sort. More than likely, she would have the food delivered directly to her room. Unless there was a private dining room and her family was eating there, the expectation would always be that she would dine in her room so as not to encounter other guests in the inn.
Some Great Sources
A great little book to check out is by John Timbs, Clubs and Club Life in London with Anecdotes of its Famous Coffee Houses, Hostelries, and Taverns, from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Time.
The definitive guide, however, is Ralph Rylance’s The Epicure’s Almanac: Eating and Drinking in Regency London. This one was published in 1815—yes, really—and listed every eating establishment in and near London, from the inns to the tea gardens, so those interested in dining out would know where to go. Would you be shocked to find there were over 650 places listed in the guide? Not all of them were for the sit-down experience, though, as he included street vendors, as well. Read a bit more about it in this post from Jane Austen’s London. The book can be purchased as a reprint, but the pricing on it varies wildly, from finding a used copy for about $30 all the way up to $300 (or more!).
Another fun read is the chapter on “The Rise of the Restaurant,” from Food: A Culinary History, by Jean-Louis Flandrin and Massimo Montanari.
The Favorites in Hist Roms
But what about all those places in London and Bath our heroes and heroines frequent during the social hours, you ask?
Well, yes, there were places at which one could grab food on the go, but the in-house dining, hovering waiters/waitresses, and “check, please” payment after eating were still NAT (aka “not a thing” during this era). What you’ve encountered in hist roms are mostly pastry shops and confectionaries. These could be found in just about every city, from London to Bath, and were exceedingly popular—the Georgians loved their sugar! Let’s eye two of the most popular places we see mentioned in hist roms to close out our dining discussion.
Gunter's Tea Shop
You might have read about Gunter’s ices, which were found at Gunter’s Tea Shop, or known as the Pot and Pineapple before ownership changed. A fantastic post from Jane Austen’s World on Gunter’s is worth the read.
Gunter’s started out in 1757 as a confectionery shop called the Pot and Pineapple. The desserts offered were quite extravagant. In 1777, the owner partnered with Gunter, who would then take over as sole proprietor in 1799 and change the name to Gunter’s Tea Shop. Something important to realize is this was not a tearoom as we think of tearooms today--don’t let the name tea shop fool you! If there was any seating at all, it would have been minimal and reserved for the infirm, not available for in-house dining or sit-down dining. Instead, a young lady (or whoever) would pop in, order an ice (or whatever treat) at the counter, pay upon order, and then take it with them (or have their footman do this for them). The ice (or treat) would then be eaten in Berkeley Square while walking or while seated at a bench, or perhaps while in their open carriage (especially if with a gentleman), or even beneath a tree in the park for shade, or some variation thereof.
A gentleman could escort a young lady he was courting to Gunter’s for a treat.
Interestingly, there were also waiters at Gunter’s, but the waiters were not waiting tables, rather they were the chaps who would bring the ice or dessert out to whomever had ordered it, thus keeping people from queuing in the shop during busy times, hovering around the counter, etc. So, if a young lady and her friends went to Gunter’s, they could order, pay, then find a shady spot at the park, and the waiter would bring their ices to them. Not bad, right?
All payment was in cash, no putting it on an account to pay later. Cash and cash only. Payment was due at time of order, never upon delivery or after having eaten the food.
Sally Lunn's
Another popular dining location you might have read about is Sally Lunn’s in Bath.
It first opened in the 1680s and is still open, offering a great tearoom for visitors of Bath to sit down, order a cream tea, a Bath bun, and whatever else piques their interest. Your humble author has eaten there quite a few times and found it simply a delight. It was not, however, a tearoom or dine-in restaurant of any sort during the Regency.
It was a specialty bakery that offered catering to the pleasure gardens (served hot by way of their portable baking oven!). Anyone in the area (including Jane Austen) would have been familiar with the Sally Lunn Bun because it would have been one of the attractions of the local pleasure gardens, especially the Sydney Gardens.
Sally Lunn’s was not the kind of bakery one could pop into for a meal or to grab a bun on the go. It was a private building that catered out only, a far cry from what it is now, not to mention how it’s represented in many hist roms (which is based on the current Sally Lunn’s rather than the one our heroes and heroines would have encountered during the Regency era).
Closing Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick journey into the dining out experiences during the Regency! Don’t be too disappointed to learn that lovely dining experience the heroes and heroines experienced in whatever recent hist rom you read is historically inaccurate, for isn’t that one of the joys of fiction? We can add a few extra tables at Gunter’s, or wherever, and have the characters stop for a spot of tea for our own relatability. Inaccurate, yes, but too delightful to resist!
