Are 'All-You-Can Drink' Brunches Taking Hold in Britain?
We Brits are credited with bringing this delightfully convenient meal between breakfast and lunch into existence back in the late 1800s but truth be told, it’s other nations that have taken it forward over the years and made it into the meal we know and increasingly eat today.
The Old English Dictionary dates the first mention of ‘brunch’ as 1895 and since its conception the meal’s model has been added to by the Americans, who can be credited with making brunch an occasion for socially acceptable daytime drinking - indeed, the mimosa, bellini and similar cocktails became brunch staples in the 1920s. When perusing any brunch menu, the influence of French cuisine is undeniable and of course, the boozy ‘all-you-can drink’ brunches that are now becoming popular in Britain owe as much to their predecessors in the UAE as they do to those of New York. So, how did we Brits go about reclaiming the brunch, and is an all-you-can drink option something your restaurant could (or should) handle?
Raise your glasses to the boozy brunch
Brunch has gone from being an excuse for the late Victorian upper classes to squeeze in another meal, to a very social event reserved for those who can afford the time to spend a leisurely few hours eating and drinking on a weekend. A quick look at Google Trends data shows that searches for the term ‘brunch’ have rocketed in the UK in recent years, though the term ‘bottomless brunch’ is relatively new and only really relevant as a search term for London at the moment. That’s not to say that boozy brunches aren’t happening outside of the capital. In fact, Manchester is playing host to perhaps one of the quirkiest brunch offerings – the Electro brunch at Gaucho, which flies in the face of the traditional leisurely brunch by offering the hedonistic mix of Bloody Marys, baked chorizo and “bassy rhythms”.
Is it time you added a bottomless brunch to your menu?
While an all-you-can-drink brunch might be good for bringing in the customers, there are a few potential obstacles you’ll need to consider before you go hell for Bloody Mary and launch your own. Firstly, offering unlimited booze and food is not necessarily the best way to keep tables turning, which is why brunches often run on very tight margins. Some establishments get round this by offering set brunch sittings or serving up a fixed brunch menu featuring items like eggs benedict, pancakes, waffles or even breakfast burritos, and providing a speciality bottomless drink as an add-on.
Another option is to present a brunch buffet, though since a good chunk of your business is likely to be walk-in - unless you heavily promote your event - it can be difficult to predict footfall. You’ll typically need to be operating in an area with high disposable income in order to generate a loyal brunch following, though the meal is often seen as a good way for customers to experience a high-end establishment for a reasonable cost.
Being mindful of your existing clientele is also important – if your biggest customers are family groups, you’d perhaps be better suited to running a family-friendly brunch that offers a USP that is not alcohol related. You don’t want the booziness to overtake the brunching; one popular venue in New York City recently had its alcohol licence revoked after the antics of its customers alienated local residents.
There’s also a risk of brunch being seen as a seasonal meal. It’s perhaps more appealing to sip mimosas on the roof terrace during sunny August than breezy October, so you’ll need a flexible space to build a year-round offering. This may mean using a communal space where people wander around or offering tables that are booked by groups for an arranged period of time. Whatever works best for you also needs to accommodate the social expectations of your guests. Instagram is typically full of brunch snaps on a Sunday and they inevitably feature newspapers and novels alongside flat whites and glasses of fizz, so you need to decide if you want to appeal to the slow movers or those who want to mingle en masse. If you’re a restaurant or café without an alcohol licence, that doesn’t necessarily exclude you from getting involved, why not make your signature drink a create-your-own-juice station?
Do you offer brunch at your establishment and if so, would you consider applying for an alcohol licence? Do you prefer breakfast butties and all day breakfasts to boozy brunches, or do you think they all have their place? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave us a comment below or tweet us @BunzlLockhart.
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