Muscovites had lunch in the center

Despite the crisis, restaurants and cafes in the center of Moscow manage to attract more visitors than catering outlets in residential areas. Although during the pandemic, the situation was the opposite due to the widespread remote work at that time. However, market participants are still skeptical about the return of indicators to the level of 2019 due to the uncertainty in the economy, forcing consumers to cut costs, including trips to restaurants and cafes.

In the first quarter of 2023, the traffic of catering establishments in Moscow as a whole turned out to be 10% lower year-on-year, but due to an increase in the average check by 19%, the total revenue of market participants was 8% higher, follows from Focus Technologies data available to Kommersant. At the same time, establishments in residential areas lost more visitors: the number of orders there turned out to be 12% less year-on-year, but turnover increased by 7% due to an increase in the average check by 22%. At the same time, catering outlets within the Garden Ring lost only 3% of guests. In such establishments, the growth of the average check turned out to be less – by 12%, while the revenue of their operators increased by 9% in January-March.

Market participants also noticed a trend of shifting visitors to the city center. The founder of the Rakovaya gastrobar, Yevgeny Nichipuruk, says that the chain’s restaurants located in residential areas have suffered the most, unlike establishments in the city center. According to him, this trend has been observed since last autumn. The Anderson network notes that there was no traffic growth in the first quarter of 2023, but in the central, western and southern districts of Moscow, traffic remained at the same level or fell slightly. Co-owner of the Tigrus holding (Osteria Mario, Shvili chains) Henrik Winter adds that traffic has dropped noticeably only in restaurants in shopping centers outside the Moscow Ring Road – for example, in Mega.

During the pandemic, the situation was the opposite: at that time, establishments in residential areas generated more traffic than catering outlets in the center of the capital. The reason for this was the fear of Muscovites to move around the city and the massive spread of the remote work format, recalls Mikhail Vasilyev, head of research and consulting at Focus Technologies. Now office workers have returned to business centers, most of which are located in the city center, which has affected the traffic of restaurants and cafes within the Garden Ring, said Elena Perepelitsa, CEO of RestCon.

Those who do not work in the city center go to restaurants in this part of the capital irregularly, Yevgeny Nichipuruk says. In central locations, as a rule, there are restaurants with a check above the average and premium concepts that people visit only on holidays, agrees Irina Kozina, director of street retail at NF Group.

A large outflow of visitors to catering establishments located in residential areas may be associated with a growing share of ready-made food delivery, which delays some visitors, said Irina Blagoveshchenskaya, adviser to the president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers. Recently, traffic in the city center has increased significantly due to new restaurant openings, Evgenia Makhneva, the founder of Management Factory, recalls.

In 2022, 122 high-quality restaurants opened within the Garden Ring in Moscow, which corresponds to the levels of 2021 and 2019, when about 125 and 120 objects were launched, respectively, and exceeds the value of 2020, when 85 new outlets appeared (see “Kommersant” of January 9).

Elena Perepelitsa expects that the ratio of attendance at catering establishments in the center and in residential areas will gradually return to pre-pandemic indicators. “At the same time, the overall attendance for the restaurant market as a whole will be somewhat lower than before, since part of the population has reduced real disposable income, and part has emigrated from the country,” the expert believes. Artem Lomize, managing partner of the Moremania network, states that the growth in restaurant and cafe attendance directly depends on the economy as a whole. In his opinion, the traffic in catering establishments will be restored only with the revival of economic life.

Daria Andrianova