Farewell pub grub, welcome to the era of the Gastropub 2.0
AG&G’s Michael Penfold on the Rise of the Gastropub 2.0. From Soho to the South East, characterful pubs are outperforming glass boxes—and there’s a reason behind this movement.
The UK pub sector is no stranger to reinvention—but what’s happening now feels different. In London and beyond, a new generation of high-performing, food focussed pubs is reshaping the industry. Welcome to the era of the Gastropub 2.0 — a movement defined by experience, quality, and a deep respect for characterful buildings.
As a hospitality-focused real estate agent, I see sector trends develop in real time and one is afoot in the pub world with the evolution of the Gastropub which has emerged in the post pandemic world of the last few years. One of the clearest trends right now is the pivot away from polished, anonymous retail units and toward authentic, idiosyncratic spaces—particularly heritage pubs with soul, history, and built-in atmosphere.
A key difference between the more humble Gastropub (a term coined in the 1990’s by two London based pub owners) and the Gastropub 2.0 is that whilst the food offer of the former was generally seen as complementary to the pub, the latter has seen the dining element become the more dominant component in the relationship with customers travelling from afar for the experience, more akin to dining at a fashionable Michelin star restaurant than visiting a traditional pub.
Nevertheless, this isn’t just about better food in pubs which has of course been done historically by celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal—it’s about a wider cultural shift in how people consume, socialise, and choose where to spend their time and money.
We’ve seen this shift playing out in parallel across other parts of the F&B world. The rise of artisan coffee culture, often housed in converted railway arches, corner units, or even repurposed sheds, proves that customers value uniqueness over uniformity. Grab-and-go concepts like shacks, kiosks and market stalls have found huge success precisely because they reject the sterile homogeneity of modern retail. Argent’s Coal Drops Yard redevelopment in King’s Cross and British Land’s regeneration of Canada Water has seen this trend propelled into large scale developments with a focus on heritage buildings over soulless glass boxes. That same appetite for authenticity is now feeding into the pub world—where best in class operators are creating environments that feel warm, personal, and distinctly un-corporate.
And it’s working. The Public House Group’s Pelican in Notting Hill and Hero in Maida Vale. Guy Ritchie’s Lore of the Land in Fitzrovia, currently fully booked until mid-2026 for its mouth-watering Sunday lunches, and the cult-favourite Tamil Prince in Islington (helmed by head chef Prince Durairaj and Glen Leeson) all combine an elevated food offer with historic, personality-rich buildings. Meanwhile, Crisp Pizza at The Chancellors in Hammersmith proves that if the quality’s right, customers will queue out the door—just like they do at the hottest street food pop-ups. It’s increasingly apparent that high-end/experiential dining in pubs is becoming one of the defining cultural phenomena of the hospitality sector in the 2020s.
Even in central London, the Gastropub 2.0 is thriving. The Devonshire in Soho, co-founded by Oisín Rogers and Flat Iron’s Charlie Carroll, has brought wood-fired cooking, characterful interiors, and exceptional Guinness to a pocket of town once dominated by chain dining. Further east, The Knave of Clubs in Shoreditch (brainchild of James Dye, who runs the Camberwell Arms, Franks and Bambi and Benjy Leibowitz who was at JKS and The Nomad in NYC) has transformed a faded restaurant site into a vibrant rotisserie pub full of energy and purpose.
Beyond the capital, the Lazy Lobster in Whitstable, a seafood haven nestled in a 19th century pub, has recently opened to show this trend isn’t confined to cities. Groups like Greene King (with its Hickory’s BBQ brand), Heartwood Collection, and Young’s are doubling down on food-led formats that combine high-quality menus with a strong sense of place. Greene King recently announced ambitious plans to grow Hickory’s by ten sites per year to triple the size of the group by 2030.
Why now? The pandemic and subsequent inflationary pressures have changed how people spend and socialise. Dining and drinking out is no longer routine—it’s an occasion. So when customers go out, they want more than just a meal—they want an experience worth sharing. Pubs, especially those in historic or architecturally interesting buildings, deliver that in spades.
There’s also a rising rejection of bland. Consumers want places that feel real. That’s why we’re seeing demand shift away from the glass-box units in new schemes—built for flexibility but lacking soul—and back to buildings with a story. A Victorian pub with its tiled floor and wood panelling offers a richness of context that no unit with a retail use class and curtain walling ever could.
Social media amplifies this too. A beautifully plated roast in a centuries-old pub, caught in golden hour and paired with a well-pulled pint, plays far better on social media than a meal in a featureless shell. Influencers like Eating With Tod (1.8m followers on Instagram and arguably Britain’s most powerful food critic/influencer) are shaping food culture through storytelling—and pubs, perhaps unexpectedly, are providing some of the best content to influence not only a domestic audience but also tourists visiting from further afield who are eager to visit authentic British pubs with an elevated food offer beyond bland fish and chips.
What we’re witnessing isn’t just a revival—it’s a repositioning. The Gastropub 2.0 isn’t an anomaly. It’s the next logical step in the evolution of British hospitality: rooted in heritage, elevated by quality, and powered by experience.
And with many of the early post-pandemic pioneers now preparing to expand into ever more prime sites along with new entrants stalking the same spaces seeking to introduce new concepts, the momentum is only growing. Various deals are in the pipeline to create new food focussed concepts in traditional pubs across the capital and beyond.
In a world that’s increasingly craving connection, character, and craft, pubs—those most British of institutions—are proving once again they’re more than up to the challenge. One thing is for sure, there’s never been a better time to experience such an eclectic array of dining options in a pub setting, and I’m sure you’ll all join me in raising a glass to anything that helps to preserve and innovate the Great British pub.