Research: where in Europe is the largest selection of cafes and restaurants

The more cafes and restaurants there are in the city, the more attractive it is both for tourists and for moving. Our analysts conducted a study of the saturation of European cities with catering establishments, and also compared these data with the cost of housing and the quality of life rating. It turned out that the residents of Vienna account for the most cafes and bars, and London is in the lead in terms of the absolute number of establishments by a large margin.

What was considered and how

Through an expert assessment of the prospects for real estate investments, 11 million-plus cities popular with Russian tourists in different parts of Europe were selected. Two Russian cities took part in the analysis — Moscow and St. Petersburg, two German cities — Berlin and Munich, three European megacities — Paris, London, Vienna, two Eastern European cities — Prague, Budapest, two southern European cities — Barcelona and Rome.  For each of the cities, we calculated the number of cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food and food courts using the open OSM API (open street map) as of October 2020. 

The territories of European cities are dynamic and do not end with administrative borders. With the spread of the urban lifestyle and the development of the transport framework, the suburbs around cities become an integral part of them and play the role of outer areas with high population density. Therefore, in modern studies, the boundaries of the city can be distinguished in different ways, which often leads to discrepancies. To reduce the size of the cities under consideration to comparable areas, in the case of compact Paris and Barcelona, the territories of agglomerations (urban areas) were taken: Greater Paris (Métropole du Grand Paris) and Greater Barcelona (Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona). London was considered within the boundaries of Greater London.

It should be noted that after the annexation of New Moscow, the city area increased 2.5 times, the population also increased, and most of the establishments remained concentrated in the old part of the city. Therefore, for more comparable results when calculating the number of establishments per square meter.The boundaries of old Moscow were taken into account until 2012, as in most modern studies. 

For comparison, an indicator of saturation with points of attraction — catering establishments — was chosen – one of the key criteria for the attractiveness of the urban environment. We also calculated the number of establishments per unit area, the share of each segment in the catering structure and compiled ratings for each indicator.

We compared the data obtained with the purchase and rental price of m2. residential real estate (according to Deloitte, 2020) and the quality of life rating (Mercer). 

“We wanted to analyze the attractiveness of European cities for moving, for those who buy rental housing there,” says Elena Skrebkova, the author of the study. “The saturation of the location with catering establishments is one of the key factors of both the quality of the environment in the city as a whole and the level of social and economic activity of the population.”

The study shows the market capacity before the coronavirus pandemic and the ratio of types of establishments to each other, excluding closed restaurants and cafes. We assume that the number of establishments will decrease after the pandemic, but the demand and ratio will remain the same.

The top 5 European cities in terms of saturation of restaurants and bars include Vienna, Prague, Munich, Berlin, Budapest

Most of the establishments are located in Vienna: 518 cafes, bars and restaurants per 100,000 people. At the same time, the capital of Austria turned out to be one of the most affordable cities among the studied ones — the average purchase price per square meter of residential real estate is 4.9 thousand euros. 

Prague took the second place in terms of the concentration of establishments (504 establishments), Munich took the third place (438 establishments per 100,000 people). Berlin ranks fourth with almost the same indicator (435), and Budapest closes the top five with 342 cafes, restaurants and bars per 100,000 inhabitants. At the same time, Budapest is one of the most affordable cities for buying residential real estate, second only to St. Petersburg. 

The Russian capital has closed the list — there are only 101 restaurants and cafes per 100,000 Muscovites. It is noteworthy that Moscow lost in this ranking to St. Petersburg, surpassing it only in terms of the absolute number of establishments.

Rating of cities by the number of establishments per 100 thousand inhabitants

London is the leader in the absolute number of establishments

Interestingly, London is in the lead in terms of the absolute number of food establishments by a wide margin: there are almost 21 thousand cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food establishments and food courts. However, its population is 4.7 times higher than that of the ranking leader Vienna and is second only to Moscow from the cities on the list, and the area of the British capital is the largest among the cities studied. Therefore, in terms of the availability of establishments per person, London does not occupy high positions.

Paris ranks second in terms of the number of restaurants after London, and first in terms of their saturation among cities with a population of more than 5 million people.

Berlin is in third place in terms of the number of establishments, followed by Moscow. Due to the relatively large area and the largest population size and density of the studied cities, Moscow occupies the last positions in the ratings of saturation of establishments per person.

How are establishments distributed within cities

In addition to the quantitative distribution, it is interesting to see how establishments are located within the city boundaries and how accessible they are to residents of the outskirts. Most cities are monocentric: catering establishments are concentrated in historical centers and poorly represented in other parts of the cities.

The exception is Paris. There are 20 districts in it and each of them is a separate world with its own atmosphere and establishments. At the same time, the French capital is both polycentric and the center of the larger agglomeration of Greater Paris, so that almost any cuisine in the world can be found in any part of the city.

If we took into account only the territory of central Paris within the borders of 20 districts (an area of 105 square kilometers), then it would take the first place in the ranking, with more than 700 restaurants and cafes per 100,000 people. However, in this case, it would not be comparable with other cities in the sample.

How do catering establishments relate to each other

The largest part of the catering establishments in the studied cities are occupied by restaurants: in Paris, Barcelona and Vienna has more than half of them. Paris justifies the title of the capital of haute cuisine: it has more than 9 thousand restaurants, 121 of which have Michelin stars.

In Russian capitals, restaurants occupy the same share as fast food establishments. Interestingly, Moscow is in the lead in terms of the absolute number of McDonalds — 186 units, and surpasses London, where there are 157.

Barcelona is the capital of bars, and London is the capital of pubs

The distribution of drinking establishments highlights the cultural differences between different countries. In London, where it is customary to meet friends over a pint of beer, the share of pubs is 17%, while in In Barcelona, where they skip a glass of sangria with tapas before dinner, pubs occupy only 2%, but the share of bars there is the highest in Europe — 18%. Rome is in second place in terms of the ratio of the number of bars to the total number of establishments: every tenth institution in the Italian capital is a bar. 

If we take the total number of drinking establishments, it seems that they drink the least in Moscow and Vienna — the share of bars together with pubs is only 9%.

Breakdown of different types of catering establishments in European cities by shares

Berlin, St. Petersburg and Vienna is the most affordable city in terms of housing costs

According to the Mercer quality of life rating (as of 2019, it was not released in 2020), which takes into account the levels of political, economic, environmental and personal safety, health, education, and other factors, it is most comfortable to live in Vienna, Munich and Berlin. Munich, however, ranks second in terms of cost per square meter, and the state of its real estate market is considered overheated. 

Vienna, in addition to taking the first place in terms of the density of catering establishments, boasts a relatively low price per square meter of housing for both rent and purchase. 

Rating of cities by the cost of renting housing

Despite the fact that the average rental rate in Berlin is one of the lowest in Europe, largely due to the fixing of the marginal cost of the rental rate in old houses in February 2020, it is difficult to find an apartment in the German capital for this money, and there are queues for viewing for good options. However, in April 2021, the upper rent limit in Berlin was abolished by the German supreme court, which may lead to a change in the average rental price in the capital in the future. At the same time, Berlin ranks third in terms of the absolute number of establishments and fourth in terms of population.

St. Petersburg is in second place in terms of rental costs, but it loses out in terms of Mercer’s quality of life and saturation of establishments. 

Conclusions 

The study showed that a fan of going to different food establishments every time does not necessarily have to go to expensive Paris or London, although they have the largest selection of cafes and restaurants. Nevertheless, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Berlin and Budapest became the leaders in the provision of catering establishments per capita. Being relatively small tourist centers, they are better equipped with the appropriate infrastructure. In addition, all of them, with the exception of Munich, are among the most affordable European cities in terms of price per square meter. 

Paris turned out to be the most expensive city in the study and the second in terms of the absolute number of catering establishments. It is followed by London, which combines both high property prices and the largest number of restaurants and bars in absolute terms. 

Berlin closed the top three cities in terms of the number of establishments and took the first place among the cities with the most affordable rental price.

As for the differences in the structure of food establishments, more than half of the establishments in Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, Prague and Munich are occupied by restaurants, and Russian cities have distinguished themselves by the largest share of fast food.

Expert’s comment

Kirill Puzanov, Associate Professor, Head of the Higher School of Urban Studies at the Higher School of Economics

“Building ratings of cities is always a risky undertaking, because it is necessary to solve two difficult questions: within what boundaries to take a city and how to measure the indicator of interest. An interesting attempt has been made here to deal with the first question. As for the number of restaurants and cafes, there are limitations on the data itself. In an ideal world, it would be worth analyzing not the cafes themselves, but the number of seats, because the word restaurant in different countries can hide both a banquet hall for dozens of people and a small family institution. Nevertheless, the results of this study suggest a number of interesting thoughts:

• The larger the city, the more difficult it is for it to get to the top positions. Why is this happening? Perhaps this is a consequence of extensive urban planning policy. The suburbs of Paris, London and Moscow are “eating up” all the potential that their center carries. I assume that if the centers were analyzed separately, the largest cities would occupy the first lines of the rating.
• Restaurants as a legacy of bygone eras. Many restaurants and cafes, or the environment in which they were originally formed, were founded during the time of another country, other financial flows and another culture.
• Going to a cafe as an outlet or as a daily practice. For residents of Moscow, going to a restaurant can be an event, but in Barcelona it is an everyday norm. Conversely, cooking at home for some cultures may be commonplace, and for some it may be an event on big holidays when the whole family gathers.

I think that this rating can be the beginning of a good research work considering the patterns of development of the restaurant business, restaurant culture and consumption practices of urban space in general.”

Authors: Elena Skrebkova, Marina Safronova.

3D graphics: Elena Skrebkova. 

Illustrations: Alina Atamanenko

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