More food, less booze: the changing face of the West End

By Mike Pollitt
30 October 2012, 09:52

“…between 2005 and 2009 there was a rise of 14 per cent in the number of restaurants, a reduction of 5.7 per cent in the number of bars, café bars and pubs, and a 16 per cent reduction in the number of nightclubs. There was also evidence of a reverse in the area’s trend of increasing crime, disorder and public nuisance.”

This was a deliberate policy by Westminster council to favour restaurants over bars in planning decisions.

So, people who’ve been eating and drinking and carousing around town for some time, I ask you this: has the character of the West End at night changed from the boozy times of yore?

From the report by GLA Economics (PDF) – Alcohol consumption in the night-time economy