A 'public restaurant' will be piloted in Nottingham as part of a new research project that will evaluate if this approach can help improve public health and wellbeing by providing everyone with access to high-quality food.
Public restaurants are a type of public infrastructure, like public libraries or leisure centres – supported by government to keep costs accessible so that everyone benefits.
There are two pilot restaurants due to open in Nottingham and Dundee in spring 2026 that will be co-designed with local residents and partners to ensure they reflect the tastes, needs and priorities of their communities. The restaurant aims to give people access to affordable healthy eating out options with locally produced food that supports sustainable and ethical farming practice.
The DISHED project is led by the Institute of Development Studies, in partnership with the University of Nottingham, Nourish Scotland, and the University of Sussex. It is funded as part of a UK-wide initiative from UKRI to tackle growing food inequality and will help support the broader aims of the NHS 10-year plan.
Public restaurants are not a brand-new idea. They were a staple of 1940s-60s Britain and countries like Brazil and Poland have run them for decades. But this project is the first of its kind in the UK today, testing whether public restaurants could help improve health, wellbeing and the environment.
The project will not only draw on local voices but also learn from past and present public restaurant models, including those in Denmark, Brazil, and Poland, as well as historically in Britain, undertaking the first international comparison of public restaurant models.
The pilot restaurants to be tested are expected to run for 14 months and will be rigorously evaluated to provide invaluable insights into the efficacy and public benefits of this approach.
Public restaurants offer nutritious meals at affordable prices. They're designed to be welcoming to everyone - no matter your income or background, they are attractive, comfortable places to be in - somewhere that you could take the kids or a colleague or your mum for a good meal.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham will be working to understand the perspectives and experiences of different members of the community and gathering quantitative data on the impact of the pilot restaurants on health and wellbeing. The project team will also analyse the potential environmental impacts of the initiative, the potential return on investment and economic impacts of the public restaurant model.
Through this project we can explore whether providing high-quality, low-cost food options can benefit people and the wider economy and whether these types of restaurants could be one of the possible solutions for improving public health.
Anna Chworow, from Nourish Scotland, said: "A public restaurant is a type of public infrastructure, like public libraries and public transport. A service that is for everyone, much in the same way public parks are for everyone. The subsidy is designed to keep prices low for everyone, much in the same way public subsidies reduce the cost of public transport or leisure centres.
"Diet has overtaken smoking as the leading cause of preventable illness. It's high time for us to be investing in solutions that make good food accessible and convenient for everyone."
The project is being run in collaboration with Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Thriving Nottinham and FareShare Midlands. In Dundee, it is in collaboration with Dundee City Council, Dundee Healthy Weight Partnership, Faith in Community Dundee, and Maxwell Community Centre and Garden.
Nottingham Councillor Cheryl Barnard, points out how "social eating builds community" and commented that: "The restaurant supports the city's vision of becoming the UK's first "social eating city," where people come together to enjoy good food and good company."
We have evolved to eat together. Social eating can boost wellbeing for individuals and communities.
