How to start a pop-up restaurant in the UK (2026)

A pop-up restaurant is a temporary restaurant that runs for a night, a weekend or a few months in a space that isn't its permanent home, such as a pub kitchen, a café after hours, a gallery or a market. To run one legally in the UK, you need to register as a food business (if you trade often enough), have insurance and allergen information, and cover alcohol with the venue's licence or a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

Pop-ups are the cheapest way to test a restaurant idea with real paying customers. This guide shows you how to set one up, what it costs and how to sell every seat before the night.

What is a pop-up restaurant?

A pop-up borrows someone else's space for a short time. The space might be empty, or it might be another business on its day off. The chef brings the menu, the team and the buzz.

Common pop-up formats in the UK:

• Supper club: a set menu for a small group, often at a shared table. Sometimes held in a home.
• Kitchen takeover or residency: you cook in a pub or bar's kitchen for one night, a few weeks or months.
• Café evening pop-up: a café that closes at 4pm hosts a dinner service at night.
• Pop-up food stall: a gazebo or counter at a market, festival or event.
• Seasonal pop-up: a Christmas, summer or festival-week concept in a short-let unit.

Why chefs do it: to test a menu before signing a lease, build a following, get press, or earn extra income without the cost of a full restaurant.

Pros and cons of a pop-up restaurant

Step 1: Pick your concept and format

Start with what you want to learn. Testing a full restaurant concept? Book a residency of four to eight weeks. Testing one dish? A market stall is enough. Building a name? A ticketed supper club gets people talking.

Keep the menu tight. A set menu of three to five courses is easiest. You buy exactly what you need, prep in advance and know your food cost to the penny. Use our GP calculator to price it.

Step 2: Find a venue

Questions to ask any venue:

1. Does the venue have a premises licence, and does it cover alcohol, late hours and music on your nights?
2. What's its food hygiene rating, and can you use its kitchen equipment?
3. Who is insured for what?
4. Who cleans, and who takes the rubbish?
5. Is there a written agreement with dates, fees and cancellation terms?

Step 3: Licences and registration

Do I need to register my pop-up as a food business?

Food businesses must register with their local council at least 28 days before trading. It's free. What counts is whether you supply food regularly and in an organised way. A one-off dinner may not need registering, but a weekly residency will. Councils apply this differently, so ask yours.

If you cook in a venue that's already registered, ask the council whether your business needs its own registration. Councils differ. Don't guess: one email to environmental health sorts it.

Selling alcohol at a pop-up: Temporary Event Notices (TENs)

In England and Wales, you need a licence to sell alcohol, provide some regulated entertainment, or sell hot food between 11pm and 5am. If the venue's premises licence doesn't cover your event, you can give a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

TEN rules (England and Wales, from GOV.UK):

• Fewer than 500 people at any one time, including staff.
• Up to 168 hours (7 days) per event.
• Fee: £21.
• Give a standard TEN at least 10 clear working days before the event (send copies to the police and environmental health).
• A late TEN can be given 5 to 9 clear working days before. Police or environmental health can block it.
• A premises can have up to 15 TENs a year, covering no more than 21 days in total.
• You can give 5 TENs a year without a personal licence (2 can be late), or 50 a year if you hold a personal licence (10 can be late).

Bring your own bottle (BYOB): you don't need a licence if guests bring their own alcohol and you don't sell it. If the ticket price includes "free" wine, that can count as selling it. If you want to charge corkage, ask your council's licensing team first.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

• Scotland: use an occasional licence from the local licensing board under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. Boards often need several weeks' notice and publish applications for objections. Apply early.
• Northern Ireland: there is no TEN. Alcohol at occasional events goes through an occasional licence applied for at court by an existing licence holder, and it's limited to certain kinds of events. Partnering with a licensed venue is usually the simplest route.

Other things you'll need

• Insurance: public liability (most venues ask for it) and employers' liability if you have staff. One-off event cover is available.
• Allergens: tell guests which of the 14 allergens are in each dish. With a set menu, put an allergen chart on the table or on a QR code. Ask about allergies when people book. Our allergen matrix maker is free. On a Menuthere menu you can also tag each dish with its allergens and calories, on every plan including Free, and guests see them when they open the dish.
• Food safety: a simple HACCP or Safer Food, Better Business record for each event, plus proper food hygiene training.
• Music: if you play recorded music, check whether the venue's music licence covers you.

Step 4: Ticketing, pre-orders and deposits

Empty seats are a pop-up's biggest risk. You bought the food already. The fix is to take money before the night.

Three ways to do it:

1. Sell tickets for set-menu dinners through a ticketing platform. Prepaid tickets almost wipe out no-shows. Set clear refund terms (for example, refunds up to 72 hours before).
2. Take pre-orders for food from a set menu. Guests choose their courses in advance, so you buy and prep exactly the right amounts. With Menuthere, you get a commission-free ordering page with scheduled orders (Lite plan) so guests can pre-order for a set date and time and pay by card through your own Stripe account. See pre-orders.
3. Take a deposit by payment link (for example Stripe Payment Links) and the rest on the night. Menuthere doesn't take deposits itself, so send the link from your card provider. Table booking starts on Lite (US$17 a month, 7-day free trial; you add a card, but nothing is charged until it ends).

On the night: put a QR code on every table for drinks, extras and the next pop-up date. Guests order and add to their bill without waving down staff. Menuthere QR codes are free. See QR code ordering.

Sell your pop-up before you cook it. set your menu and share the link, with 0% commission. Pre-orders for a set date and time start on Lite (US$17 a month, billed in US dollars).

Create your free ordering page

VAT note: a ticket for a meal eaten at the venue is catering, so it's standard-rated at 20% if you're VAT-registered. Ask your accountant about any booking fee on top. See our VAT guide.

Step 5: Fill the seats (marketing on a small budget)

• Start your list early. Collect emails or WhatsApp opt-ins from day one. The guests from your first pop-up are your best sellers for the next one.
• Instagram and TikTok: show the prep, the venue and the dish. Post the menu and the booking link two to three weeks before.
• Partner with the venue. Ask the pub, café or brewery to share your event with their followers.
• Local press and food bloggers: a new pop-up is a story. Invite one or two to the first night.
• WhatsApp: message past guests when the next dates go live. On Menuthere Pro, you can send WhatsApp broadcasts to customers who opted in. Meta charges per message separately. See WhatsApp for restaurants.
• Create urgency: limited seats and fixed dates sell better than "open until further notice".

How much does a pop-up restaurant cost? A 3-night example

Here's a typical estimate for a three-night supper-club pop-up in a café after hours: 30 covers a night, a five-course set menu at £45 a head.

Income: 90 covers × £45 = £4,050. If you're VAT-registered, about £675 of that is VAT, leaving £3,375. If you're not registered, you keep the full £4,050. Add drinks income if you sell drinks.

Rough profit: roughly break-even to about £1,200 over three nights, before your own time. The real value is often what you learn and the list you build.

All figures are typical estimates for illustration.

Pop-up restaurant ideas that work in the UK

1. Sunday roast pop-up in a pub that doesn't do food.
2. Monday-night residency in a restaurant that's closed that day.
3. Brunch pop-up in a bar that opens at 5pm.
4. Street food stall at a weekly market to test a single dish.
5. Supper club in your home or a friend's studio (check your registration and insurance).
6. Cuisine takeover: a regional dish few local places cook, such as Keralan, Georgian or West African.
7. Chef collaboration: two chefs, one menu, two audiences.
8. Brewery pairing night with the taproom's beers.
9. Christmas pop-up in a short-let shop unit from November to New Year.
10. Office lunch pop-up: pre-ordered lunches delivered to a business park on set days.
11. Festival-week pop-up during Fringe, Pride or a big sporting event.
12. Dessert-only or late-night pop-up after a theatre or gig.

Pop-up restaurant checklist

• Concept, set menu and food cost worked out
• Venue agreed in writing (dates, fee, kitchen use, cleaning)
• Council contacted about registration (28 days ahead if needed)
• Alcohol covered: venue licence, TEN (10 working days ahead) or occasional licence, or BYOB
• Public liability insurance (and employers' liability if you have staff)
• Allergen chart ready and allergy question on the booking form
• Food safety records for each event
• Tickets or pre-orders live, with refund terms
• QR menu for drinks and extras on the night
• Opt-in for emails or WhatsApp to invite guests next time