Issue 2

The TikTok Commodification of London Restaurants

By: Lois Sutton

From hidden gems in Hackney to opulent dining in Mayfair, TikTok’s rise has turned London restaurants into stages for social performance, where food is no longer just eaten, but curated, filmed, and posted for likes.

TikTok is quickly becoming a replacement for search engines such as Google when it comes to seeking out your next restaurant review. Many restaurants have been on the receiving end of extreme virality as a result of TikTok videos rating and reviewing them, and blowing up online. What once took years of critical acclaim to build popularity and prominence can now be achieved through a single viral video. Examples of this are restaurants such as Flat Iron and Circolo Poplare. More often than not, this virality comes as a result of the restaurant’s aesthetic as opposed to the quality of food. With this surge in digital dining culture comes a shift in how restaurants operate, how consumers choose where to eat, and what it means to have an "authentic" food experience. The commodification of London’s restaurants through TikTok has created a new economy of hype. It is now one that rewards aesthetics, novelty, and momentum over culinary substance or cultural depth. 

Dining has always had a social component, but TikTok takes this to a new level. The very act of eating in a TikTok-famous restaurant is often performative: it is staged for followers rather than for personal enjoyment. It's not just influencers with millions of followers, but now even general diners have begun to meticulously film their food from multiple angles, narrate their first bite with a dramatic flourish, and often rate the experience with exaggerated expressions.

Although rare, some ‘viral’ restaurants end up failing due to not being able to keep up with demand and rising costs, particularly in London. Take, for instance, Karen’s Diner. Many will remember videos of waiters being rude to customers in an ‘All-American style Diner’, gaining huge amounts of traction in 2022. Unfortunately, they had to close their last UK branch in Islington, London, earlier this year. 

Restaurant owners are not passive participants in this trend, with many actively seeking TikTok virality. Some hire influencers to promote their food, offer free meals for exposure, or even stage dishes specifically for filming. Others build entire brands around the platform, designing spaces and menus with TikTok in mind from day one. Famous YouTube and TikTok content creator, CalFreezy, focuses a lot of his content around food reviews, particularly rating ‘TikTok Viral’ dishes and restaurants. He recently stated in one of his videos that his reviews, which often receive millions of views, that what he says can ‘make or break’ a restaurant or product. This highlighted just how powerful one person’s opinion can be online. 

The commodification of London restaurants through the likes of TikTok is a double-edged knife. On one side, the platform democratises exposure, allowing lesser-known spots to reach massive audiences without needing PR firms or critics. It stimulates creativity, fuels entrepreneurialism, and taps into the visual and experiential elements of food. On the other side, it has the potential to dilute culinary traditions, prioritise spectacle over substance, and erode authentic food culture in favor of algorithm-driven fads. 

As diners, we must ask ourselves: are we chasing good food, or just good content?