Bottomless has become a trend, from drinks to food, the idea of never-ending indulgence has taken the high street by storm.
In reality bottomless events aren’t about the consumption of food or beverages, instead they’re designed around sociability and marketability.
Whilst bottomless brunch has been an established deal for a while, bottomless sushi, pizza, tapas, pancakes, and more have emerged more recently.
Bottomless culture sells the idea of unlimited drinks or food within a set time frame for a capped price. Allowing individuals to overeat and drink for cheaper. The idea of it allows people to consume without feeling guilty about the amount.
It increases experimental dining, letting customers try a range of items for “free”. It is a popular experience as it is perceived as having value for money. The trend plays into the psychology of gamification, as customers try to get the most out of their money, calculating what the bill would have been without the deal, or trying to beat the record of how many items they consume each time.
Bottomless brunch is extremely marketable and especially plays into the appeal of group outings, and special occasions like birthdays and hen dos. This style of brunch is aimed primarily at women, FOMO culture, and social media promotion and aestheticism.
I myself am guilty of falling into the trap of doing bottomless with the girls on each of our birthdays. Something about the free-flowing drinks for a set price sucks us in. For us it is not
about the quality of the food, we are there to gossip and gulp down our never-ending drinks.
We all know of Las Iguanas bottomless brunch, serving Mexican and South American dishes with unlimited cocktails. They even offer it at a reduced rate on Wednesdays for students. Las Iguanas first introduced this in 2018, but since then it has completely evolved. Turtle Bay is another bottomless brunch classic, serving Caribbean-inspired brunch and unlimited cocktails, this began in 2020. These were the OGs of the bottomless world, with other places following along.
Now we see Bills doing bottomless pancakes, many all-you can-eat sushi restaurants, endless pizza spots, even some Chinese restaurants offer it. Recently, I have become aware of how hard I’ve fallen into the trap. This year alone I’ve held my birthday bottomless drinks at Las Iguanas, I’ve had all you can eat Chinese at a local restaurant with my family, and I’ve taken my friends to bottomless sushi at Sushimania. Las Iguanas now offers bottomless tapas on Tuesdays for £17pp, best believe I’ve tried this too. And as much as I have been sucked into the marketing of bottomless, I can’t help but be pleased with my experience each time
For businesses bottomless deals help fill in slow periods by attracting people in at brunch hours or less favourable days. It guarantees upfront revenue by playing into the psychology of being a bargain. This scheduled fun is easy for restaurants to set in place in busy cities, usually encouraging a set turn around of 90 minutes.
At bottomless events it can be hard to contain your greed, restaurants have found it hard to keep up with demand of larger parties and are often left with a surplus of waste. Some venues limit menus, portion sizes or charge for leftovers to get around issues with food waste and overconsumption.
There is no right or wrong to bottomless. It may be an alluring marketing tactic but that is not to say you are not allowed to enjoy it. You pay for what you get and it’s undoubtedly a great group get-together.
