Insatiable Appetites: Eating Out in Georgian London
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Londoners rich and poor dined out frequently, often as a matter of necessity. For the wealthy, work and social obligations meant eating in taverns, chophouses, coffee houses, or at gaming tables. For the poor, preparing food at home was often near impossible in crowded lodgings that lacked cooking spaces, making cookshops and street vendors a daily reality.
Peter Ross, former principal librarian of the City of London's Guildhall Library, helps modern readers understand the diversity of London's eating establishments as Georgian residents would have, distinguishing a pub from a tavern, a cookshop from a chophouse. We learn how menus were displayed, what beverages were served, how staff dressed, and whether customers were charged by dish or by weight.
Ross's eye for detail reveals a city whose population was growing rapidly while absorbing foods from Africa, India, and the Caribbean that were permanently changing how it ate. Hot cross bun sales were associated with riots, vendors roamed the streets selling hot peas, and a piece of gingerbread from 1814 survives to this day in a London museum.
Hardcover. Color and black-and-white illustrations.
Published on June 2, 2026
