Sydney's top restaurants are turning their backs on delivery
A growing cohort of Sydney's most respected restaurant operators is stepping back from food delivery and takeaway, choosing instead to reinvest in the in-room dining experience that built their reputations.
The trend runs counter to the broader market. According to Lightspeed's State of the Industry report, dine-in revenue has declined from 31 per cent to 20 per cent of total hospitality turnover over the past 12 months, while takeaway and delivery orders have continued to grow. Yet for a number of well-regarded Sydney venues, the numbers aren't the point.
Katie Shortland, co-owner of RaRa Ramen, told the Sydney Morning Herald her group trialled delivery during the pandemic but has been winding it back ever since. "I don't think ... it's worth compromising on the experience," she said. "There's been a shift, certainly for us, back to when we were serving people bowls of ramen [in our dining room], rather than just handing over takeaway."
The same logic applies at the Porteno Group, whose venues — including Continental Deli, Mister Grotto and the 16-year-old Surry Hills institution Porteno — have long traded on sharp service and a convivial atmosphere that doesn't survive a cardboard box. Creative director Sarah Doyle was candid. "We did delivery during the COVID [period] but it doesn't translate, and it's not the experience people want for that level of food. You don't get the immediacy, the atmosphere, the romance," she told the SMH. Instead, the group has opened three accommodation suites above its Australia Street restaurants, deepening the in-venue proposition.
These tensions were aired at Monday night's Good Food Symposium, convened by Good Food head Sarah Norris. The panel resisted easy answers. "What works in one venue doesn't always work in another," Doyle said. "It's about consistently working on your brands, pivoting when you have to, and working really, really hard. There's no secret to it."
For Federico Zanellato of two-hatted LuMi Dining, the pivot meant format diversification — he launched Lode Pies & Pastries in 2021, now spanning five Sydney locations. The transition was harder than expected. "I thought [Lode] would be easier to run than a fine-dining restaurant, but it's not. It still requires a huge amount of skill, commitment, time and money," he told the SMH. His reasoning for persisting: "I think the human interaction is something that can't be replaced."
Shortland's own expansion — RaRa in Transit at Sydney Airport — draws on Japan's transport-hub dining culture. Back at her Redfern and Randwick restaurants, QR codes are out and table service is back. "It's become quite a rewarding experience for the staff and chefs, to see that level of engagement, and people just enjoying and expressing their love for food again," she told the SMH.
On branding, Haberfield's Chris Theodosi was emphatic: "Branding is more important than ever – in 2026 more so than 2020." On AI, most panellists admitted limited use — though Shortland noted it had cut her monthly tip calculations from 90 minutes to 40 seconds, freeing time that "has a direct impact on the customer engagement."
Jonathan Jackson, 7th May 2026
