Before he had kids, David Feeney would only find himself in a restaurant at 6pm if a long lunch segued into dinner. Now the Haberfield dad and his wife, Lesley Healy, regularly go out early to dinner with their daughters, Maeve, 5, and Elsa, 4.
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They eat out locally, often surrounded by other families with young children. By striking before the dinner rush they get to enjoy a restaurant meal and still get home before the kids' bedtime.
"You want to get them fed before the chaos of 7 o'clock hits," Mr Feeney said. "There's an unspoken agreement [with the restaurant] that you come at six and you're gone by 7.30."
The percentage of Australians dining in the 5-6pm timeslot has jumped by 35 per cent in the past two years, according to a new industry analysis by restaurant reservation website Dimmi.
The chief executive of Dimmi, Steven Premutico, said significant changes in the way Australians are eating out were revealed in the 2016 Dimmi Australian Dining Index, which aggregates data from its 3500 partner restaurants.
The trend towards earlier dining, and the growing popularity of eating out on Sundays rather than Fridays, reflected a desire for more family time, as well as cost-conscious consumers taking advantage of special rates outside peak times and a focus on healthy lifestyles, he said.
"The shift towards Sunday is a bit of a new craze," Mr Premutico said. "People are doing less of the boozy Friday night out and spending much more time on Sunday with the family. We're seeing families eating out a whole lot more."
Mr Premutico said diners were also eating earlier as they tried to fit more into their lives. "You're going straight from work to a quick dinner and you're still getting home in time to see the family before the kids go to bed. There certainly appears to be a trend towards Australians eating out earlier, going to sleep earlier and rising earlier to do sport or [exercise]."
The index also recorded a 21 per cent rise in diners eating between 9pm and 10pm, with Mr Premutico saying technology such as online booking helped restaurants fill tables outside peak times.
Restaurateur Neil Perry, who last Monday opened Eleven Bridge, the successor to his legendary fine diner Rockpool, said the culture of dining out had changed. It was no longer reserved just for special occasions, he said, and online booking was giving people more choice about when and where they eat out.
"They're seeing there's more flexibility, they can grab a table when they want it," he said. "We're seeing people eating earlier, people eating later, people wanting to dine seven days a week."
Perry said that 20 years ago, the focus of business for restaurants "was really revolving around the Friday and Saturday night. The reality of it now is .... all sorts of times of the week are popular".
