Hospitality: Dining out is back on the menu

The hospitality sector is showing welcome signs of a rebound – and award-winning Brisbane entertainment precinct Landers Pocket is one of the leaders of the pack.

Despite cost-of-living and inflationary pressures, the business is thriving on the back of a recipe of sport, food and beverages, and lifestyle at its two venues, Golf Central and the 4 Pines at Landers Pocket brewery. 

The sites, located at Skygate near Brisbane Airport, deliver a mix of dining, drinking and golfing experiences that are getting families, corporates and young adults off the couch and enjoying themselves. The new 800-seat brewery, which opened late last year, won the gong as the state’s best pub at the 2026 Queensland Day ‘All the Best’ Awards.

Managing director James Cooper believes the key to success for Landers Pocket has been providing an “active hospitality experience” for customers, rather than just a pub or a restaurant where they will stay for a couple of hours and then leave. Instead, people can gather and enjoy everything from a distillery and gastropub through to mini-golf and hi-tech driving ranges.

“It’s not just a place to eat or drink – we offer activities plus the food and beverage piece,” says Cooper. “And there’s something for all ages.”

According to Cooper, the model is driving profitability, with patrons’ dwell time often stretching to four or five hours, not just one or two hours as is the case with many pubs.

Spending shifts from home to hospitality

Landers Pocket’s strong performance reflects the findings from a CommBank Insights Report called Table to Turnover: Hospitality Spending in 2026, which reveals spending patterns in Australia’s hospitality sector. 

One of the principal findings is that Australians are directing more food and beverage spending into hospitality venues, rather than at-home alternatives. Nationwide, year-on-year spending is up 6.6% at cafes, restaurants and catering venues; up 5.1% at bars and pubs; and down 1% at liquor retailers. 

Eating habits are changing, too, with Mexican dining up 14.1%, as at-home pizza sales fall slightly. ‘Time-rich connectors’ aged 75-plus are leading the spending growth (up 13% at licensed venues), along with ‘routine socialisers’ aged 18-24 (up 10%).

Albert Naffah, General Manager Payments Acceptance, CommBank, says the report indicates that out-of-home dining experiences are back in favour. The growth of Mexican dining is instructive, with the findings pointing to both higher visit frequency and higher spending per visit – signs of habitual, loyal behaviour. Pizza’s stagnation, by contrast, is driven by consumers visiting less often. 

“The research suggests that cuisines closely associated with eating out are winning the sales competition at the moment,” says Naffah.

“The research suggests that cuisines closely associated with eating out are winning the sales competition at the moment.”
– Albert Naffah, General Manager Payments Acceptance, CommBank

According to Naffah, this trend suggests that restaurants with a menu or format that focuses on a delivery-first experience should consider how that translates to in-venue customers. “That could include redesigning the menu and dining experience, or ramping up the social nature of the meal through in-venue activities or entertainment,” he says.

Trends vary from state to state

The CommBank data highlights significant spending shifts from state to state. 

For example, NSW shows the strongest shift from at-home liquor sales to licensed-venue sales – an 8.8% gap between pub growth (up 6%) and liquor retail (down 2.2%). Western Australia leads in dining growth (up 7.9%), while grocery sales growth has also been strong, suggesting that consumers in the west are spending more across the board than people in other states. South Australia, by contrast, reports pub sales growth of just 0.6%.

In Brisbane, Cooper says the winning demographic for the Landers Pocket venues is slightly broader than the CommBank results because of their family focus, with the sites doing especially well among the 18-40 and 75-plus markets. 

“We’ve got a great variety of activities and food and beverage, which plays to that market in their late 30s,” Cooper says. “And then with golf and mini-golf, we certainly attract the 75-plus market, but they also bring their children and grandkids, which extends customer numbers.”

“We’ve got a great variety of activities and food and beverage, which plays to that market in their late 30s. And then with golf and mini-golf, we certainly attract the 75-plus market, but they also bring their children and grandkids, which extends customer numbers.”
– James Cooper, Managing Director, Landers Pocket

While the brewery is new, Golf Central has been a fixture on the Brisbane golf and events scene for just over a decade. Cooper, a former PGA golf professional, says it targets everyone from novices who may want to combine having a hit with eating and drinking through to serious golfers who want coaching and clinics. “So, it really keeps people engaged.”

Ultimately, across both venues, Cooper says customers are demanding “inviting environments”. “They expect good beverages, and good food and service. A big part of our success is that we regularly tick those three boxes really well and that means we get lots of return visitors.”

Responding to the needs of customers

For hospitality providers seeking to make the most of the out-of-home dining trend, Naffah suggests a number of opportunities. 

Menus need to be easy for customers to navigate and find the dishes your business most wants to sell. One proven hack is to subtly guide customers towards high-margin items by placing them in the top right-hand corner of menus.

Second, keep an eye on food trends such as plant-based meals as part of a regular review of your offerings. 

Third, he recommends reviewing your technology and payments systems to address any friction points in the dining experience. 

“Ordering and paying the bill should be effortless for customers,” he explains. “That might include offering payments at the table, the option to split bills easily and accepting a wide range of payment options. 

“Streamlined order and payment systems can provide hospitality businesses with valuable insights into menu performance and customer trends – and they improve the patrons’ experiences, too.” 

“Streamlined order and payment systems can provide hospitality businesses with valuable insights into menu performance and customer trends, and they improve the patrons’ experiences, too.”
– Albert Naffah, General Manager Payments Acceptance, CommBank

Cooper agrees that maximising the impact of customer data and streamlining point-of-sale (POS) integrations is crucial to boost revenue flows and reduce administration loads.

“We analyse business data daily because it’s really critical to understand who your customers are and what they’re looking for. And, particularly for us because we’re in such a growth phase, we’re trying different things, so having access to that data means that we quickly know if something’s working or not working.”

He adds that, with up to 90% of customers using credit cards for payments, accessing seamless POS systems is crucial for his staff of 170. “Keeping it simple for them also leads to a good experience for customers, but also from our governance point of view, it’s really important.”

“Keeping POS systems simple for staff also leads to a good experience for customers, but also from our governance point of view, it’s really important.”
– James Cooper, Managing Director, Landers Pocket

Give it your best shot

With a view to the future, Cooper says Landers Pocket will concentrate on creating a “real occasion” for customers and ensuring they get great value for money. Educating people about those experiences – whether they be golf and dining activities or events such as trivia nights – will also be important, as his team ensures that traditional and social media marketing channels get the message across. 

“We want to make sure people have a really clear understanding of what to expect at our venues because we’re so unique in what we do. It’s critical we teach the customer how to consume us,” he explains.

The CommBank hospitality report underlines the fact that venues cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach. Younger adults are often looking for social occasions (prioritising atmosphere, shareability and value), while older diners are spending across formats and occasions (suggesting they are not price-sensitive, but are driven by experience, accessibility and familiarity). 

“If you haven’t thought about which cohort dominates your trade area, now’s the time,” says Naffah.

Regardless of the demographic, he says venues cannot be complacent with their product and value offering, or expect in-home spending to be enough. 

“It’s clear that consumers are choosing venues that offer a reason to go out.”