Halfseat vs
EatClub.
EatClub launched in the UK in 2025 with Series-B firepower and a dynamic-pricing model. They're backed by Marco Pierre White and have moved fast. Here's where the two products diverge.
| EatClub | Halfseat | |
|---|---|---|
| Diner booking fee | £0 upfront | From £5, by party size |
| Venue revenue model | Commission on the bill (% of total) | No bill commission. £3 to £8 of each diner's booking fee, by party size. |
| Drinks pricing | Drinks discounted alongside food | Drinks at full price, venue keeps 100% of margin |
| Booking window | Same-day, early-bird, and peak slots | Tonight only, and that's the whole point |
| Brand positioning | Dynamic-pricing app, deal-led | Editorial / foodie, curated rooms, not deals |
| Backed by | $32.7M raised, valued ~$200M, Marco Pierre White-backed | Bootstrapped by a UK hospitality operator |
| Geography | UK + Australia, 1,000+ UK venues mid-2025 | Brighton first. Selective. Slow on purpose. |
| Venue contract | No contract, pay per booking | No contract, no exclusivity. Halfseat Pro (£25/mo) is optional. |
The drinks question
Restaurant drinks are 65-75% gross margin. Food sits at 30-50%. EatClub's discount applies to both, which is great for diners and hard on the venue's P&L. To make the model work, EatClub takes commission on the discounted bill, but with drinks marked down, the venue's already given up the place it earns most.
Halfseat halves the food bill and leaves drinks at full price. The venue keeps every penny of drinks margin, the same way they keep it on a regular cover. Diners pay a booking fee (from £5, by party size) instead of a 0-fee-but-discounted-drinks deal. For the venue it's the difference between a cover that keeps the lights on and one that doesn't, and unlike EatClub, from £3 of that fee lands in the venue's account.
Editorial vs dynamic
EatClub's brand is "dynamic pricing": prices fluctuate, slots are surfaced by an algorithm, the diner-side UX is closer to a budget-airline ticket search than a restaurant booking.
Halfseat is the opposite. We list a small number of restaurants, the kind you'd already pay full price to eat at, and tell you when one of them has a seat tonight. Quality over volume. Editorial over algorithm. We curate.
Should venues use both?
Yes, where it makes sense. EatClub's dynamic model works for venues happy to discount across dayparts. Halfseat fits venues who want a yield channel specifically for the off-peak seats they were going to leave empty, without giving up the drinks margin.