Unlock pub & restaurant savings just by popping down the road, eg, Wetherspoon 38% less, Harvester 14% less

I discovered this by chance at a Hungry Horse in Chelmsford. As it happens, I’d recently had gammon and chips at a different Hungry Horse three miles down the road, and I fancied the same again. To my surprise, it cost £2 extra for exactly the same food I ate previously.

So I’ve done some digging and found similar price variance across other major chains, such as Wetherspoon, Harvester and TGI Fridays. It doesn't just apply to one item either – below I've picked out the strongest examples, but prices often vary across the entire menu.

What have I found?

Out of the 10 major pub and restaurant chains I've been looking at – comparing menu prices across 20 branches for each – I found seven had variations in pricing around the country (see full info on the table below). Only Nando's, Pizza Express and Pizza Hut kept the same pricing across all of their restaurants I examined.

Below, I've picked one popular menu item for each chain and showed what, if any, price disparity emerged. Of course, this isn't an exact science – and there won't always be price variance where you live – but you can hopefully use this info as a prompt to check before you go if you've more than one of the same chain nearby to choose from.