10-01-2008
Four inexpensive ways to give your restaurant a lift
by Rosie Beasley
If your restaurant business is stagnating, the best thing you can do is try to look at it with fresh eyes and identify small things to change that will make a difference. Before making any changes, however, ensure that your restaurant insurance policy will still cover you. Here are some simple ways to give your business a lift.
Lighting
If you’ve ever eaten in a West End steakhouse, you’ll know that bad lighting really can spoil your restaurant experience. To allow your customers to get the most from eating at your restaurant, you need to decide what kind of experience you’d like them to have, and then recreate this with the lighting.
Candles and dim overhead lights create an intimate, romantic atmosphere. Party lights create a more festive or a summery atmosphere. Coloured lighting can evoke other cultures, for example orange tinted lamps can lend a Moroccan feel.
As a general rule, diners like to be able to see their food and their menu without squinting. However they don’t like harsh strip lighting which shows up every wrinkle or blemish on their face. Diners like a feeling of privacy, even when there are other people eating all around.
As a result the wrong type of lighting can ruin the ambiance of your eatery, put off passers-by from entering and keep those that do give you a try from returning. Changing it can give your restaurant a lift by improving or simply changing your customers’ dining experience.
Music
In much the same way as lighting, the music you play in your restaurant helps to create the atmosphere.
The type of music you decide to play will depend on the type of restaurant you have, however there are some rules to stick to that apply to all:
• Don’t play music too loudly. It shouldn’t encroach on your guests’ conversations.
• Don’t repeat the same track more than once during a sitting.
• Music isn’t always appropriate. The hum of conversation can be enough.
• The radio can be appropriate for a café but not usually for a restaurant.
Temperature
We’ve all come across those restaurants that advertise air conditioning on their fascia sign. Air conditioning is great if it is preventing lingering smells and keeping the dining area fresh, but the temperature should be carefully monitored.
Eating a meal when too hot is not only uncomfortable, but it can dampen appetites. Eating while too cold can be distracting, and encourage guests to leave quickly.
Men tend not to feel the cold as much as women, especially as they are usually wearing warmer clothing. However your ideal temperature should be one where it is comfortable for your guests of both sexes to sit with their jackets off for at least an hour.
Ask your friends to temperature test your restaurant, in order to find the ideal setting for comfort and appetite stimulation!
Cleanliness
Just as guests to your home notice its cleanliness, so guests to your restaurant will notice if the floor isn’t swept or the tables are sticky.
A diner will link the cleanliness of your restaurant with the quality of your food, and if it isn’t up to scratch they certainly won’t feel happy eating there.
Your front of house manager, or whoever is in charge of the waiting staff, should be responsible for ensuring that the dining area is spotless. Tables should be cleared and cleaned as soon as guests leave, with a clean cloth and antibacterial spray used to wipe surfaces.
If other diners see the care taken with clearing a table, it will make them feel more comfortable while eating their own meal.
Cutlery is just as important. It should be inspected before laying tables so that guests do not find bits of other people’s dinner stuck on a fork or spoon.
The state of your premises reflects the management and care given to all aspects of your business. Do not give customers a reason to second-guess the quality of your food or service before they’ve even experienced it.
Don't forget to take out comprehensive business insurance for your restaurant!