As restaurant operators, you understand how important presentation is; from your restaurant decor to your food and how your staff presents themselves. Friendly and warm is how you direct your hosts and waiters to act in front of all guests and a smile sure goes a long way. As we already wrote previously, a restaurant operator must always keep customer service at the most optimal level– and we mean in every facet.

There are a countless number of restaurants where a large percentage of business is composed of take-out orders. How does your restaurant handle all the guests who call-in their orders? What about if someone wants to make a reservation? Just as your restaurant has rules in place for how to handle dine-in customers, you must have guidelines for phone etiquette! Poor customer service, whether it is in person or over the phone, can really put a damper on your restaurant’s reputation (calling all Yelpers!), so why take any chances? Customer is king!

Proper restaurant phone etiquette tips

• A proper introduction when an employee first answers the phone will consist of a enthusiastic voice saying  similar to “Thanks for choosing Tony’s Pizzeria, I’m Julia, how can I help you today?” for example. Simply answer the phone with, “Tony’s Pizzeria” is unacceptable.
• Make sure your employees know the menu and pricing inside and out in the even that a customer needs some assistance in choosing the right items for their meal.
• Sometimes, customers ask for some customization; ensure your staff understands how to properly respond when a request cannot be accommodated to their specifications.
• You never want to place a customer on hold for too long! Consider installing multiple phones and lines to handle high volume calls.
• Always end a call with an approximate time the food will be ready and of course a THANK YOU!
• If your restaurant is utilizing a POS system to enter orders, make sure all staff are fully trained on the system to minimize the amount of incorrect orders placed from phone orders.
•  Before any employee picks up the phone, they must be properly trained! You only have one chance to make a first impression.

Have you ever accidentally dropped your fountain drink only to have the lid and all the contents of the cup splatter everywhere? Perhaps not so common but annoying nonetheless! Imagine the frustration one of your guests would feel if this happened, not to mention the big mess.

If you serve a lot of cold beverages at your establishment, there is a great solution for this and you may have seen it around if you’ve ever frequented boba drink shops. Drinks at these shops aren’t usually served with your traditional plastic SOLO lids but rather with a plastic seal.

After it’s sealed using a special cup sealing machine, you can shake up your drink, drop it, really just do anything to it and it won’t spill! How do you drink out of it? Just quickly jab a special straw (straws that have a pointy tip) right through the seal and you’re done! An added perk to this is you can use the seal to brand your restaurant; add your logo, website and maybe even a QR code (imagine the branding possibilities!).

The concept of restaurant branding is just like any other business; the branding is what gets customers to remember you; it’s what defines your restaurant — in other words, your brand is who your restaurant is! The aspect of restaurant branding is not one to be downplayed or ignored.

So before you even begin to brand your restaurant, you have to sit down with your partners and really define what your restaurant is all about. Answer these questions: 1) Why would people come visit your restaurant? 2) What is your restaurant known for? 3) What do you (your restaurant) want to be known for? Or, what does your restaurant represent? 4) Who is your target audience?

Answering these questions with thoughtful consideration will help lead you to define your brand — the first step in restaurant branding.

What else comes along with restaurant branding? The common aspects of restaurant branding will include your restaurant logo, restaurant interior and exterior design, color scheme and design for your branding and marketing materials (aside from decor) such as your menu, wait staff attire, food containers, advertising and restaurant website just to name a few. If executed correctly, these items will accurately convey your restaurant brand to your guests and to your target audience as a whole.

If this seems all too overwhelming, or you’re not quite sure where to begin with branding (or entirely building a new brand) contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants — our restaurant branding experts have dealt with hundreds of independent and chain restaurants. Call us at 1-888-861-9212 to schedule your initial consultation.

No restaurant owner would ever knowingly allow the chefs in their restaurants to not wash their hands after using the restroom or to use the same cutting board for meats and vegetables. These are enormous health hazards and are against food safety laws! The fact of the matter is, food safety is put into place to protect people from getting sick from foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and e. coli poisoning.

But sometimes, the areas of the kitchen that are the most often overlooked are the ones that can be very deadly. Take for example the ice machine/ice maker. Did you know that there can be bacteria, yeast, fungus, salmonella or e. coli lurking inside the machine?  Your very own customers are consuming the ice coming from these machines!

When was the last time you properly cleaned your ice machine? Take the test; put on a white glove and rub your fingers near ice dispenser. If you see slimy off-colored (e.g. pink) film or residue, your ice machine is likely contaminated with some kind of harmful bacteria! Yes, dirty ice machines can make your guests sick!

So how do you make sure your ice machine is health-law compliant and safe for your customers? It’s easy– have your machine regularly cleaned by service professionals. Also, if your employees are serving ice to guests, make sure their bare hands are not in contact with the ice (never ever allow them to touch ice with their bare hands!).

How is the ice stored? Is it left in a bucket uncovered lying anywhere in the kitchen? This is a health hazard! Ice must be stored separately and contained properly!

If you have a soda fountain machine, you can purchase one that has a built-in ice machine which allows for contact-less ice making. Of course, there are also automatic cleaning systems that you can invest in which pair with specific ice machines.

If you want to learn more about how to keep your restaurant kitchen up to health code, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants to learn more.

To your success,

Dean and Danny

The Mathematics of Restaurants

by J. Clyde Gilfillan, JCG3 Development Inc.

The “mathematics” of the restaurant business is really not about math per se: It’s about putting the business into equations (simple terms) that get to the core of what successful companies are doing in this challenging and wonderful world of hospitality. Perhaps these “equations” will ring a bell within yourself and/or your organization.

FOOD + SERVICE + DÉCOR = SYSTEMS

Food, service, and décor are the pillars of our business. In order to achieve the entry price of business in today’s industry, they all must match the concept and brand. This is the culture you want to operate in. Systems—the way to operate within the culture—allow people to execute within a clear and understood environment. Keep systems simple, and your chances of success are on the plus side. Established systems come from a united culture and a united management team. Without systems in place, you are asking your management team to guess what is expected, and chaos could reign.

HIRING + TRAINING + CLARITY + FOLLOW UP = RESULTS-ORIENTED PEOPLE

Results-Oriented People are produced through:

a. Diligent hiring (hire tough) – Find the right fit before the hire and not afterward; don’t hire out of desperation.

b. Uncompromised and thorough training – Don’t bypass this crucial step to rush people through? You will regret it later. Training should be thorough and complete.

c. Clarity of standards, expectations, and performance levels communicated to ALL staff – This step is essential. Clarity is the leader’s #1 job.

d. Follow-up through one-on-ones, meetings, and evaluation sessions – Feedback is crucial in garnering top performance from people. Your staff needs a safe environment to hear and react to constructive feedback on performance—the good parts and the challenges.

e. Culling nonperformers from the team – They will bring down the superstars you have on your team, poisoning the well and causing your best employees to seek a better environment elsewhere. Be diligent in targeting “good” turnover and honor those top performers on your team.

SYSTEMS + RESULTS-ORIENTED PEOPLE = OPERATIONAL CONSISTENCY

Once systems are in place and you have, for the most part, results-oriented people on your team, consistency is only achieved through motivated people who will enthusiastically execute systems with precision. You must provide the environment that engenders this enthusiasm. Constant and/or reactive change endangers the existence of consistency—for your associates and your guests.

OPERATIONAL CONSISTENCY + MARKETING = SALES

Sales are simply a function of the above equations and how you market to promote increased frequency, new trial, and increased party size. Marketing can only provide customers; consistent operations drive sales—always. When you bring customers into your business via marketing, it is the job of Operations to execute so that your patrons will realize the value, goodness, and uniqueness of your product.

SALES + COST CONTROL = PROFIT

Profit is easier to attain if you have managed the above equations and have installed cost control, including but not limited to food and labor costs. This is not a business in which we can prosper by cutting costs—this will eventually catch up to us. However, effective cost controls are a must to maximize profits and ROI. Be “greedy” so to speak: Drive sales and keep costs in line.

As simple as these equations sound, they are not easy to execute. Compromise on one of these areas, and the equations break down. The Mathematics of Restaurants is simply a way to look at a complicated business in a new light—to break it down to manageable aspects at all levels.

For help with the “math” of your business, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

The New Meaning of “Sustainability” Today

This year’s What’s Hot chef survey (in which the National Restaurant Association surveyed more than 1,800 chefs affiliated with the American Culinary Federation about trends in food, beverages, cuisines and culinary themes) put sustainability at position #5 on the list of the Top 10 trends for 2012.

But what does that mean? At a time when initiatives like recycling and local sourcing go almost without saying for many restaurants—and in fact, locally sourced meats and seafood and locally grown produce commanded the #1 and #2 spots, respectively—how exactly does the concept of sustainability play out today in the restaurant industry?

Certainly, it’s a moving target. In 2009, organic produce was #3 on the list; the following year it had fallen off entirely, victim perhaps of loosening regulations, and a mounting body of evidence that organics may not be any healthier than conventional fruits and vegetables anyway. Meanwhile, some three-quarters of respondents in a SmartBrief poll reveal that they source local or sustainable ingredients most or all of the time, and 86% reported that their operations feature “sustainable measures.”

In announcing its 2012 Power Ranking for the 10 most sustainable restaurants in the United States, Food Republic defined the goal as “designing an efficient, eco-friendly environment, reducing waste, recycling, composting, using biodegradable products when possible, conserving water and generally paying more attention to one’s impact on the environment.” Ingredient sourcing, it seems, is a given.

Transparency

Expressions such as “Big Food” and “Big Agriculture” (like Big Pharma and Big Tobacco) say it all: Between foodborne-illness outbreaks, questions about the food supply, concern for the environment, package and menu labeling controversies, and more, consumers seem to be losing faith in the global food system

This October, in fact, the subject of the James Beard Foundation’s third annual National Food Conference will be trust, and how the food and restaurant industries can establish and maintain it. For the post-Facebook generation, in particular, where everything is shareds, nothing must be hidden.

Plenty of organizations are already trying. A recent article in Time magazine credited the open kitchen phenomenon, particularly in such mainstream venues as Chipotle and Domino’s, as being driven by consumer demand for transparency—full disclosure about what’s going on with the food in the kitchen. When you can see it being prepared, goes the thinking, the stuff must be okay.

Other players are getting out ahead of the game on menu labeling; Ruby Tuesday, for instance, has an extremely comprehensive yet easy-to-understand 24-page Menu Guide that breaks out the menu by potential allergern (i.e., eggs and gluten/wheat).

And McDonald’s, which has lately been promoting many sustainability initiatives, has released Best of Green and Best of Sustainable Supply reports that exhaustively detail its worldwide best practices in these areas. The Best of Green report even highlights “Planet Champions” in each of eight areas, ranging from energy conservation to packaging.

Animal Welfare

The humane treatment of animals has become an increasing concern for consumers in recent years, and recently Jack-in-the-Box became just one of the latest in a string of major food companies that have committed to eliminating gestation crates from its pork supply chain.

And this is just the latest in a series of developments that have led to the rising popularity of free-range chicken, cage-free eggs, pasture-raised beef and other examples of animal protein from so-called higher welfare systems.

Restaurants can reap a whole lot of cred from promoting their use of humanely raised meats. Chipotle has raised tremendous awareness and respect for its programs—as this groundbreaking ad confirms. Pambiche, a Cuban restaurant in Portland, OR, features its efforts prominently on its blog and shouts out the local farms whence its meat is sourced on the menu. Businesses that pass muster with an organization like Certified Humane reap numerous PR benefits, not to mention listing on the site. And of course many chefs and customers like the taste and presumed health benefits of meats and fowl that have been raised using more natural practices.

Many observers believe that this issue will have a growing impact on restaurant operations in the future—the only limiting factor at this point for many larger foodservice organizations, like Bon Appetit Management, is not enough supply.

While it’s commendable that so many companies are taking up the cause of animal welfare, the solutions are just not that simple. There’s no denying that the conditions endured by most animals raised for meat are appalling, but factory farming methods were developed to meet the American consumer’s demand for food that is both plentiful and cheap. In the case of gestation crates, the National Pork Producers Council—hardly an unbiased source, admittedly—has warned that eliminating them will raise prices for producers and consumers across the board. Factory farming was created to drive as much cost out of the system as possible, and in order to avoid it consumers and companies both must be willing to put their money where their mouths are.

Greener Practices

From building design to operational practices, some of the most exciting sustainability initiatives being undertaken by the restaurant industry have almost nothing to do with food:

• The city of Tempe, AZ, has partnered with area restaurants to explore uses for spent cooking oil that will keep it out of the waste stream and convert it to an energy source

• Houlihan’s Restaurants has participated in a wine cork recycling pilot program called ReCork

• A Starbucks unit in Tukwila, WA, is made from recycled shipping containers

• Sauce Restaurants, part of Fox Restaurant Concepts in Phoenix, has introduced “green” takeout packaging made from recycled ingredients

• The Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphia saves all of is compostable kitchen scraps, which are then used in its gardens and landscaping

Social Responsibility

We’ll cover the subject in more depth in a subsequent issue of this newsletter, but ethical issues ranging from having a code of conduct for safe working conditions and fair wages, to community involvement and charitable giving have also become an important part of today’s sustainability equation.

Crazy for Cured Meats

By Joan Lang

Five years ago, most restaurant patrons would have thought salumi was a misspelling—today, chefs and customers can’t get enough of sausages, pates, charcuterie, artisan hams and all the other examples of cured-meat artistry. (Salumi refers to the Italian form of sausages and hams, which arrived on the trend scene first; charcuterie is its French counterpart, and includes pates as well cured meats.)

“Meat plates” are everywhere, it seems, thanks to the rising interest in heirloom pork, nose-to-tail cooking and handcrafted foods. Whether housemade or purchased—or a combination of both—hams, sausages and other cured meat creations are the ultimate shareable starter or gastropub lunch. Along with them go cheeses, nice breads, jams and pickles, spiced nuts, dried fruits and all kinds of other artisanal ingredients.

At The Salty Pig in Boston, customers can build their own bespoke plates from an a la carte list that includes such “Salty Pig Parts” as Prosciutto di Parma, housemade pate and chicken liver mousse, and handcrafted sausages from such well-known producers as Zoe’s and Fra’ Mani. A companion selection of domestic and imported “Stinky Cheeses” and such additions as olives, fig jam and pickled Basque peppers round out the plate makings. Many of these ingredients are also cross- utilized in pre-selected luncheon assortments, sandwiches, pizza and more.

Aldea,  in New York City, offers three different artisanal hams—classic Spanish Serrano; a domestic version from Surry, VA, called Surryano; and the newly iconic Benton’s Country Ham from Tennessee—among its snacks.

Beast and the Hare , in San Francisco, is locally beloved for its small plates and housemade charcuterie, which at any given time might include Italian lardo (cured pork fat), Spanish chorizo, the spicy Calabrian-style meat paste known as nduja, and classic French pate de Campagne—a happy mix of cured meat cultures that goes perfectly with robust selection of beers and wine by the glass.

Meanwhile, Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Napa is running classes in such topics as Whole Hog Butchery and Blood & Guts to sell-out crowds of chefs and citizens alike.

Here are several easy ways to capture the trend:

• Start slow with housemade. Rillettes are one of the easiest charcuterie products to produce in-house—a kind of spread, usually made with finely chopped or ground pork and its fat, but easily also adaptable to duck, salmon and other proteins, which can be served in individually portioned jars along with hunks of baguette and some cornichon pickles

Other relatively easy products to make in-house include the aforementioned lardo as well as pancetta and simple pates.

• Experiment with hams. The world is full of beautiful hams , including Italian prosciutto and culatello, Spanish Serrano and Iberico, and more recently fine artisanal products from the United States, including Benton’s country hams and prosciutto from La Quercia in Iowa. A tasting plate or a la carte selection of hams and other smoked and dried meats (like speck and coppa) makes an excellent menu offering that can even be assembled at the bar.

• Buy artisanal. From a small group of producers and importers that could barely keep up with demand a few years ago to a booming cottage industry, cured-meat producers have thrived. Many cities have great purveyors, and such products are increasingly being carried by specialty distributors and can even be mail-ordered. Various types of salami, smoked meats, pates and terrines, dried and fresh sausages, specialty bacon and more can be sold individually or assembled into plates.

• Pay attention to accessories. Bread, cheese and crackers or toasts are a given, but there are also mustards, olives, nuts, relishes and pickles, and fresh and dried fruits to consider. I recently had an excellent plate at Earth restaurant in Kennebunk, ME, that included oven-dried grapes on the branch, more juicy and dramatic than raisins could ever be.

Tip of the Month

Being More Humane

There are numerous organizations, including the Humane Society, that can help operators define and source products that take animal welfare into account.

Though intended for a retail audience, this article from The Lempert Report provides a good overview.

A new season of Food Network’s Restaurant Stakeout, the reality show that centers on “tough love to help restaurateurs save their businesses” recently premiered on August 30. The premise — successful restaurateur Willie Degel uses hidden cameras to investigate and discover bad restaurant practices; he uncovers these to the owners in an efforts to help them turn things around. What’s mostly uncovered during the surveillance is unacceptable employee behavior (or lack thereof).

In the various episodes, Willie unearths a variety of restaurant no-no’s such as employees eating off prep tables in the kitchen, texting while at work, staff fights, health violations, wait staff chewing gum in front of guests, drinking on the job, and a slew of other cringe-worthy acts.

As a restaurant owner, it is not always easy to keep an eye on your employees but keep in mind these tips to help keep guest satisfaction and employee productivity up!

• Front of House – are you ensuring there is always a host or hostess present at the FOH? If not, you are sure to have annoyed customers waiting to be seated.

• Employee handbook – do you have an employee handbook in place? The handbook outlines the restaurant procedures and rules and must be read by all employees and strictly enforced.

• Guest satisfaction – is your wait staff accommodating to guests’ requests? Are they respectful and polite to them? Do they know how to properly speak with a disgruntled guest? The key is friendliness and showing care and concern.

• Leadership – where is the leadership in your restaurant? Are you or the restaurant manager actively involved with your employees to correct bad behavior, praise good behavior and set standards?

• Going above and beyond – don’t think your customers won’t notice all those little details that actually really matter. Remembering their names, making sure their drinks are always full, saying goodnight and thank you when they leave, preparing a beautiful-looking dish; a little can go a long way.

Do you know your restaurant can improve but not sure where to start? Contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants for an initial consultation; we can help properly evaluate areas of improvement that can help your guest satisfaction and bottom line.

It’s almost that time of year where we say goodbye to Summer and prepare ourselves for crisp and cool Fall days. And when it comes to cooking, some of the best dishes are created when chefs utilize fresh, seasonal ingredients. Because we are passionate for great food, we’ve compiled a list of Fall fruits and vegetables and great recipes that will surely spur some inspiration in the kitchen.

Fig and Goat Cheese Pizza with Arugula, recipe by Cucina in Woodstock, NY. Figs are not the necessarily considered the popular fruits on the block but this soft, sweet fruit is plentiful and delicious in the fall season. Have fun contrasting savory and sweet flavors in this pizza recipe that is fully vegetarian.

Quinoa, herb & pomegranate salad, recipe by Olive Magazine. Light and nutritious, this recipe features the fall ingredient, pomegranate. Known for its tartness and intense flavors, pomegranate delivers even more with its natural antioxidant fighting powers. This is a great salad for the healthy crowd.

Sausage, Kale, and Lentil Soup, recipe by Rachael Ray. For those chilly days, what’s better than warming up to a hearty, wholesome soup? Incorporating kale into this dish adds loads of nutrition and flavor. Kale is hailed as one of the healthiest greens to eat since it naturally contains many vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals.

Broiled Persimmons with Mascarpone, recipe by Martha Stewart. Ready for a unique dessert? Choose some bright, soft, ripe persimmons and get started on this recipe.

Fennel & Fig Infused Vodka, recipe by Cocktails 2006. Fennel has an interesting flavor that tastes similar to anise or black licorice. This vegetable is used like an herb in various dishes. In this recipe there is the element of savory and sweet (from the figs). This cocktail may prove to be a hit with guests looking for a little something unique.
Fall produce (source: about.com)

• Apples
• Artichokes
• Arugula
• Beets
• Belgian Endive
• Broccoli and Broccoli raabe, rapini
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac, celery root
• Celery
• Chard
• Chicories
• Chilies
• Cranberries
• Curly Endive
• Edamame
• Eggplant
• Escarole
• Fennel
• Figs
• Garlic
• Grapes
• Green beans
• Green onions
• Herbs
• Horseradish
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lemongrass
• Lettuce
• Limes
• Mushrooms
• Okra
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Pears
• Peppers
• Persimmons
• Pomegranates
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins
• Radicchio
• Radishes
• Rutabagas
• Shallots
• Shelling beans
• Spinach
• Sweet potatoes
• Tomatillos
• Turnips
• Winter squash
• Zuchinni

The power of word of mouth and customer referrals is extremely important in the restaurant industry. This “power” from the customer has become increasingly stronger with presence and popularity of online review outlets such as Yelp! Not too long ago, we wrote about how you can take advantage of finding areas of improvements by reading the online reviews of your restaurant. We hope your reviews are mostly glowing because they might end up being featured as a video online for the whole world to see.

Gotta Kid to Feed Productions has created a series of videos entitled, “Real Actors Read Read Yelp™” where real actors are filmed reading selected real Yelp reviews. The result is a hilarious real account read by incredible actors in a comical and often melodramatic, satirical fashion.

If you go on to watch even more of these videos (7 episodes so far), you’ll notice as funny as they are, the reviewers almost always mention the service, not just the taste of the food. Whether or not a waiter smiled at them or a manager acknowledge a guest’s praise — how you treat the customer could be all that it takes to have them return and tell their friends to try out your restaurant, or the exact opposite!  It’s all about guest service.

Watch these videos, get a good laugh and then go read your own reviews- you might learn a thing or two!

So you thought bacon cupcakes were a bit odd? How about some bacon coffee? If you are thinking that this must be the creation of some small mom and pop shop, then you are (mostly) wrong. Actually, Seattle’s Best (you know, that really big and popular coffee chain?) launched a contest in hopes that entrants could create a great new coffee menu item. The winning new coffee drink chosen was bacon coffee! Get ready to grab a bacon coffee at your nearest Seattle’s Best at U.S. location near you.

This got us thinking: “What other crazy coffee flavors are out there?” We did our homework and came up with a list of some coffee drink flavors that piqued our interest from the use of very unique or unusual ingredients.

Durian Cappuccino at Blugre, Davao City, Philippines: If you are not familiar with this intensely aromatic fruit, understand that durian will wake up your tastebuds. This creamy, custardy fruit is notorious for its unique scent and texture and is normally enjoyed as a dessert in many parts of Asia. But at Blugre, they’ve integrated it into their coffee menu.

Jalapeno Coconut Coffee sold at CoffeAM.com: Yeah, we’re scratching our heads too. But this unlikely combination has garnered a lot of positive reviews; it appears as if the contrasting flavors of creamy and spicy are very appealing when combined.

Coffee Jelly Frappuccino sold at Starbucks Japan and Thailand: Well, given the popularity of boba (tapioca) milk tea drinks, we are not too surprised to find coffee-flavored jelly in these Japanese ice blended coffee drinks. For most Westerners, this might be a strange textural combination but you might just have to give it a try (if you’re in the area)!

Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) sold at Cafe Kopi Luwak Indonesia and around various shops around the world: Want to drink the Rolls Royce of coffee? Kopi Luwak is known as the most expensive cup of joe you’ll ever taste with prices ranging anywhere from $100 + a pound . Why so? Kopi Luwak is actually the name of a famous Indonesian brand of coffee beans that have been specifically eaten, digested and excreted by an Asian Palm civet — a cute, furry animal that sort of looks like a ferret. The end product (no pun intended) is a coffee that is thought to be highly aromatic, smooth and without any bitter aftertaste.

What are some crazy coffees you tried or would like to see on the market?

Earlier, we wrote about how to add ambiance to your restaurant using lighting. As you know, lighting is just one piece of the ambiance puzzle. In this post, we explore the aspect of sound.

You will notice we used the word “sound,” not “music” (although we will get to that soon). Let’s explore the primary sounds that can be heard at any restaurant:

1) Kitchen noise: blenders, pots and pans and dishes

2) Clamor: this is mostly from the voices of guests

3) Music: either live or recorded

These three sound elements often compete with one another and therefore can potentially produce poor ambience. If there is too much kitchen noise, guests may have a hard time hearing their friends and may have to feel like they need to shout in order to communicate; the same goes for music that is too loud. Suddenly, your restaurant may not be so “socializing-friendly” and some guests may simply be turned off.

But before we give any recommendations on how to adjust accordingly, you have to understand your target audience. What kind of restaurant do you operate? Is it an upscale restaurant? Is it fast-casual and family friendly? Do you run a cafe where your patrons are primarily college students? What kind of mood do you think is appropriate to convey to your guests (and not scare them away)?

Suppose you operate a cafe situated in a busy college town. It has an ample area of booths and tables, plus you offer free wi-fi so students love to come to the cafe to study. What kind of sounds do you think would fit this establishment? More than likely, you want to keep kitchen clamor to a minimum and play calm or neutral music at a soft sound level.

If you have any questions about building appropriate restaurant ambiance or how to transform your restaurant business, contact Synergy Restaurant consultants for a complimentary evaluation.