By Shane O’Brien – Culinary Consultant

 

Restaurant life and hospitality are a lifestyle. Dedication and integrity are the strategies. Ambiance and experience are the tactics. In the coming year, as an operator, it is as vital as ever to lead with the narrative of; not simply “meeting” the guests’ expectations but rather exceeding them.

Once viewed as a symbol of status, providing an extravagant and opulent meal or experience is a holdover from Feudal times. Similarly, modern-day customers also want and expect more.

In short, your restaurant’s ambiance can be a critical driver in maximizing revenue.

A well-maintained restaurant allures guests.

A user-friendly digital experience is soothing and promotes loyalty with your customers.

Friendly and aware staff establishes trust and comfort with guests.

Current consumer trends bode well for added attention to this element. As reported by Nations Restaurant News, ambiance is not a dead language: “Top-performing brands in limited-service had ‘ambiance’ net sentiment that was 11 points more positive than the rest.”

Webster’s dictionary defines ambiance as ‘a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person, or thing.’

How often do you put yourself in the seat of your restaurant as a guest and truly and honestly examine that experience?

 

Some chefs have been known to audit their restaurants thoroughly. They will dine anonymously at their own establishment and fully digest and process the “reality” of their guests’ experience.

This exercise is a meaningful tool to witness the unfortunate missteps and can be used as an opportunity to grow.

Another tool is creating and implementing daily checklists geared towards maintaining your space and keeping your staff focused on the first line of “defense,” your ambiance.

Synergy Sync and Synergy U include many tools and services that can support operators in implementing checklists and systematizing procedures to help you maintain that ambiance once created.  Contact us, we would love to schedule a demo with you today!

Those in the restaurant industry know that many variables at play determine if a restaurant will be successful. From marketing, demand within the local area, food, service, and management, many details work together to create one of the most important aspects of a dining experience: atmosphere.

In fact, the restaurant’s ambiance can be an essential contributing factor to the restaurant’s success and long-term profitability.

 

While it may seem like an abstract concept, the atmosphere of a restaurant sets the stage.  It can even enhance the overall dining experience. Details like lighting, music, spacing, table settings, colors, and artwork all work together to create a cozy, intimate, even romantic feel.

No matter how busy your restaurant might get, the ambiance can still create a magical experience.

Creating a Lovely Ambiance

Truly talented chefs and restauranteurs know that eating is both a cerebral and physical activity. As humans, our eating incorporates more than just the food itself. Our minds and senses observe and breathe in the scents, colors, and movement around us.

 

As much as pleasant artwork, music, and table settings can add to our culinary experience, so can harsh and unpleasant lighting, tension, colors, and noises. It’s no wonder that truly successful restaurants also have many thoughtful details to complement the food itself.

 

Many customers look forward to the festive, cozy, magical atmosphere that only comes once a year during the holidays.

 

Still, no matter how beautiful your thoughtful décor may be, nothing can sour a night out more than a lousy encounter between the customer and your staff. Your team is also instrumental in layering and enhancing your restaurant’s ambiance.

The Importance of Spacing

Space and interior decoration are consummate companions. No one likes to sit too close together, especially during COVID. As the pandemic continues to shape our world, lives, and safety protocols, it’s likely that people will continue to want a good amount of space between them and other guests.

Restaurant managers like their customers to have a nice view of the restaurant, which is part of the ambiance. This is why spacing tends to be more important than one might think.

 

However, no one wants to turn customers away when there are open tables. Keeping a finely tuned balance between capacity and spacing is part of what makes any restaurant busy and successful.

How Your Atmosphere Impacts Your Success

Research has shown that top performers in the restaurant industry established themselves by investing in the restaurant experience.

 

For example, restaurants with a thriving ambiance performed better than those that failed to provide the service and atmosphere that guests expected.

 

In other words, consider holiday décor, music, scents, and colors that go hand-in-hand with your restaurant’s menu and personality. Every restaurant and customer base is different. What works for one may not look right in yours. By understanding your restaurant’s voice and brand, you can play with it and truly craft a unique dining experience.

A  Combo That Can Hurt Your Bottom Line

An increasing problem: restaurants that are so loud that meals become secondary to the decibel level. It breaks down to two factors: acoustics and music.

The interiors of some restaurants contain so many hard surfaces – brick walls, tin ceilings, concrete floors – that the flow of conversation is magnified into intolerable din, especially on busy nights. It’s clear that your restaurant design affect the sound level.

In other places, music is pumped in at such a decibel level that patrons feel more like they’re in a dance club.

In either case, partaking of a meal in a relaxed atmosphere becomes impossible. And some restaurants have sound “hot spots.” If you’re sitting at a table under a domed sky-light, you may have fallen into a black hole of white noise.

Patrons and business people alike will leave a restaurant if it is too noisy since conversation is part of the reason for going to a restaurant.

When there are “intimate” surroundings, the problem gets worse. In some places I have experiences, even a crowd of 10 people creates an echo and din that becomes ridiculously loud. It’s like you’re at a concert. In other places, between the cackles at the bar and the blaringly loud music, no one can have a conversation.

Granted, some restaurants that allow high levels are trying to set a mood and establish a niche, but that niche is the younger consumer; a sense of energy to attract the 18 to 30 year olds.

Restaurant owners: For people with discretionary income the food, service, price, menu, can be perfect. However if the ambiance is not perfect, if the restaurant is too loud, it repels the repeat customer. There’s an index of complete satisfaction that people look for, and if it’s not fulfilled, they won’t go back.

Consider your bottom line need, the type of clientele you wish to attract and keep and how your restaurant design will best accommodate both. Then make that decision.