One of the most underrated things restaurant owners often overlook is the atmosphere. Yet, creating an awesome dining ambience by restaurants is equally important as the food and service they provide.
Guests walking through leading local restaurants notice three things at once: ambience, service, and cuisine. While customer taste and preference vary, restaurants missing out on these three important things lose out.
Great dining experience for guests that walk in is the ultimate goal of restaurants, regardless of their target customer base and concept. Strong customer loyalty resulting in repeated visits are the things that make restaurants earn and thrive.
This makes creating the best ambience equally as important as service and cuisine. Restaurants that want to make every dining experience truly memorable for their guests should strive to create the perfect atmosphere.
What is restaurant ambience?
The ambience created by a restaurant is more abstract than concrete. However, the entire dining experience is enhanced and becomes great with the perfect “feel” exuded by a restaurant.
A restaurant’s atmosphere and ambience contribute a positive or negative influence on every experience of guests. Factors such as presentation of food, decor, uniforms of the servers, music, and furnishings all contribute to the overall atmosphere of a restaurant.
These varied factors that influence the atmosphere of a restaurant are hard-to-control things. The success of a restaurant depends on all these factors to work harmoniously together.
The importance of ambience
Perhaps one of the most intensely competitive industries is the foodservice industry. The food service competition is pretty stiffer compared to average businesses. It has been found that customer dining decisions boil down to the concept and atmosphere of a restaurant.
Creating the perfect ambience
The uniqueness of every restaurant means that there is no clear cut way when it comes to creating the perfect ambience for its guests. Yet, guests are likely to notice some factors in a restaurant that directly influences its atmosphere.
The chosen concept
The choice of a restaurant’s concept is planned the moment it starts. The restaurant’s atmosphere is potentially shaped by every concept decision. For instance, a lot of tiles, stainless steel with booths and barstools, a bar countertop, and pastel colours are the furnishings chosen for a traditional diner concept.
Yet, there are types of restaurants that can feel authentic even without following a specific concept. For instance, a steakhouse is a type of restaurant that does not cause any preconceived ideas with their customers.
Be that as it may, a restaurant’s atmosphere still matters when it comes to creating a good first impression.
Furnishings and decor
A cohesive theme established by a restaurant with paint colours, decorative accents, wall decorations, and furniture is likely to elicit a positive response from guests. The consistency of the restaurant design is a major contributing factor to make its atmosphere memorable.
Right lighting
The restaurant’s overall atmosphere is hugely impacted by its lighting. Bright and colder fluorescent lighting is usually the choice of many fast-casual or fast food chains. It’s because guests never take too much into account when they eat in fast-food restaurants.
However, the game changes when it comes to sit-down formal restaurants. An appealing and inviting atmosphere is quickly created with the use of warm lighting.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all blueprint to follow, creating the best restaurant atmosphere is seen as one of the major contributors to its success.