What makes people decide to pop into a restaurant they’re walking past? Yes, the menu and pricing are important, but when making on the spot decisions about where to eat, the atmosphere of a restaurant influences a person’s choice.
When you want customers to walk through your doors, forget about the time and order that second bottle of wine, putting them at ease will make them feel at home, so that they relax and keep enjoying your restaurant.
So how you can you communicate this?
Before they’ve taken even a bite of your food or are greeted by your server?
With the right colour, dining room furniture and lighting of course.
Play With Colour
Think of your establishment as the stage, with the food as your performance and customers as your audience. The colour of your ‘stage’ will be the first thing people notice, and it will influence your choice of furniture, decor elements and menu design.
Restaurants serving a healthy menu can echo this with shades of greens and browns, while those serving spicy or flavourful food can choose brighter shades of red and terracotta. Your flavour might be 50s burger or Teppanyaki Japanese or something completely different. Having a specific colour scheme and décor will signal to the customers that like your cuisine, that this is the restaurant for them.
Take A Seat
The colour and design of your furniture may reflect your chosen colours or provide visual contrast. That’s a really important choice that we help our restaurant owners make every day.
Don’t overlook the importance of functionality either, as the wrong seating can chase away customers. You may want to choose comfortable chairs that provide back support without being imposing or rigid. Or you may want to provide fabric chairs. Wood, or metal may suit your style. And high turnover restaurants want chairs or even stools that are not too comfortable. That way people don’t sit and chat the night away, so that you can provide multiple dinner seatings to meet your customer demands.
Of course, any chair you choose will need to fit in effortlessly with your tables. Depending on the size of your restaurant and its layout, you can either go for bolt down tables or choose ones that can be moved around freely. Wood is always popular, and we can even create a branded table so that outdoor settings are distinctly yours. Remember that you want customers to feel as if they’re sitting down to lunch with a friend at home, so a well-made table and chair will always be more appealing.
Dim The Lights
While bright lights work well to create alertness, you want relaxation. Most restaurants make good use of natural light during the daytime by having glass windows. When night falls, you may find it best to provide enough light to let diners see their foods and companions, but not so much that it feels like they’re in a waiting room. The placement of your lighting can also impact how private your restaurant feels, with cozy candlelight corners perfect for romantic couples. Having seen hundreds of dining venue fit outs, we can even perhaps give you a hint or two on what might work, or refer you to a trusted interior designer for inspiration.
Strand Hospitality Furniture has everything you need to make your customers feel at home. Let us help you create a restaurant environment with dining room furniture that diners would love to think of as a second home.
