Ambiance is the key
“Even the best food in the world won’t taste good if the energy around you isn’t right. Those two elements are inseparable.“
Serving tasty food is not always enough to keep guests happy and satisfied – it requires much more. It is well known that ambiance isn’t only lighting and decor, it takes a whole big action to create an atmosphere that’ll make people enjoy the place and remember it. The real goal is, make them decide to come back.
Studies have shown that ambiance can affect lots of different factors: how much and how fast customers eat, how much they spend or how long they stay. Did you know that in many cases loud music playing in a restaurant can make people eat faster?
All those cool facts are mostly never thought about by many travelers, but the best part is: we all feel it. We are attracted to the things we like in a certain place, like restaurants with interesting furniture and big up-to-ceiling windows accompanied by indoor plants setting a mood for a relaxed lunch. You see, now you are thinking about it and if that is what you like, you might just become a regular guest because the ambiance is just right.
When guests are provided with a memorable and enjoyable experience, they are happy. Satisfied and happy people cannot wait to recommend their friends and family a restaurant that blew their mind regarding food, service and overall, the ambiance. A word of mouth has a power that many other marketing sources don’t have and it does impact both reputation and profitability. When people enjoy what they hear, smell or see, they love being at that restaurant. For sure you know about that feeling where you just want to stay at a certain place and you don’t feel like leaving at all. Where you could sit there all day long sipping on your drink, listening to cozy lounge music and kinda wiggling in your chair because you feel good and calmed? Oh believe us, we know that sort of extra feeling and we’ve been there many times. That happy little dance!
Now, these are some of the categories we think are important in creating a perfect atmosphere that will make people come back, again and again:
INTERIOR DESIGN
COLORS
All restaurants want to leave a good first impression, so telling the story behind it’s vision must be clear, unique and full of details. You want to create a calm environment but still play around with colors, artworks, and decorations. Colors promote feelings and because of that, they play a big role for the ambiance. There should be, big care given in creating a balance between strong, mild and neutral colors, so using furniture and paintings can be as well a big help.
SPACING
Did you know that the perfect ratio for space allotment is that the dining area takes up to 60% of the space, while the kitchen, restrooms, and storage take up to the remaining of 40%?
The position of the tables in the restaurant are incredibly important. No one wants to spend ages waving at the staff to get noticed, waisting time, patients and energy until somebody is finally coming to their table, because they cannot be seen from the right angle. Diners should always be able to have an open so possible view to see and be seen by the staff: a long wait can only make your customer nervous, which will lead to a negative experience. Staff always does their job better if they can cover their working space visually!
LIGHTING
Without light, there would be darkness. No one wants to eat without being able to truly see the food on their plate. On the other side, being blinded by strong, bright lights from the moment you enter a place is as well not a comfort zone and everything else just not a perfect situation for a costumer.
This is another example of interior design where the type of lighting can create a suitable and comfortable mood of the guests if you do it right. It can even impact the speed of their consumption and the quality of their overall stay in the restaurant. So, if we talk about the tasks of lighting you can find it in places where you go, then they concentrate on accent, task, and ambient.
• If you remember going to a restaurant for a romantic dinner, lighting should always be warm, calm on your eyes and a touch of dusk which creates a relaxing and intimate atmosphere. On the other side, bright lighting sets more of an easy-going, chatty mood, making people drink and eat faster, like going for a burger with your friends. That tells you how light can fire up our mood or calm us down to the point where rush simply doesn’t exist anymore.
SOUND
Now, this part is what we love the most – MUSIC. There is no moment during our visit to a bar, restaurant or club where music goes unnoticed. People always, but always, consciously or unconsciously, react to the sound in the background. And yes, even when there is no sound at all.
The songs playing in the background have to match the style of a restaurant. That is a unique element amongst restaurants, but as long as your guests like what they hear, you’re doing a good thing.
If you see that the bar is full of young people, you should play them something fun and quick, especially if it’s weekend. When the dinner time hits the clock, and couples start coming in, it’s probably time for some jazz, romantic soul and R’n’B. For a bright and shine morning there is nothing better but some lounge covers that will make people enjoy their coffee the most while entering their new day like champs. You see, it’s quite simple. When you know your audience, it’s easy to guess what you should play for them! Musica e Vivo!
STAFF
We often say that the people who serve you are exactly what leaves a quite powerful impression on you. Their communication skills, the energy they carry, the knowledge about food prepared at that particular restaurant and friendly behavior are characteristics of hard-working people. Exactly this type of person will provide a good environment for your guests.
Excellent service is what makes the ambiance of your place outstanding. Even if the food was the best in the world, you might never forget that rude waiter who served you that day. A good waiter will make your dining experience even better and that is the goal of every restaurant. We all like smiling, happy people serving us delicious food in a gorgeous restaurant. That is what we call a 5* experience!
After reading this article, we hope we made it a bit more clear to you what happens inside one restaurant’s operation. Even if you never thought of what has to be done to create that WOW effect for you, now you see it’s much more anyone could think of.
We notice some things when we eat out, but these little tricks and magic restaurant owners use to create the impeccably perfect ambiance in their restaurant are exactly what makes them stand out amongst the competition. Hard work and great ideas created with lots of love and passion are the keys to success.
Food is fun, it’s medicine for soul and hugs for people. So let’s eat together!
If you want to see how we distributed our restaurants according to ambiance and mood, take a quiz or simply visit our section “THE RESTAURANTS” and find the right mood amongst #hashtags written bellow restaurants’ names. Have fun!
“Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.” – Henry Youngman