| Considering the image you want to present and the | | | | huge affect on how your restaurant is perceived and |
| customer experience you're going to offer is essential | | | | the atmosphere your diner's will expect. Darker lighting |
| when outfitting the front of your restaurant. Chairs, | | | | will make any occasion more intimate but it will |
| tables, decorations, cutlery and layout all come | | | | discourage larger groups and casual diners. Brighter |
| together to form the first impression of your | | | | lighting can make a place look more inviting - but runs |
| establishment and go a long way to informing the final | | | | the risk of appearing garish or even sterile and cold. |
| experience. | | | | Naturally considering the rest of your restaurant is |
| Naturally the front of a restaurant is nothing without a | | | | important; what does your decor suit? Where will your |
| solid arrangement 'behind the scenes'. However, having | | | | lights be placed? Will your tables have direct light |
| the finest food is not as important as it might first | | | | shining on them? |
| appear. Often when people go out they're not so | | | | Meeting area: Often overlooked this is less of an |
| much looking for a culinary experience as a convenient | | | | atmospheric concern and more of a practical one. |
| place to eat and an inviting atmosphere. Of course | | | | When people enter your restaurant, where do they |
| bad food will send people packing to never return, but | | | | go? Whilst it might seem a little formal, there's a reason |
| the point remains that having the best food won't | | | | most restaurants have some kind of meeting point just |
| guarantee you business. After all, they have to come | | | | next to the door. Of course depending on your layout |
| in in the first place to try your food. | | | | then your bar might be an obvious destination - if so, |
| An inviting atmosphere and solid front-end presentation | | | | case closed. If your bar is behind your seating areas |
| for your restaurant is the best way of getting people in | | | | though, then you should make sure that customers |
| your doors in the early days when you can't rely on | | | | don't have to walk into the middle of your restaurant to |
| word-of-mouth or good publicity. Even later on its the | | | | get your staff's attention. |
| best way of guaranteeing walk-in trade. Here are a | | | | Cutlery and table decorations: The first part is fairly |
| few things you should keep in mind when it comes to | | | | self-explanatory. In fact, its entirely basic; people aren't |
| outfitting the front of your establishment: | | | | all that fussed about their cutlery. In broad terms, the |
| Furniture: This is an essential decision. It's alright for a | | | | cheaper your supply, the cheaper it will look, which |
| rustic gastropub to have some old, slightly worn looking | | | | might spoil the ambiance slightly in the more exclusive |
| restaurant chairs and tables. However, that approach | | | | establishments. However, the biggest mistake you |
| won't win you any favours if you're running a trendy | | | | could make is to choose very specific, hard to replace |
| pan-Asian fusion restaurant. It's all about matching your | | | | cutlery. Mixed sets will definitely be noticed and are |
| restaurant furniture to your possible audience and to | | | | likely to be a subtle but powerful sign that something is |
| the kind of atmosphere you want to create. Don't fit | | | | not right in your restaurant. This takes very little |
| your American diner with fine Italian designs, and don't | | | | consideration of course - more important is what you'll |
| fit your fine Italian restaurant with chrome stools and | | | | put on your tables. Will you have a candle? What kind |
| cushioned booths. Another consideration is how many | | | | of candle? Is it there for decoration, or will it actually be |
| people can you sit, and how easily. It seems obvious | | | | lit? Then there's the tablecloth. Plain, cheap and |
| but it's easy to take a booking for 12 people before | | | | disposable? Or classy, reusable and expensive? |
| realising the biggest single party you can handle is only | | | | Remember that they'll get dirty very frequently and no |
| 6. | | | | one likes to eat at a dirty table. |
| Lighting: Again, an essential decision that can have a | | | | |