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Restaurants
November 16, 2023
8 min read

How to create the best restaurant atmosphere to engage customers

best-restaurant-atmosphere

The food and beverage sector provides market players with plenty of opportunities but has various challenges. The restaurant industry is the first to suffer during economic recessions and is not the industry of first necessity. 

High regulatory burden, inflation, labor shortage, complex administrative processes, considerable energy costs, and the seasonality are just a part of the issues establishments have to address in today’s hospitality environment. 

Meanwhile, the competition continues to grow. According to The 2023 State of the Restaurant Industry report, 47% of operators expect that competition intensity will increase in comparison with 2022. 

To generate revenue, public venues need to attract and retain customers while maximizing table turnover rate. Since businesses of this kind directly depend on their guests, creating the best restaurant atmosphere is vital to success. However, there are a lot of aspects to consider and tasks to complete.

What is the restaurant atmosphere? 

The ambiance brings together the cuisine, client service, and environment to shape the dining experience and brand perception. It is a special vibe you create for customers, and it combines elements like background music, decor, and lightning. 

Restaurant atmosphere affects CX, feedback, and sales

It is proved that restaurant ambiance directly correlates with client satisfaction, positive word of mouth, and sales. Coyle Hospitality conducted a survey of nearly 2,500 diners globally to investigate the impact of factors such as atmosphere, food, and staff attitude on customer willingness to recommend a restaurant. 

For this purpose, the experts studied casual, luxury, and upscale restaurant groups, with meal prices of $15–$30, $31–$50, and $51–80 respectively. As a result, Coyle Hospitality found that the atmosphere of a restaurant is among the main attributes affecting consumers. 

The analysts also discovered that luxury and upscale guests are much more likely to refer positively under the influence of an engaging ambiance than casual diners.

Meanwhile, positive feedback is vital to restaurant success. Cintas Corporation determined that 75% of respondents would not come to or patronize a restaurant with negative testimonials regarding its cleanliness, which has to be an irreplaceable part of good ambiance.

Temkin Group’s report states that “a moderate climb in customer experience (CX) generates average income growth of $823 million over three years for a business with $1 billion in annual revenue.” This way, it is essential to take care of every aspect of CX, with the atmosphere being the top one. 

Another research performed by the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business revealed that restaurant ambiance has an impact on client willingness to pay. Overall, visitors were more affected by ambiance and service than by food quality, especially for high-priced restaurants.

Therefore, by providing a delightful, unique vibe, you will be able to attract more customers, boost retention, and increase revenue.

What makes the best restaurant atmosphere 

To provide the best restaurant atmosphere, you can follow a “five senses” approach that involves:

As mentioned above, restaurant atmosphere may have a significant impact on customer mood, loyalty, and engagement, as well as the profitability of your company. Your clients want to have more than just tasty food — they have chosen to eat out instead of takeaway or home delivery, so it is crucial to provide them with a memorable, awesome experience. 

This is even more important in today’s competitive, post-pandemic landscape, where struggling restaurants need to give their guests an irresistible desire to visit and retain. And the atmosphere is the key. To produce the highest value, the restaurant vibe has to fit your concept and target audience. Well, how do you design the best restaurant atmosphere?

How to create the best restaurant atmosphere

1. Create a visual style that matches your brand identity

The visual style includes various elements such as interior design, menu decor, and cutlery. The theme should reflect your brand concept, cuisine, culture, and history. Colors and textures also have an impact on the ambiance and the audience’s perception of your restaurant.

You should use them strategically to complement your brand identity, as well as to stimulate the senses and appetite of your visitors. If you own, for example, a classical, prestigious French restaurant, it is advisable to use a low-key color palette and place easy chairs to create a luxurious, elegant atmosphere. 

In case you have authentic Italian cuisine, you can decorate the restaurant with warm colors, rustic furniture, and pictures of Italy. Serving modern fusion dishes, you can opt for a minimalist, sleek, and trendy design while applying warm bright colors.

2. Use the power of background music for restaurants

Background music is an integral part of restaurant atmosphere that helps ensure a memorable, awesome customer experience. Studies have shown that music may have psychological effects on consumer behavior, affecting the purchase check, amount of food ordered, and speed of eating. 

According to HUI Research, restaurants that play carefully selected music reflecting their culture can push up overall sales by over 9%. Dessert sales, in turn, increased by greater than 15% while the sales of side dishes climbed by more than 11%. Thanks to brand-fit background music, it is possible to boost guest satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Hence, you should choose background music for restaurants that alings with your concept, theme, and customer profile. You should also consider the volume, tempo, genres, and language of the music you play at your venue.

To provide a delightful casual ambiance, we recommend that you stream lively upbeat background music. If you want to create a relaxing mood, you should select soft and soothing songs and compositions. 

Bringing together music with your restaurant cuisine and culture is another good technique. In case you own, for instance, an Italian restaurant, you can play national symphonic music and bossa nova during daytime and Italian pop music and rock tracks in the evenings. 

Find out how to choose the right background music for your restaurant in our guide.

3. Adapt lighting to different type of day and ocassions

Lighting plays an important role in providing the best restaurant atmosphere, since it can set the tone and mood of your public venue. Furthermore, lightning is an effective tool to adapt the ambiance to any time of day, occasion, and the vibe you aim to create.

Using lightning, it is possible to produce different effects and highlight or hide certain areas and features of your space, for instance, a bar, tables, or artworks.

In order to design a perfect lighting style, you should take into account aspects like the color theme, color temperature, brightness, contrast, distribution, and variation of light. Then, it is crucial to consider the placement, type, and size of lightning devices. 

If you want to deliver a cozy romantic atmosphere for dinner, you should dim the lights and brighten them to ensure a lively, more energetic atmosphere for lunch. Remember that lighting levels should resonate with the sun, getting dimmer as it gets darker outside.

To learn how to make use of lightning, you can have a look at the story of Pavillon Bar & Kitchen. The article also describes how the bar gained advantage of music, decor, and other elements.

4. Provide comfortable seating and table arrangements

The seating and table arrangements of your restaurant should be comfortable and functional for your both your guests and staff. When planning everything out, you should take into account the size, shape, and layout of your space. It is essential to consider the number and type of customers you expect to serve. 

To improve consumer engagement and loyalty, you should discover the target audience’s preferences. This will help you find out whether you should design an intimate private ambiance or focus on a highel level of socialization at your space. 

If you cater to families with children, you may freely opt for spacious booths, high chairs, and kid-friendly menus. In case you’re going to serve business people or couples, it is advisable to choose smaller tables, partitions, or booths.

5. Train staff to provide excellent service

The quality of service at your establishment is among the most memorable aspects that can either make or break customer experience. In fact, well-trained staff is vital to creating the best restaurant atmosphere, maximizing guest satisfaction, and preventing churn. This way, you should teach your staff to be friendly, attentive, courteous, and professional at all times. 

Employees should be able to handle any issues or complaints with grace and efficiency. On top of that, it is crucial to anticipate and meet diner needs and expectations. When interviewing candidates, check out their communication and coping skills. 

Summing it up

Creating a perfect atmosphere in your restaurant is not an easy task but it is definitely worth effort, leading to higher customer engagement, retention, and positive feedback. As satisfied guests tend to spend more, retain, and recommend your place to their friends, you will manage to drive sales and increase revenue.

By following the tips described in the article, you will design a lively ambiance, improve the dining experience, and build loyalty to your brand. 

Diana Maltseva