Just take a moment to imagine the restaurant of your dreams – exquisite food, ace service and, more to the point of this article, a clean and relaxing ambience. A world away from the tone of your greasy spoon cafe, what you want from a restaurant is an experience that, at the very least, won’t make your food repeat on you.
What you want is a touch of class.
A piano tinkles in the background. Champagne glasses chink off each other in a festive relaxation. And, the aroma of freshly caught sea bass wafts from the kitchen like a dream.
Although you might not be able to afford thousands of pounds worth of chandeliers and a well-groomed piano player to perform renditions of As Time Goes By, you can create an appealing atmosphere in your restaurant with some of these top tips.
Keep it clean
Have you ever entered an eatery only to find it rife with poor hygiene?
The tables are crusty, the staff are unkempt and the kitchen looks as though it was last given an overhaul in 1973. Bleurgh.
If you’re running a restaurant, be sure to keep the place fresh and you’ll have won half the battle. Even if your food is diabolical, your customers will, at the very least, know that they’re dining in a clean space.
Every now and again, hire professional industrial cleaners for ventilation cleaning and all those other hard-to-reach areas to keep your restaurant spick and span and draw those customers in.
Keep it friendly
There’s little better than being treated well when you’re eating in a restaurant.
When you enter a restaurant with poor customer service it feels like you’ve wandered into a stranger’s home and they’re passively aggressively irritated that you’ve touched all their stuff. It’s like you’re not welcome.
But, with good service it’s like you’ve entered a stranger’s home and they’re delighted to see you, bounding over to show you a menu. Suddenly, Ahhh, you can relax.
This really comes down to how you train your staff – make them know that your customers are your first priority and that, without them, you wouldn’t have a business.
Keep it timely
Time, time, time – it passes by so quickly, doesn’t it?
Well, except in one case. When you’re waiting on your food in a restaurant, time seems to slow down to a snail-like halt. Your stomach growls, you’ve finished your drink, ran out of pre-meal chat with your dinner guest and yet you’re still waiting for your starter.
And yet, any customer coming through your doors will be delighted if you can keep your kitchen running clockwork-tight. It’s a real test of a restaurant’s mettle, but if you can keep up good, timely service, you’ll leave pleased punters in your wake.