6 Steps to Elevate Your Restaurant's Ambiance

It's not everyday that people get to dine in and treat themselves in restaurants. This means that in any instance that they do, they would expect to leave the restaurant with a happy tummy and a smile on their faces. 

As restaurant owners, it's your duty to give the best to your customers. It's not only giving them the best food and service. Their overall satisfaction also relies on the ambiance of the place. Even if you have the best tasting steak, an uncomfortable chair and a slippery floor can be a deal breaker for your potential customers. 

What Ambiance is and How Important it is In Customer Dining Satisfaction

We always hear the word ambiance when we talk about dining, specifically when we look at customer reviews.  But really, what does ‘ambiance’ mean? Simply put, ambiance refers to the atmosphere and character a certain place gives. 

To give us an idea of how important it is in a customer’s dining experience, we can quickly look at this study conducted by Coyle Hospitality. When they 2,469 diners about the factors that will make them recommend a restaurant to other people, cleanliness and atmosphere falls just under food. It’s clear that ambiance is as important as staff attitude for diners.

Elements of Ambiance

There’s actually five elements of ambiance which correlates to human senses. Each element can give either a positive or negative impact on customers, depending on how an establishment makes use of it. 

Light

A restaurant’s lighting can set the mood instantly. A dimly lit dining hall with candles everywhere sets a romantic vibe, while a vibrant, naturally lighted cafe for instance can uplift a customer’s spirits. The color scheme you choose as well as the decors, furniture and fixtures would also affect the lightning of your restaurant.

Smell

Smell greatly affects the appetite of a person. You have to consider the people dining, especially the ones near the kitchen. Although smelling good food will only make your customers more excited to eat, a strong scent can possibly put them off.

Space

Is there enough room for each customer to comfortably sit and dine? Or did you design your halls to fit more than its capacity? The space you give your customers and how you designed it overall will affect how they feel. If you do it right, your customers will feel comfortable, safe and appreciated.

Noise

Although it does not affect the quality and taste of the food served, noise plays a major role in completing a restaurant’s ambiance. That being said, restaurant owners may want to play with the noise they can control. Sound systems that play music (or maybe a live singer) can set the mood right and make the overall dining experience positive.

Touch

Your interior design and all the things inside your restaurant will affect the touch element of ambiance. From silverwares, the material of your woods and chairs, table napkins, everything. 

It may sound frustrating for those who want to turn their restaurants upside down and give it a new feel but this should not be the case. There’s no need to be overwhelmed! All these elements can be an opportunity for you to improve and attract more customers since you can easily check each element and identify which one you can work with first. One at a time! 

Small Tips that Will Drastically Improve Your Restaurant’s Ambiance

Let’s get it straight - there’s no need to throw everything you have and repurchase each item there is just to improve your restaurant’s ambiance. Even the smallest things can make a difference. Take a look at these tips and see for yourself how helpful they will be.

The Outdoors Is Your Best Friend

Sometimes, we can be too focused on what’s happening in the main dining area that we forget the rest of the restaurant. If you have a patio, then you have so much room for opportunities!

You may think that having a couple of your decors in your al fresco area that matches the main dining hall is enough. Well, it's kind of a whole new world out there. While your customers are already dining outdoors, wouldn't it be nice to have some greeneries around? Some bright umbrellas to lighten their mood? 

You always want new customers to come in and this is a great way to make passersby inevitably turn their heads towards your patio and eventually pick a dish or two!

Don’t be Afraid of Colors

Colors are fun! Some people might be too afraid to play with colors and tend to stick with neutral tones. However, if we study color psychology, we would learn that there are certain colors we can use to our advantage that will help us with conveying our message. 

For instance, the colors yellow and orange usually make people hungry. On the other hand, red intensifies the emotions of people looking at it. 

If you’re not so sure about which one to choose then ask someone’s help. Professional interior designers are well equipped with knowledge and experience to help you choose the right color scheme for you.

Decors Are Also Your Best Friend

Undeniably one of the biggest factors for people nowadays when choosing a place to eat is how the place looks. We’re living in an era where we feel the social responsibility to document every event in our lives and share it to the ones we love. That means taking pictures and videos of our food and where we eat any chance we get. 

That said, you want your restaurant to look nice all the time. This will play a great role in attracting new customers. But you have to be careful not to over-decorate your restaurant as it can be a deal breaker instead and this can even affect the functionality of staff. No one wants to get knocked over a huge statue piece that’s out of the place! Interior designers are the best people you can call if you want both functionality and design.