Most restaurants are well-aware of the “food critics” that enter their restaurants every day. Online reviews through sites such as Yelp!, Google, and Facebook can have serious impacts on restaurants. Restaurant owners are left at the mercy of what reviewers think of their food and surprisingly, their interior design.
Yes, these “food critics” also happen to be interior design critics. Having a well-designed interior for your restaurant is important regardless of what any customer has to say about it. It creates an atmosphere that can greatly affect a restaurant goers experience. However, you don’t want to pander to the reviewers critiques either as much of their input is simply personal preference.
With that in mind, there are some things that diners do get right about interior design reviews.
Lighting
The first thing that many diners get right is the lighting. We’re not talking about their preference for can lights versus pendant lights. We’re talking about the actual amount of light in the restaurant. This applies to higher-end establishments more than it does your everyday sandwich shop, because higher-end establishments are trying to “set a mood”. They want to create intimate atmospheres with dimmed lighting. However, there does come a point when a restaurant can be too dim. If the average diner can’t read the menu because it is too dark, it is time to turn up the dimmers or add candles to the table.
Spacing
Another interior design aspect diners usually get right is regarding spacing. It is really tough to lay out a table system that maximizes the amount of diners you can seat at once, while having them all be comfortable and creating ample walking room in-between tables. It can be very hard to take a diner at their word that their is not enough space. After all, everyone is a different size and everyone has a different level of personal space comfort. However, if the general consensus is that the dining area is crowded, you may want to rearrange how the area is set up.
Additionally, keep an eye out for areas that frequently have bottlenecks where people can’t get through because of too much traffic. Changing the layout in these areas will help to reduce the traffic and improve ease of movement through the restaurant.
Drafts
Finally, diners often are right when it comes to drafts that enter the building. Overall temperature is another personal preference as some like it warmer than others but if diners are complaining of drafts, that is usually more fact-based. Installing a vestibule that acts as a buffer between the outer doors and inner doors can help reduce drafts from the entrance. Even a tall partition placed a few feet in front of the entrance can help reduce the amount of draft that enters the building when someone opens the doors.
For more information about interior design, please contact AKA Design Inc. or call us at 972-267-3421.