In recent years, restaurant operators have begun to pay more attention to restaurant design, decor and atmosphere in their establishments. They are making sizable capital investments to create particular types of dining environments, which suggests that the physical setting where customers dine is becoming an integral part of the competitive battleground. In other words, after years of devoting attention to gaining a competitive edge almost exclusively through food and service, more restaurateurs are recognizing a new and perhaps the final frontier in the battle to make their restaurants stand out in the crowd. The National Restaurant Association s new Restaurant Settings 2000 Survey contains several indications that restaurateurs are placing increased emphasis on design and decor. Instead, restaurateurs are turning to professionals to help give their operations a competitive advantage.
Restaurateurs seem particularly determined to keep their settings from becoming dated or tired.
A majority of the respondents to the Association s Restaurant Settings 2000 Survey reported that they had remodeled their dining areas since 1996. Enhancing the consumer s experience In the summer of 2000, the National Restaurant Association commissioned exploratory consumer research to gain a better understanding of the impact the physical setting makes on the restaurant customer. That study takes a look at the role that physical elements such as lighting, tableware, artwork and materials play in the customer s dining experience and to what extent they can contribute to overall satisfaction. It appears that food, service and the physical setting have different degrees of importance in generating overall customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction with food and service has been and continues to be of utmost importance, which is why restaurateurs devote most of their attention to those elements.