Restaurant Design
Create a memorable experience
For millions of Americans, dining is more than eating out - it's a
form of entertainment. That means guests don't want to "feel at home."
They want a memorable experience away from home. Savvy eateries
understand that restaurant interior design is part of that memorable
experience.
Concepts like the Rainforest Café, Planet Hollywood and Mars 2112
have made their mark through innovative interior design. Of course,
it's not necessary to create a space-aged theme to provide a pleasant
atmosphere for guests. The point is that your restaurant's design
should cater to the tastes of its target market.
Well-planned interior design contributes to the success - and the
profits - of any dining establishment. It begins with market research,
continues with understanding market trends and concludes with strategic
execution.
Restaurant interior design has a dramatic impact on the type of
guests that restaurants attract. The Rain Forest Café's interior design
appeals to environmentally-minded guests who enjoy a nature-made
experience, for example, while the 50's Prime Time Café at Disney MGM
Studios appeals to guests who get a kick out of a blast from the past.
Creative restaurant interior design, however, does not require a
million-dollar investment - if you understand the nuances of consumer
marketing. Restaurant design experts are equipped with the knowledge
and skill to create a dining experience that fosters word of mouth
marketing long after the meal is over.
Fruition, a smoothie concept in Miami, has
generated a buzz with its resourceful restaurant interior design. With
national smoothie chains grabbing the lion's share of the market,
Fruition needed to stand apart from the major brands. Since Fruition
bills itself as an "exotic" smoothie shop that only uses fresh, unusual
fruit ingredients, the interior design strategy had to be just as
exotic.
The strategy is at once exotic and practical. Fruition's interior
incorporates the exotic fresh fruit concept through and through. In
fact, walking into Fruition is like walking into a third world fresh
fruit market with passionfruit, lychee and canistels proudly displayed
for guest inspection.
The restaurant's interior design also communicates the smoothie
concept throughout the store with swirling designs and a custom color
palate drawn from the exotic fruits. Fruition invokes a contemporary
and upscale feel with customer booth designs and minimal linear
architecture. The concept is designed to give larger brands a run for
their money, thanks to a restaurant interior design that corresponds
with its unique selling point: exotic fruit.
To be sure, restaurant interior design requires an in-depth
understanding of how restaurants flow, how employees will interact with
the design, and how site architecture could impact the design. The most
successful restaurant interior design, blended with irresistible food
and impeccable service, breeds repeat guests, spirited employees and
greater profitability.
Build the brand into your design
Every restaurant requires a different flavor, a different flare -
and different experience. That's why it is important to build your
restaurant's brand into its design.
Building the brand into your design multiplies the value of your
interior investment because it communicates your message while guests
are waiting in the lobby, on their way to the restrooms, during the
meal, and as they pay the bill. Marketing through your restaurant
design is not merely a matter of tossing up some signage with clever
messages here and there; rather, it requires a top to bottom approach
that includes relevant messaging in relevant places.
Your brand should be apparent through your interior design as soon
as guests walk in the door. The lobby can speak volumes about the
experience awaiting them in the dining room. Is the lobby seating
rugged or posh? Is the hostess station a simple podium or does it have
a concierge, full-service feel? Do the restrooms offer comfort with
accessories appropriate to the theme of your eatery? Building the brand
into your restaurant design is as much about subliminal cues as it is
about blatant messaging.
Leaving guests with an unforgettable experience is one way to build the brand into your interior design. That's just what Señor Frog's
did at its first U.S. location in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The restaurant set
out on a re-branding strategy as it developed a restaurant prototype.
That prototype centered on a beach theme through and through. But to
really make the brand shine through the design meant more than just
laying tile to create the look of water and sand on the floor.
Señor Frog's Cancun incorporated unforgettable elements that would
send guests away with a good word in their mouths, along with good food
in their bellies. Señor Frog's boasts miniature put-put with a $100 bar
tab prize, inner tubes in the ceiling, a hot tub in the middle of the
restaurant, and a slide that dumps people into the lagoon outside.
Building your brand into your restaurant design is a fun challenge
to overcome - and one that can ultimately help justify the cost of
restaurant renovations or extra comforts in a restaurant prototype. It
demands a strong background in marketing and branding because flooding
the guests with too many overt messages could make them feel
uncomfortable. The goal is to build your brand into the design and let
the vision speak for itself.
Aaron Allen is Founder/CEO of Quantified Marketing Group,
an Orlando based strategic marketing consultancy that specializes in
the foodservice and hospitality industry. He can be reached at aallen@quantifiedmarketing.com