Customer service is the cornerstone of great restaurant experience for customers. A great dining experience is an amalgamation of the quality of food, a great ambiance, clean table mats, awe-inspiring furniture and more importantly, perfect cutlery. All customers have little or more pre-conceived expectations from the restaurant before visiting it. A restaurant’s owners, managers and employees share a certain responsibility towards the customers that they are treated professionally. This leaves the customers with a good impression of an excellent dining experience and also helps in retaining the customers.

Most people don’t know this or do know but don’t acknowledge the importance of dining sets along with the interior design of a restaurant. These small factors such as the seating options, lights, music, architecture and cutlery impact a lot on the psychology of the customer. It prompts the customer to try more dishes and also impacts the duration of time they spend inside a restaurant.

How ideal dining sets enhance your restaurant’s customer experience

Research suggests that our perception of how food tastes is influenced by cutlery, dining sets and the overall interior of the restaurant. Given below are a few ways in which ideal dining sets can help you achieve customer satisfaction.

Food choices

Different dining set shows a variation on the flavor perception of food. Typically people at work and home are used to having a quick meal which is not considered very healthy. Therefore, people tend to pay more attention to the decor and the dining sets along with the food in the platter.

The shape of the dining table

The shape of the dining set components has shown a variation in customer’s perception towards a restaurant. Choosing the correct table shape and size need to be considered seriously because eventually, it will affect the seating capacity in the restaurant, which will result in determining the sales and profitability of the restaurant. Another important aspect to be considered for dining tables is the type of restaurant. For instance, a cafe could use a 30” x 30” table for seating 3-4 people at once, whereas a full course meal restaurant will comfortably serve only two people at the same sized table.

Accommodation

Apart from the decor and colour contrast of your restaurant, accommodational arrangements are the most crucial thing that attracts your customers. For example, if it is a family restaurant then there should be large tables with six to seven chairs to make room for a large group of customers. Further, there should be small tables with three to four chairs to accommodate nuclear families.

Furniture Styles

The right choice of furniture sets the vibe of your restaurant as well as enhances customer satisfaction. These days restaurants opt of different themes such as retro, Bollywood or take a popular TV series as their theme. When a customer enters your restaurant the furniture also helps to enhance the theme. For example, if your restaurant has a Mughal theme then you should go with vintage furniture with golden contrast and chairs with royal motifs etc.

Adequate space between the dining sets

A restaurateur is required to be mindful of maintaining sufficient space between the dining tables. They need to ensure that they are not packing too many tables into their dining room. Having plenty of tables may accommodate many people, but for a restaurant, the comfort of the customer should be the main priority instead of profit maximization. Ideally, restaurant planning and designing should showcase 60% of the floor should go to the dining area and rest 40% for the freezer, kitchen and storage.

Comfort at the dining table

Restaurants should make comfort seating choices that strike the right balance between aesthetics and function. In case, a restaurant accommodates large groups or host parties then there should be large ample sitting arrangements. For instance, in a regular cafe where people go to relax or work there a small coffee table along with two-three wooden chairs would be preferable.

In conclusion, taking into consideration, the above parameters show that the diners’ appreciation for the food and willingness to pay for the food is directly affected by the type of dining set in which the food is served.

To know more, the gastrophysics researchers highlight the importance of food extrinsic in modulating the diners of the meal that have been served.

Several other factors, like lighting, seating, colour, smell and acoustic, also contribute to a lot in the restaurant’s customer experience. The restaurant table and chairs can be arranged and designed according to the restaurant’s requirement. For instance, dining restaurants have a comfortable seating arrangement where the customer would spend hours as compared to QSRs like Subway and KFC that have seats that are comfortable but not exactly the type one would want to keep sitting on for a long time.