Ambience, design key to attracting consumers' palates: boost the bottom line by appealing to customers' aesthetics and psychological needs

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 4, 2004 by Lori Lohmeyer

Food and service are not the only factors that determine a restaurant's success. Setting the appropriate stage also is crucial in creating a dining experience that wins customer devotion.

In an effort to encourage repeat visits, increase market share and boost the bottom line, restaurateurs employ a variety of design tactics that appeal to their customers' aesthetics and various psychological needs, such as a desire for personal space or stimulation.

Operators unfurl white tablecloths and dim the lights of rooms painted in soothing colors at fine-dining restaurants, where meals are meant to be leisurely. Chef-driven establishments install open kitchens, where the frenetic activity can be viewed. Restaurateurs vying for lively, upbeat atmospheres rely on bright colors, an abundance of televisions and tightly packed tables. Quick-service chains opt for fixed chairs, tile floors and fluorescent lights to increase table turns.

Operators' decisions in choosing their restaurants' color palettes, lighting, table arrangements and fabrics help determine the speed of table turns and set the tone fox" their restaurants.

"It's way beyond a functional space," says restaurant designer Stephanie Parisi of Parisi Design in Del Mar, Calif. "It's an emotional space for [customers]."

When California Pizza Kitchen wanted to ramp up dinner business, the chain turned to Aria Group Architects Inc. of Oak Park, Ill., to help change customers' perceptions of the restaurant. Sales at the Los Angeles-based gourmet-pizza chain divide up evenly between lunch and dinner, according to Larry Flax, CPK's chief executive and cofounder. In addition, alcohol sales are "fairly low," compared with those of other upscale casual-dining concepts in the industry, Flax says. Company officials speculated that tweaking the restaurant's look and installing a bar element might increase dinner traffic.

As part of an effort to attract more dinner customers. CPK unveiled a new, 5,700-square-foot prototype store in Irvine, Calif., featuring warm colors, stone and wood treatments, rich textures and a full bar.

"The [new] restaurant is a little softer, less harsh." Flax says.

At the same time, Flax had to make sure the company did not alienate family business by putting more emphasis on alcohol. "The idea was not to tweak it too far," Flax says.

As a result, designers decided to make the bar an extension of the counter seating area of the chain, rather than a separate component. Designers also installed a glass-encased wine wall at the entrance of the new unit.

"We're always trying to figure out the psychology of our customers," Flax adds. "Not only in food--obviously, we want to know what customers want to eat--but in the environment, too."

To create an ideal restaurant space, Parisi conducts an analysis of the local competition and the customer demographics and cuisine of the new eatery. When designing two restaurants for the La Jolla, Calif.-based Ladeki Restaurant Group, she used different tactics to create the appropriate atmosphere at each restaurant. At Prime 10 Steakhouse in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Parisi appealed to the demographics in the local community by creating a contemporary, "old money" atmosphere. The location of the restaurant across the street from the local polo club of the city made it important to include an equestrian theme in the space.

At Roppongi Restaurant & Bar, an upscale restaurant serving contemporary Pacific Rim cuisine in Palm Springs, Calif., Parisi created a high-energy space. Designers employed bold, geometric architecture layered with ancient mythological art and an organic color palette along with ancient artifacts to target each of the five senses and enhance the guests' overall dining experience.

When Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Eatza Pizza, a 23-unit pizza-buffet chain, decided to jump up expansion, it hired designers to develop a new prototype. The goal of the prototype was to appeal to a more mainstream clientele, according to Ron Stilwell, Eatza Pizza's president and chief executive. The company's first step was to change the color palette from bright red and green to softer hues to create a warmer space that "made people hungrier."

The most challenging aspect of the new prototype was developing a space that would appeal to a wide customer demographic. The company installed a larger gaming facility to appeal to families but made sure to separate it from part of the dining room so adults and senior citizens would not feel uncomfortable eating at the restaurant.

Eatza Pizza's new design appears to be paying off. The company's Portland, Ore., store, which sports the new prototype, is generating sales that are approximately 50 percent higher than those of older stores, Stilwell says.

Breaking up a single dining room into smaller dining areas gives hosts the opportunity to fill the restaurant in stages, says Stephani K.A. Robson, a restaurant-design lecturer at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, N.Y. That helps to satisfy the psychological need for interaction by giving guests the impression that a restaurant is crowded, she notes.