30 Dec The humble bathroom – key to your restaurant success
Yes, key to your restaurant success.
By now, you will be very aware of the fact that your customers come to your restaurant for much more than a meal; they come for the experience. The fun and romance of eating out, of being anywhere but their own dining room.
The success or failure of this experience depends upon your ability to suspend reality for a few hours, to provide a kind of magical setting where the customer can forget about the hard day they’ve had, or the one that awaits tomorrow. It is your responsibility not to break this spell, and so every detail must be meticulously cared for, right down to the humble bathroom.
One of the most common mistakes made in this area by new restauranteurs is a lack of planning, and a poor sense of priorities. Opening a restaurant soon? Don’t fall into the trap of leaving your bathrooms till last, running out of money, and settling for launching with the bathroom that was there when you got the place. Imagine how the spell will be broken when your customer gets up from their softly-lit table, strolls past the lilies and tulips by the entrance, and pushes back the swinging door into… an offensively bright bathroom, with ill-placed mirrors and hand dryers from the nineties.
The clock has struck midnight and Cinderella’s spell is no more.
Your bathroom must be a continuation of the experience created in the main part of the restaurant. Though this is common sense, it is worth stating blatantly and taking seriously: if you’ve gone for a romantic vibe in the dining room, keep the light soft and the flowers abundant in the bathroom. If you’ve gone for a clean, modern approach, keep the bathroom simple and fresh, too.
The word you should be looking for here is seamless. If you are to protect the customer experience, the transition between all the areas of your restaurant need to be as smooth as possible.
REMEMBER: the amount of attention you pay to the details will determine your restaurant success. Never lose focus of that idea.
