On a sunny, cloudless day, the thought of being inside is a hard concept to face with such beautiful weather. On these kinds of days, I usually find myself taking advantage of the weather in every activity, including where I eat. A restaurant with an outside dining area would sound more appealing to me on a day like this than being forced to eat inside. The outdoors also has an effect on the type of food I feel like eating at the time. Some foods seem more appetizing to eat outside than they do inside. Restaurants take this type of reasoning into consideration when choosing their layout, accessibility and atmosphere. Is this a perception in other people’s minds though, as well as mine? Through visiting different restaurants, I decided to decipher exactly what the effects of some of these factors may be.
The layout of a restaurant is a big factor in determining the type of people that may go there. Interactions between customers can attract, or detract, certain customers there. Depending on what atmosphere of dining you would like to eat in can determine what restaurant you decide to go to. Some restaurants are more appealing because of the close interactions between customers while dining. Others provide more isolation and privacy for the diners. The layout of these restaurants contributes to the feelings these customers may feel while dining. Tables with close proximity to each other provide a close feel between customers and may provide more interaction while dining. Dim lighting and booths though, can have the complete opposite effect on a customer. It evokes more of a private feel and trying to interject your opinion into a conversation here would be looked upon as rude. I visited a couple of restaurants to experience the layouts and decide if these factors were true. One of my favorite restaurants is Qdoba. I really enjoy their food and feel like I always have had good experiences there. One of the first things I observed when I went to Qdoba was the layout of the seating there. The tables were positioned really close beside each other and were lightweight and easy to move. Noticing this, I also observed the place had a noisy feel to it. The closeness of the tables made it easier to converse between tables. The tables were also easier to move, making it easy to put tables together for a bigger group of people. This is definitely a place I would go to if I wanted to go out and have a good time with my friends, but it wouldn’t be one I would pick for more private matters. I also visited Tallulas while I was collecting my evidence and found it to be on the opposite side of the atmospheric spectrum. The lighting in here was dim and the tables were not as close together. The restaurant was intricately decorated and it looked like a more formal place to eat. From this I depicted the majority of people who visited this restaurant came for the fine dining and connection with whomever they may be eating with, not strangers at other tables. Seating is one of the most important factors contributing to the layout of restaurants. Seats in front of windows can attract or deter certain customers, depending on eating habits. Some people may not like the idea of having people off the streets watch them eat. Others may enjoy being the center of attention, even while eating. Most of these window seats in restaurants are singles bars. These bars also add a certain effect to restaurants. It provides closeness between individuals, who specifically came to the restaurant to eat by themselves. This can be seen as advantageous, or a negative aspect. If a certain person wants to be independent while eating, they could be very annoyed by having to share such a tight space with a complete stranger. However, if they are by themselves, and they choose to eat at a booth, they could feel more alone by such a huge space. Most individuals need more of a middle ground to feel comfortable in certain areas. At Chipotle, there was a singles bar in the window and I decided to sit at it and see how I would feel. It was a nice place to eat by myself for I didn’t have to look around at other customers while eating and awkwardly stare at them. With the way I sometimes eat though, it was a bit uncomfortable to have people walk by and stare at me every now and then. The outdoors is also taken into account when setting up a restaurant. At Chipotle, there was a nice outdoor eating area to sit at. This would be nice on days where the weather was beautiful. Yet for gloomy days, I think I would rather eat inside. One way to fix this dilemma is to add more windows to the restaurant. At Cypress on the Hill, a row of windows lines one of the walls. This adds more of an open feel to the restaurant and makes the customers able to feel the outdoors in the comfort of a fine dining restaurant. Another technique I noticed while I was collecting evidence was that on one of the nicer days that I went, the windows were open on some of the restaurants. I noticed this at The Crunkleton on Franklin Street. This would make it possible to be able to feel the outdoors but again be inside at the same time. The layout of a restaurant can also determine what I order at a restaurant. Sugarland’s is a gourmet restaurant prized for their delicious gelato. When I walk into the restaurant the first thing I see is a display of perfectly molded gelato that looks so appetizing. This may be one of the reasons their gelato is so popular. Being able to view the food is a technique used by restaurants to get customers to buy that food. Coinciding with this, fast food restaurants can also affect customer’s opinions of the food there. Generally, people go to fast food restaurants for the quick service, not for the quality of food. All fast food restaurants generally have the same layout, with a place to order and seating strewn throughout the building. With this type of layout, customers will associate the type of food there with a negative connotation, due to the common knowledge that fast food restaurants don’t have the best quality food. However, if the same food were to be served in an elegantly decorated restaurant, that may be a sit down restaurant with dim lighting, customer’s would most likely believe their food there was better. Therefore the layout of a restaurant plays a crucial role in a customer’s food decision and their perception of the food they consume. Another thing that can determine what I order at a restaurant is the way the menu may be set up. At Tallulas, they have their menu posted on the outside of their door. Beside the menu, they have a screen with a slideshow of images that shows the different kinds of foods they offer. Doing this can attract hungry customers to the door and make the place seem more appealing through pictures than through words. Accessibility is another important aspect to one’s choice of restaurant. If there are blockades preventing customers from going to that restaurant, then those customers who can’t overcome the blockades are not going to go there. Many of the restaurants I visited did not take into account the effects of their architecture on some customers. Take handicapped people for example; there are many restaurants that don’t accommodate wheel chairs in any way, shape or form. At Spankys, which is a two story restaurant, there are stairs inside the restaurant that would prevent movement for these kinds of handicapped people. When I visited Chipotle though, there was an easily accessible wheelchair ramp for wheelchairs to go up. The restaurant may have the best gourmet ice cream in the world, but if it is a hassle to get inside the restaurant, then those customers are not going to go there. Putting stairs in restaurants or not providing wheel chair ramps are all examples of blockades that may prevent certain customers from going there. Location and atmosphere together can also determine a customer’s choice of restaurant. Some restaurant’s locations can evoke different feelings in the atmosphere. Cosmic Cantina is a relatively cheap restaurant located just off of Franklin Street. It serves great Mexican food but most people would not consider it a fancy restaurant. When I say it is located off Franklin Street, it is not right on Franklin Street where most of the other restaurants. Rather it is further off the street, somewhat hidden by other restaurant’s. Customers say this secrecy adds more of an exclusive feel to the restaurant. This is due in part to most of the customers are local to the Chapel Hill area, for they know where and what the restaurant is. One regular time customer stated when asked about their feelings of the restaurant that it was delicious cheap Mexican food only known by a lot of the locals in Chapel Hill. The exclusiveness provided by the “secret” location of the restaurant may make some of the food taste better than it normally would because of the higher upgrade to the restaurant through the atmosphere. Restaurant’s take major factors into account when arranging and setting up their dining area. Layout, atmosphere, and customer accessibility all play major parts in determining a customer’s decision of which restaurant to go to. As a food consumer, I know that when I decide on a restaurant, I think of how good the food is and the type of environment that I like to dine in. Restaurants pinpoint what customers want knowing that that will be the determining factor of how successful their business will be.
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