Changing Your Restaurant From Lunch To Dinner
Many restaurants that offer both lunch and dinner want to create a nicer atmosphere for the dinner crowd. It is common to offer a wider menu selection as well as to charge more for meals in the evening time. You want your guests to feel that coming in for dinner is worth it. That means you need to make some changes that are effective yet affordable. You also want them to be something that can be done quickly.
You may be thinking that this is a concept you agree with, but you don't need any more overhead expenses to deal with. The good news is that most of these details you can implement don't require much of an investment at all. The price is minimal as it the time involved in the transformation process.
For example you likely use paper place mats for your lunch crowd. This is fine and most of them won't give it a second though. You can easily upgrade to cloth table settings in lovely colors. Get pretty napkins and fold them into a great design. This will definitely enhance the look of the table where they will eat dinner over what they see during lunch time.
You can easily change the entire look of your restaurant with the lighting. You will want it to be brighter for lunch than you do for dinner. You can open the curtains and use the lights. For dinner you can close the curtains and dim the lights. Ask an electrician to let you know what it will cost to change from a lighting system that is either on or off to one that you can control the brightness of.
Music is a very simple yet effective change you can make as well. Soft music is good for all day long, but you may want to change what is playing at night. Think about music that will help your guests to relax. You want them to unwind and not be in a hurry to complete their meal. During the day though you may choose to go with something faster that reflects the pace of most people during that time.
Even the way in which your guests are seated can affect the atmosphere. For example you may have open seating during the lunch hour. People choose where they want to sit and do so. For dinner though you may ask that they wait to be seated. A hostess can great them and take them to their location. Make sure that the guests are happy with where they are placed though. They should still have a choice in the matter.
As you can see there are many very simple yet effective ways in which you can transform the atmosphere of your restaurant. You will find that our customers really like this transformation. They can come in for a casual lunch as well as a nice dinner. Since they already love the food you offer they will be more willing to frequent your establishment on a regular basis.
It doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming to accomplish this. Make sure your staff understands the transition and can effectively set it up. There is no reason why you can't offer a dramatic change between your lunch time and dinner time atmosphere. It all depends on how much effort you are willing to put into it. Explore your options and be creative so you can offer something amazing.
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About the Author
Patricia Farnham writes about the ups and downs of the restaurant industry. To read her opinions, warning and advice on how to start a restaurant and other topics, visit her website
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by: PatriciaFarnham
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