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Using Feng Shui Colors in Your Restaurant

Feb 14
Posted by Daniel in Restaurant, Restaurant Furniture, restaurant layout, restaurant tips and advice

In the previous post, Feng Shui for restaurants, I wrote about several things that you can do to improve your restaurant’s atmosphere and appeal. This time I want to focus on colors.

Colors are especially meaningful even when it comes to food. People assign meaning to colors through cultural experiences. Colors also have energies that express different emotions and evoke different feelings in people.

When looking to use feng shui to find new colors for your restaurant, take time to understand what type of cuisine works well with certain types of colors. You should use warm colors for the interior of your restaurant and menu and a yellow-based lighting instead of a blue-based lighting. Yellow and warm colors bring more light and positive energy to your dining area. These colors also encourage appetite.

The colors for your restaurant should match the type of dining experience you’re offering. If it’s a family-style restaurant, have colors that attract not only the parents, but the kids as well. Restaurants with lots of tie and suit clientele should focus on sleek colors that reflect functionality and formality. Romantic restaurants should use lots of warm colors with heightened emphasis on reds, pinks, and whites. (more…)

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Feng Shui for Restaurants

Feb 07
Posted by Daniel in Restaurant, restaurant layout, restaurant seating, restaurant tips and advice

I know the title probably caused a few raised eyebrows. I mean, we all know that Feng Shui is used in homes and apartments to improve positive energy and create a more comfortable atmosphere in the living space, but what does that have to do with a restaurant?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that focuses on using aesthetics to improve the positive energy, or chi, in a space. It tries to bring harmony and balance to an area by using colors, décor, wholesome forms, locations, visuals, and furniture placing.

Despite the fact that we mostly connect Feng Shui with private homes, any place where people spent time can benefit from the calming effects of this ancient Chinese art. Restaurants in particular, with their large traffic of clients, can benefit from implementing a few Feng Shui ideas while decorating and designing the interior.

The following tips are a list of things to keep in mind when trying to implement Feng Shui ideas in your restaurant. In the next posts we will try to go in to deeper details about a few of the ideas.

Colors:

The different colors of the rainbow all have different meanings and we all react to them in different ways. Certain colors will evoke specific emotions or thoughts when seen. Red is a color that excites passion and love and increases appetites. It creates feelings of romance and sometimes lust. Pink is a calm, soothing color that is also associated with love. Yellow is a cheery color that promotes warmth and happiness. However, prolonged exposure to yellow can cause anxiety. (This is why fast food restaurants use red and yellow in their decoration and logos. This causes people to eat more but to leave faster thus promoting to a larger turnover.) Orange strengthens concentration and gives people a creative boost. Blue is a calming color that reflects peace, healing, trust, intellect, and wisdom. Black is not a color associated with depression—it promotes feelings of power, sophistication, modernism, and elegance. Purple evokes feelings of nobility and healing. White represents purity, cleanliness, poise, and confidence. Brown is a color associated with the earth. It represents comfort and health and wellness. Grey is a color that represents precision, clarity, and sharpness. (more…)

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Restaurant Menu Design Tips

Feb 03
Posted by Daniel in Restaurant, Restaurant Furniture, restaurant seating, restaurant tips and advice

Whether you are designing your restaurant’s menu for the first time or redesigning it, you’ll need to keep in mind a few things your customers will notice. Not only will they concern themselves with food prices, but also with dish titles, colors, and decorations. The type of cuisine your restaurant serves should match the type of menu you hand out.

Your goal for a restaurant is not only to provide people with great food, but to make a profit. You want to price your food at something your customers will consider reasonable and fair. Prices that are too high will make your customers feel they are being ripped off. Although some scientific studies show that the more someone pays for something the higher value they place on the item, this won’t be the case if what your customers pay for doesn’t match the value they think they are getting. Keep appetizers in lower price ranges than your main courses. The same logic applies to side dishes and desserts. Also, foods that are hard to come by or require more manpower to catch, like seafood, may be acceptably higher priced than other dishes.

You want to also keep in mind the type of clients you’re trying to bring in. If your clientele is mainly business executives, you want to have fine fare cuisine and simple, descriptive language for the different dishes. If your focus is on a family restaurant, you might want to consider including a kid’s section or creating a separate kid’s menu. Many restaurants create a separate kid’s menu so the children can color and stay occupied. (more…)

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Restaurant Opening Checklist

Jan 31
Posted by Daniel in Restaurant, Restaurant Furniture, restaurant seating, restaurant tips and advice

Before you open a restaurant it’s important to have everything in order. When those doors open, it’ll be too late and you’ll get stuck on “putting out fires” instead of moving your business forward. For a smooth restaurant opening menus need to be set, ordered, the seating needs to be arranged, staff needs to be hired and prepped, etc.

To help you get a good start here’s a quick checklist of things to do before the grand opening:

  1. Create a menu. Before opening, the restaurant should offer certain types of food or cuisine. Some restaurants allow people to offer menu names on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. This is an easy way to outsource the task of naming items on the menu and a great way to publicize a grand opening. The menu should have, depending on your type of cuisine, appetizers, drinks, specials, main dishes, side items, desserts, and other courses if necessary. Depending on when you will be open, you should include breakfast and lunch sections. In one of our next posts we will discuss tips and ideas for creating successful menus.
  2. Arrange seating. The seating will depend on the size of the restaurant and the ambiance required. If it’s a laidback bar style, dining booths, bar stools and high-top tables are appropriate. If you have a patio, choose outdoor patio furniture that fits the desired atmosphere. For example, a country-style restaurant would have picnic tables instead of bistro tables for two. The walkways need to be wide enough for trays of food and people to pass by. You want to make seating comfortable, not cramped, so have tables and seats a set distance apart to allow people to get up and sit without disturbing one another. The tables should also be large enough for the plates, drinks, and flatware. Seating should be arranged in linear rows or a pattern which will make it easier for staff to work with, and more comfortable for customers as well. (more…)
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How to Have a Full Restaurant on Valentine’s Day

Jan 27
Posted by Daniel in fun, Restaurant, restaurant tips and advice

Now that you know how to create a romantic atmosphere for Valentine’s all you need is the customers.

The following tips are a great place to start if you want to save money on large scale advertising and still reach enough clients to ensure a fully booked evening.  These tips will work on any given occasion, but some of them I would advise to use mainly before big holidays or for special occasions once in a while. Just as you don’t pay attention to all year long “special prices” neither will your customers after a while.

Ok. Now for the tips:

  • Use your staff as walking adverts. Let your employees know that their friends can have a special discount if they book a place in advance for a romantic couple’s dinner. (more…)
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Kids Friendly Restaurant

Jan 25
Posted by Daniel in fun, Restaurant, restaurant layout, restaurant seating, Restaurant Seating Design, restaurant tips and advice

Today when people are busy working all day long they feel like they have less time to spend as a family during the work week. This is why many families like to go out with their children for dinner. This way they are saving time preparing the meal at home and spending it with the kids while also letting the kids have a fun outing as a family.

But this means that the restaurants they choose to visit must be kids friendly.

So, what things would be found in a restaurant that was family oriented?

Firstly, ask yourself what would a family expect to get in such a restaurant.  What kind of seating outlay would there be?  It would have to have plenty of space in between the table, chairs and booths so that the parents can move freely between their place and their children. Also kids like to run around and move from place to place so needs to taken into account as well. And don’t have floors with carpets, it will get way too dirty. However if kids are able to freely run around then a soft  indoor-outdoor carpet should be used, as that is very easy to clean.

This is where the seating outlay would come in.  Try to plan out where the seating will go before putting anything in the place.  There should be a section for big families with loud kids and ones that are small and quiet.  Also think about using restaurant booths for a kid friendly atmosphere.  A mix of dining booths and restaurant chairs and tables is the optimal idea when trying to cater to a mixed crowed. (more…)

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