Creating a Complete Sensory Experience in Your Restaurant

Successful restaurants expend tremendous effort continuously improving the quality of their food, but that is merely one-fifth of the equation. A great restaurant has an ambience that not only appeals to the patron’s sense of taste, but also to their senses of smell, touch, sight and sound.

It’s well understood that the senses of smell and taste are intertwined, which is why you seldom if ever walk into a restaurant with an odor so foul that you walk right out again. However, restaurateurs must also consider that sights, sounds and tactile impressions affect a patron’s enjoyment of the meal, too. For instance, if a couple is trying to enjoy a romantic evening and is constantly distracted by a blaring TV or a cobweb hanging over their heads, they will leave — never to return.

The infographic below, Restaurant Ambience Perfect for the Five Senses, offers useful, practical tips that will help you cover all the sensory bases in your establishment. Naturally, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, since restaurants differ widely in the atmosphere they are trying to create and the market segment they are trying to attract. The infographic is especially helpful because it describes options in such a way that it enables any restaurant to draw the appropriate conclusions.