How to Create the Right Ambience In Your Restaurant

There's a restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida, called Café Ambiance. The restaurant attempts to create the very early days of Florida in its tea room and pub. The restaurant is decorated in "high Victorian" style, right down to the staff who wear period costumes. In a way, every restaurant operator wants to create their own "Café Ambience" -- or Ambience Pub, Ambience Steak House, Ambience Bar and Grill, Ambience Pizza, etc. That's because most restaurateurs at least know intuitively that their guests seek out the dining experience you offer as much as they seek out your food.

Imagine yourself sitting in the audience at a play. The curtain goes up and you see a particular room from a particular era. It may be the lobby of a fancy hotel or the inside of a log cabin. No one has to tell you -- you know by the furnishings, the artwork, the accessories and the general feel of the room where the play you're about to see takes place. Through careful selection of all the elements in this stage set, the designer has communicated to the audience where and when this play takes place. Even before the first actor speaks, you get a feel for what's to come.

The restaurant business has often been compared to a daily stage show. You've created a setting for your restaurant -- through the furniture, the glassware, the candles (or absence of them), the lighting and through a hundred other details. What's more, you've created a mood for your restaurant. That mood, that feeling, that personality, that atmosphere is your restaurant's ambience.

You are just as likely to hear a restaurant-goer say, "Let's go to Captain Bob's and sit on the deck" as you are to hear, "Let's go to Captain Bob's and eat their fried clams." Captain Bob's customers may love its fried clams and other offerings, but they may like more the prospect of sitting on the deck, watching the boats, experiencing the sunset, smelling the salt air, feeling the breeze, sitting in a comfortable chair while their favorite server brings them that plate of clams.