Blog: How to Create an Identity for Your Restaurant
Running a successful restaurant in the long-term is based on numerous factors. The success of a restaurant is a direct product of its reputation in creating incredible food and a memorable dining experience. However, factors such as the ambience, mood and customer service all play a big part in determining how well a restaurant does.
To create a consistent, replicable and desirable dining experience, it is important to make an identity for your restaurant. Customers will experience a wholly constructed experience starting with the food but leading all the way down to the décor, lighting and so on. So how does one go about creating an identity? Keep these following steps in mind and you should have a solid base to build on.
Create a Concept and Identify Your Target Demographic
Restaurants differentiate themselves from each other through the concepts that the restaurant owner creates. What kind of restaurant will it be? An all-day café? A French-style bistro? A dessert café? A fine-dining restaurant? Use your strengths and expertise to guide the way here and choose wisely as all the decisions further down the line are based on these factors.
Upon choosing your restaurant type, make it your own by infusing your vision into it. Conceptually, there is an infinite number of possibilities here to make your own restaurant but once again, look at what is successful in your marketplace and combine things that work best for you.
Finally, see how your concepts and ideas match up with the demographics of your area. You need to identify your target market as soon as possible as you want to create an experience that draws them in. Find out who they are, what they like and what they expect from a restaurant. Early market research is the key to good decision-making.
Expression through Design
A great deal of emphasis needs to be placed on design elements when it comes to defining a restaurant’s identity. The colours you choose for the interiors, the nature of the lighting and the general mood of the restaurant are all part of your identity. Look closely at your concept here, it should be distilled perfectly so that you have an exact idea of what you want to represent.
The design elements are also a huge part of the restaurant’s visual imaging, the logo, the restaurant sign, menus and social media promotions are all part of this strategy. Start laying the foundation for your design pillars around your main concept and fill in the rest of the strategy as an extension of these key decisions.
Restaurant concept development takes time, so take your time in choosing the elements that fit well. It is a good idea to get your hands on physical design elements. Cutlery samples, table tops, menus and logos are necessary to get a real and practical idea of what you want to do.
Get some opinions on your strategy from people that have experience in the industry. Different viewpoints and perspectives will help you look at things you that might have missed. In the end, getting your restaurant to embody every aspect of your created or perceived identity is very important. Starting with the food and moving out all the way to the design of the table top, look to develop every aspect.
This is always an ongoing process so even if your restaurant is open and serving customers, get feedback when possible and try to implement it often. Keep a strong handle on your identity and you will find that it serve you very well in the long haul. Not too sure about certain aspects of restaurant concept development? Do you feel like you need an expert opinion? Contact us at Soho Hospitality and receive all expertise in restaurant development from interior design to concept development, we always provide our best advice.
