@chatnoir, there is one thing you missed off your list. The fact that you don’t have to worry about dishes.
You’re right, Ember. The dishes are done.
The noise level is another i didn’t mention, although quiet dining environments have become rare. Operators tell me today’s diner wants “Vibe”.
I don’t.
The comfort factor has many elements.
Too few recognize how important comfort and genuine caring are to those we serve.
Indeed. New restaurants and cafes etc are fitted out in such a way to create echoes and noise even when almost empty. I hate it with a passion. How is one supposed to enjoy dining with a group of friends when private conversation is impossible.
Ember, you’re not expected to enjoy, pay up and get out appears to be the not-so-subtle message.
I completely share you feelings.
Don’t tell anyone, but the 21st Century’s harsh acoustics are the result of a lamentable (for customers) research project by several profs at Cornell University’s School of Hospitality Management, the leading American university for the industry. Their findings were that both sales and customer turnover increased as noise levels rose. Alcoholic beverage sales increased the most. Both factors significantly contribute to profits in a low profit margin industry, Goodbye carpets and acoustic wall and ceiling treatments, - hello vibe.
Thanks to our digital age people can still have a conversation in a bar or restaurant by text messaging.
Really.
You are welcome to join me in a boycott of those businesses that are so careless and indifferent to quality customer service. What troubles me most is the poor environment affects employee attitude and it removes any incentive to enhance customer service.
We have company, a local FM radio station maintains a website list of quiet establishments where conversation is possible at a normal speaking level.
Allyssa, i regret straying so far off the Sirloin topic. It’s unfortunate i am so passionate for service excellence.
This is very interesting! Thanks for sharing it.
I wonder if the study considered the potential for a drop in customer attendance over the long haul as the experience is no longer as enjoyable as it once was. Probably did, but I’ve heard restaurant attendance is trending down.
Mirozen, it’s been almost 20 years since that study was published in the Cornell Journal so i don’t recall all the details. However, i don’t know of any scientific method measures that predicts potential change in behaviour as a result of environmental changes, but i’m just a cook, not an anthropological psychologist. Maybe it’s time someone revisits that study but it’s easy to see that what is, is. And we don’t like it.
It appears to me that just the reverse is happening, people are actually seeking out what i call “acoustically bright” environments. Where i live all of the most popular places are too noisy to be enjoyable for me. I just know that it would be foolish to sink $2 million or even much more into a facility that was designed to be unsuccessful.
The last NRA (the other one, = National Restaurant Association) report i saw a few months ago indicated sales were up almost 4% across all sectors year over year. Now that includes the impact of price increases and customer traffic.
It amuses me when i see Yelp’s restaurant reviews praising the “vibe” of an establishment along with comments like, “there was only a few old people there.” Do they think age is contagious?
However, we stray off topic, but it’s interesting to reflect on how society adapts to change. In the previous century i never would have thought many people would be using the sous vide technique at home.
Maybe the ‘bright environment’ trend has helped contribute to the rise of the FoodNerd.
Ember, your theorem has merit judging from the interest and questions this Community presents.