Reality #3 — Ever increasing customer expectations . . .

It used to be that dining out was reserved for special occasions and celebrations. That changed over the past ten years as "eating out" became part of the American way of life. While more people buy food away from home, they are buying it from those that meet their criteria for quality food, quality service, and more convenience.

Convenience:

This desire for convenience that spawned late night hours, the drive-thru window, and ready-to-go-meals, will place new demands on operators. In a world that demands convenience and speed, the very process of waiting for a table has the potential to be a negative.

Service:

According to a Yankelovich Monitor survey, over 80% of consumers think that they deserve to be treated like a business's best customer. Delivering or failing to deliver on these expectations will be a point of differentiation for restaurants; you will either be perceived as a service provider or you won't.

Child friendly:

According to a NRA study, 33% of adults say they eat out more as a family now then they did two years ago. Everyone knows that children are a strong influence on where a family eats with some estimating that children choose the restaurant between 55% and 90% of the time. It is obviously important that menus, service attitude, and wait time reflect this increasing trend.