1. Concept, Location, and Design
Chapter 3
Courtesy of Columbia Restaurant
Concept, Location, and Design
The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation, 7th Edition

2. Objectives
After reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Recognize benefits of a good restaurant name
Explain the relationship between concept and market
Explain why a restaurant concept might fail
Discuss some qualities of successful restaurant concepts

3. Objectives (cont’d.)
Identify factors to consider when choosing a restaurant’s location
Identify factors to consider when developing a restaurant concept
List restaurant knockout criteria

4. Restaurant Concepts Matrix of ideas
Constitute what will be perceived as the restaurant’s image
Should fit a definite target market
Distinguishes the establishment as D&B (different and better than the competition)
May be necessary to modify as competition arises
Best concepts are often the result of learning from mistakes

5. Restaurant Concepts (cont’d.)
Tips:
Make it different enough from the competition
Do not let it be too far ahead of current times
Do not price your menu out of the market
Pay attention to food costs
Make your concept profitable
Good concepts are on-trend
Make your concept easily identifiable
Take inspiration from others and love your concept
Make sure the concept and location fit

6. Concepts: Clear Cut or Ambiguous?
Many restaurants lack clear cut concepts
No integration of the atmospherics
Everything should fit together
Concept is strengthened if it establishes an identity
The name of the restaurant is part of the image.
The restaurant name can tell the customer what to anticipate
Courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau
Everything should fit together:
Signs
Uniforms
Menus
Décor

7. Protecting a Restaurant’s Name
Lawsuits over names happen
If another party uses your name, you should take action
Loss of the right to a name means changing signs, menus, promo material, many costs
Courtesy of Eat Here
Changing signs, menus, promotional material, etc.
Court costs and, perhaps, loss of power that has been built into the name by the superior operator

8. The McDonald’s Concept and Image
Greatest restaurant success story of all time
Concept: all-American family restaurant
Clean
Wholesome
Inexpensive
Fun
Simple, straightforward menu
Key to effectiveness of McDonald’s advertising

9. Defining the Concept and Market
Selecting a concept
Define it precisely in the context of which markets will find it appealing
Market may constitute a small percentage of the total population
Coffee shop with counter service appeals to interstate travelers
There must be a market gap
Need for the concept offered

10. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Figure 3.1: The concept and market comprise the hub around which the restaurant develops

11. Successful Restaurant Concepts
Examples:
T.G.I. Friday’s
Spago
Planet Hollywood
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
Corner Bakery Café
Hard Rock Café
Union Square Hospitality Group
Parallel 33
Flamenco dancers entertain diners at the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa, Florida.
Courtesy of the Columbia Restaurant
Hard Rock Café- one of most successful restaurant chains
Danny Meyer: A restaurant success story
Union Square Hospitality Group

12. Hard Rock Cafe
The Hard Rock Cafe is one of the most successful restaurant chain concepts of all
time
Courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe

13. Restaurant Life Cycles
Nearly all restaurants have an almost human life cycle: birth, growth, maturity, senescence, and death.
Familial lack of enthusiasm
Changing demographics
Fashions change

14. Concept Adaptation Concept development
Always has been important in the industry
Becoming more so now that dining districts are developing in almost every community
Concepts that have not been tested
Most need some adaptation to the particular market
Different menus and prices attract different markets

15. Changing or Modifying a Concept
Many highly successful concepts that have worked well for years gradually turn sour
Customer base and demographics change
Morale and personal service may decline
Copy and improve
Every concept is built on ideas from other concepts
Modifications and changes, new combinations, and changes in design, layout, menu, and service

16. When a Concept Fails Concept can be changed to fit the market
Conversion can take place while the restaurant is doing business
Name, decor, and menu can be changed
Customers who have left may return if the new concept appeals to them
New concept may better appeal to the same market
Siphon customers away from the competition

17. Restaurant Symbology
Includes the logo, line drawings, linen napkins, and service uniforms
All helps to create the atmosphere
César Ritz: waiters dressed in tails
Chart House: servers dressed in Hawaiian attire
McDonald’s: Ronald McDonald
Take cues from larger companies to come up with symbols and signs that reflect the restaurant’s concept

18. Multiple-Concept Chains
Can have five or more restaurants in the same block
Each competing with the others
Each acquiring a part of the restaurant market
Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc.
Largest of all restaurant companies
Three concepts: KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut

19. Sequence of Restaurant Development
From concept to opening:
Choosing a location
Business marketing initiated
Layout and equipment planned
Menu determined
First architectural sketches made
Licensing and approvals sought
Financing arranged

20. Sequence of Restaurant Development (cont’d.)
Working blueprints developed
Contracts for bidding created
Contractor selected
Construction or remodeling begins
Furnishing and equipment ordered
Key personnel hired
Hourly employees selected and trained
Restaurant opened

21. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

22. Planning Services
Many aspects of design are carried out by other parties
Designers perform the following services:
Basic floor plan and seating layout
Equipment schedule
Electrical requirements
Plumbing requirements
Equipment
Equipment elevations
Refrigeration requirements
Exhaust and in-take requirements

23. Common Denominators Some common factors:
Human needs met by the restaurant
Menu prices and cost per seat
Degree of service offered
Space provided for each customer
Rate of seat turnover
Advertising and promotions expenditures
Productivity per employee
Labor and food costs

24. Utility versus Pleasure
Include:
- What is the purpose of a particular restaurant
- Pleasure dining increases as service, atmosphere, and quality of food increases
-Pleasure increases as menu price increases

25. Degree of Service Offered
Restaurant service varies from none at all to a maximum in a high style luxury restaurant.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vending machines impersonal-no service at all.
Luxury restaurant, captain and two bus-persons may attend each table
Customer pays for food, also the ambience and attention of service personnel.

26. Seven categories of service
Vending
Quick service
Fast casual
Casual
Family restaurant
Dinner house
Luxury restaurant

27. Time of Eating and Seat Turnover
The seat turnover and speed of eating correlate with the restaurant classification but not perfectly
Turnover is also highly correlated with the efficiency of the operation
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

28. Square Food Requirements
Amount of space per customer needed by each type of restaurant
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

29. Menu Price and Cost per Seat
Menu pricing correlates highly with the degree of service offered, the time of eating, the labor cost, the amount of space offered the customer, and cost of the restaurant itself

30. Correct Number of Seats
Theoretically, a given location will support a given number of seats with a particular concept
Surveys show that 40 to 50 percent of all table service customers arrive in pairs; 30 percent come alone or in parties of three, and 20 percent in groups of four or more
It is better to build too small than too large

31. Advertising and Promotion Expenditures
Expenditures may vary according to the type of restaurant
Courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe
The Hard Rock Cafe’s theme has been popular for years.

32. Labor Costs as a Percentage of Sales
Productivity per employee correlates highly with the various elements, moving from a high point at quick service to a low point in a luxury restaurant.
Labor costs vary inversely with productivity.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

33. Planning Decisions that Relate to Concept Development
Who are the target markets, the customers?
Buy, Build, Lease, or Franchise?
Food preparation from scratch or from convenience Items?
Limited or extensive menu?
How much service, limited or full?

34. Scoozi is an outstanding theme restaurant that gives the impression of an artist’s studio
Courtesy of Lettuce Entertain You

35. Planning Decisions that Relate to Concept Development Cont.
Young part-time employees or older career employees?
Paid advertising or word-of-mouth advertising?
Grand or quiet opening?
Electricity or gas?

36. Profitability
Most profitable restaurants are in quick-service category
Oddly enough, few restaurant management students opt for quick-service management, believing it lacks the variety, glamour, and opportunity for self-expression
Investor cares most about profitability and maximized profits

37. The Mission Statement Encapsulates objectives for the business
Can be brief, encompassing, and/or explicit
Elements:
Purpose of the business and the nature of what it offers
Business goals, objectives, and strategies
Philosophies and values followed by the business and employees

38. Concept and Location Good location depends on the:
Kind of restaurant
Roadside restaurants
Clientele
Professionals
Size of potential market
Price structure
Criteria for locating a restaurant
Restaurant Business
Annual Restaurant Growth Index

39. Location Criteria Includes: Demographics of the area
Visibility from a major highway
Accessibility from a major highway
Number of potential customers passing by the restaurant
Distance from the potential market
Desirability of surroundings

40. Some Restaurants Create Their Own Location
Dinner or family-style restaurants
Need not place the same high priority on convenience of location
Necessary for casual and quick-service establishments
Courtesy of Danny Meyer

41. Some Restaurants Create Their Own Location Cont.
Sources of location information
Location decisions
Based on asking the right questions and securing the right information
Real estate agents are prime sources
Other sources: chamber of commerce, banks, town or city planner, other restaurant owners, etc.

42. Knockout Criteria Includes: Proper zoning Drainage, sewage, utilities
Minimal size
Short lease
Excessive traffic speed
Access from a highway or street
Visibility from both sides of the street

43. Other Location Criteria
Includes:
Market population
Family income
Growth or decline of the area
Competition from comparable restaurants
Restaurant row or cluster concept

44. Other Location Criteria
Downtown versus suburban
New restaurants continually displace old ones
 Average travel time to reach restaurants
Most diners-out select restaurants that are close by
Matching location with concept
Size of the lot, visibility, availability of parking, access from roads, etc. all have an impact on style of restaurant that will fit a location

45. Suburban, Nook-and-Cranny, and Shopping Mall Locations
Restaurants do well in a variety of locations
Depends on menu and style of operation
Courtesy of City Zen

46. Minimum population needed
New, fairly inexpensive food is in the American menu stream and is where the people assemble

47. Restaurant Chain Location Specifications
Critical criteria
Metropolitan area with 50,000 population
20,000 cars per 24 hour period
Residential backup, plus motels, shopping centers or office parks
Minimum 200 foot frontage
Area demonstrating growth and stability
Easy access and visibility
Availability of all utilities to the property, including sewer
 Location Information Checklist
Dimensions and total square footage
Linear footage
Distance and direction
Average 24 hour traffic
Number of moving traffic lanes
Traffic controls
Posted speed limits
On-street parking
Parking requirements
Landscaping and setback
Topography
Type of soil
Drainage
Existing structures
Type of energy available
Sewers
Underground utilities
Present zoning classifications
Use and zoning of adjacent property
Building limitations
Character of surrounding area
Population and Income characteristics
Agencies requiring plan approval
Status of annexation
Signage
Construction codes
Restaurant competition
Offering price of property

48. Criteria Takeover locations Restaurant topographical surveys
 Cost of the location
Cantina Latina
Courtesy of Cantina Latina
Takeover locations
Beginning restaurateur often starts by leasing or buying out an existing restaurant.
 Restaurant topographical surveys
Using town or city map and plotting the location of existing restaurants on the map.
 Cost of the location
Can the concept and the potential market support the location selected? 

49. Visibility, Accessibility, and Design Criteria
Visibility and accessibility
Important criteria for any restaurant
Design
Needs to correlate with the theme and includes:
-the exterior, the entrance and holding area, the bar or beverage area, the dining area (including the table arrangements), the kitchen, and receiving (including access for deliveries), and storage and trash areas
Visibility and accessibility
Important criteria for any restaurant
Visibility: extent to which the restaurant can be seen for a reasonable amount of time
Accessibility: ease of arrival
Design
Needs to correlate with the theme and includes:
Space allocation
Lighting and color
Layout of the dining area