Restaurant concept: marketing research, development, ready-made concepts with examples, description, menu, design and opening of a concept restaurant

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

When there is a desire to open a restaurant, fantasy always comes into play. One has only to imagine how groups of people are sitting at cozy tables, everyone is eating, drinking, laughing, and quiet, pleasant music is playing in the background. Of course, you can dream up and imagine a youth cafe where boys and girls gather, they are brightly dressed, everyone around is drinking the same bright cocktails, and incendiary motives of music make you surrender to the dance.

Together, all these performances are the concept of the restaurant. At first glance, it may seem that it is extremely simple to come up with what the restaurant will look like and what dishes can be ordered in it. However, in order for the place to be popular, many nuances must be taken into account. This article will help you understand how to prepare a description of the concept of a restaurant and what you need to consider when developing it. It will also be possible to get acquainted with examples of ready-made concepts that can serve as inspiration forrestaurant opening.

What is this?

First of all, let's get into the terminology a bit. And so, the concept of the restaurant is a kind of plan that reveals the idea of creating a catering point. Concept development involves the process of answering a series of questions to create on paper an idea of what the establishment will look like

Unlike a business plan, the development of a restaurant concept aims to focus on important organizational points such as design, menu, staff, service, and the ability to include additional services.

Experienced marketers recommend that you start creating your business with the development of a concept. Next, you should start writing a business plan that describes the whole idea in more formal language and indicates the cost of each action. In general, these two documents will become the basis for creating a restaurant or cafe.

It is important to note that you should not try to combine the concept and the business plan. After all, in fact, these documents have different purposes. So, a business plan will be of interest to investors or a person involved in the economic part of the issues. But the description of the concept of the restaurant will be useful to the future administrator or manager, as well as to the people who will be involved in the creation of the restaurant. By reading the description of the idea, it will be easier to understand how to arrange a visit, what dishes will be on the menu, what the waiters will look like and everything that will make the restaurant special.

And so, afteronce the goals and objectives have been determined, it should begin to consider how to formalize the concept of the restaurant. An example of the document structure below will give you a hint on where to start developing.

The main stage of concept development is market research

To create a restaurant concept, marketing research allows you to choose the most profitable way for business development. After all, profit is the main thing. Sometimes a real understanding of things can radically change the invented concept of a restaurant. An example is the following situation. A person, due to his interests, outlook on life and insatiable desire, decides to open a restaurant with modern author's cuisine in a small town. The city has two industrial plants, and, for example, a large farm. Most of the residents work at these enterprises. From the realities it can be seen that the people of this city spend most of their time at work, which may require hard physical labor from them, that is, the bulk of the city are people with an average income. Based on the situation, it can be suggested that a place where dishes from molecular cuisine or a salad with a difficult to pronounce name will be served is unlikely to be popular in this particular city. But the concept of a family restaurant, perhaps in this case, will be more advantageous in terms of making a profit.

What should be considered when researching the market and opportunities when opening a restaurant? Of course, first of all - the location of the institution. If the choice of places to open a cafe or restaurant is not great, you should startdeveloping a concept from this moment.

Next, you need to understand who will be the target audience, in other words, regular visitors to the restaurant. It is important to study the tastes, preferences, interests, and most importantly, the possibilities of the guests who will visit the institution. When researching the target audience, it is important to identify the primary and secondary groups of visitors.

Having determined these moments, it is necessary to assess the competitiveness. Here you should answer the following questions: how many such establishments are there in the city and how far are they located, why are they attractive to guests, and also what are their shortcomings. Having analyzed these questions in detail, it will be clear what to invest in your own, new concept of the restaurant.

The structure of the concept - where to start and how to design?

In order to recreate on paper the picture that is in your head, you should start with the structure. It should include the following items:

1. The general idea of the institution.
2. Restaurant location.
3. Main guest groups.
4. Choice selection (menu).
5. Design and general atmosphere of the establishment.
6. Serving guests.
7. Staff (staff, recruitment and selection criteria).
8. Equipment and furniture.
9. Additional services.
10. Customer acquisition.

The order of these items matters a lot. If it is assumed that a restaurant is opened in order to earn good money on it, then you need to remember that the concept must meet the request of those customers who will be it.visit. Therefore, do not neglect the second and third points of the structure described above.

General idea

This section is the beginning of a description that will serve as an introduction to the idea itself. Here it is necessary to briefly state such main points as dishes, cuisine features, the amount of the average check, the main and secondary groups of visitors.

The general idea will give impetus to further drafting the concept. This paragraph must not exceed one page.

Menu selection

When developing a concept, you can do this:

• develop a detailed menu;
• outline the main contours of the future menu (describe the main positions and determine the direction).

It is best to use the second option, and entrust the finalization of all the nuances to the future chef. This section of the concept should also highlight such points as the possibility of introducing dishes of the day, seasonal and lenten menus, speci alties. You can foresee the possibility of providing discounts associated with the order of certain items. From the first sketches, it is recommended to make an approximate calculation of the average bill.

Interior design

After it was determined what the cuisine and the dishes served will be, it is necessary to start developing a concept for the design of the restaurant. It is worth remembering that this section, in fact, in the future will be a technical task for the designer and workers who will bring the interior idea to life.

An important point - from the point of view of information perception, a person has the best developed visual channel. Therefore, the design should attract, excite the appetite and, of course, be remembered by guests.

There are many well-designed restaurant concepts out there, but all of them are built on the main rule - the design of the premises should correspond to the level of prices and service.

Maintenance

Based on the pricing policy, the level of guest service is also determined. In other words, the more expensive the average check, the higher the level of service should be. In this section, you should consider what the waiters, administrators and other staff will look like. It is also important to determine what manners waiters should have, how they will offer dishes.

Staff

This section describes the number of staff required, education level and experience. You can include methods of selection, testing and selection.

It is important to pay attention to the issue of age. And also provide for substitution options.

Furniture and equipment

Here you need to make an approximate list of equipment and furniture that will be used by staff in their work, and where guests will be accommodated. All appliances should be taken into account, from the kitchen to lighting, music equipment and the one that will be in the toilet and corridors.

Additional services

Under additional services it is necessary to understand what the restaurant will earn on, in addition to the main activity. itcan be food delivery, private parties, camping and more.

It is worth remembering that not all additional services are appropriate in some cases. For example, for a good restaurant, where the average check is from 5000-7000 rubles, it is less advisable to organize food delivery to your home. But providing the opportunity to order a banquet hall for seminars, business negotiations or celebrations would be a more suitable option.

Customer Acquisition

Based on which direction was chosen to implement the idea of opening a restaurant, you should determine the best way to attract guests. It can be social media advertising, attractive outdoor advertising, attraction of promoters and much more.

Short example of a restaurant concept

This concept is a sketch that will help you start from the idea and put it on paper. This ready-made example of a restaurant concept is designed to seat 50-70 visitors, whose we alth is above average. For example, a restaurant named "Bourbon" will be taken.

Section 1 - General idea. It consists in providing catering services for residents and visitors of the city. When visiting the restaurant, the guest should enjoy French cuisine and spend time in a cozy atmosphere, which will be complemented by French musical motives. The average check for food and drinks in an establishment should be between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles.

Visitors of the restaurant "Bourbon" are people who appreciate the quality and ease of eating anddrinks, they prefer to relax in small companies. Their circle of interests is filled with quiet hobbies, in the form of reading books and going to the theater.

Section 2 - Location. The restaurant will be located at the intersection of two main streets of the city. Near the institution is the city administration, two shopping centers and a private clinic. In addition, the city center is always filled with residents, especially on weekends and in the evening.

Section 3 - Menu. The main concept of the menu is traditional French cuisine. The main items will be soups, salads, hot meat dishes and pastries. The average check for a full meal will be 1700-2100 rubles.

The menu should provide the option to order the dish of the day. To increase the interest of visitors, it is necessary to introduce unique positions every month, which can be ordered only during the offer period. And also during the year, summer, autumn, winter and spring menus will be developed. The rationality of seasonal menus must be supported by the value of seasonal products.

Section 4 - Design. The interior of the restaurant should be presented in a pleasant, warm brown and beige tones. The walls should be decorated with pictures. The bar counter area and the waiters' places should be located near the entrance to the kitchen. Guest tables are placed along the perimeter of the hall, and in its center there will be a zone with flowers. Flower stands and potted trees will be in dark brown colors.

Section 5 - Maintenance. When meeting guests, the waiter mustlead people to the table, within 1 minute tell about new products, seasonal dishes and positions of the day. Further, while the guests choose dishes from the menu, he must leave them for 3 minutes, and then take the order. Be sure the waiter offers a drink suitable for the dish, and also recommends a dessert. While visiting the restaurant, the guest must see his waiter, and if possible, do not order dishes through the bartender.

The manner of communication of the attendants is polite, friendly, unobtrusive. Clothes neat and clean. The uniform must consist of black trousers, a white shirt and a long brown apron.

Section 6 - Personnel. The restaurant staff will consist of two administrators, one chef, sous chef, four chefs, a bartender, six waiters, two cleaners, two kitchen workers and two wardrobe workers. For cooks and waiters, a specialized education or the presence of supporting documents on the completion of courses in the field of activity is required. The age of employees is from 25 years old.

Section 7 - Additional services. As additional services, it is planned to organize off-site banquets for individual orders.

Focused on the structure and example of the concept of the restaurant, you can bring to life all those ideas that come to mind. It is worth noting that any concept can be corrected or supplemented over time.

Conclusion

Having considered the question of how to develop a restaurant concept, and what it is for, everyone can do itright. Since it depends on this moment how clear the general strategy of the institution will be.

In the process of creating a concept, you can think over to the smallest detail how the institution will look like and what guests will visit it. And after that, implement what was conceived according to the plan.