If you are a foodie, going out to eat is not about satiating your hunger. It is an experience. Little details, like the beer tap handles and the font on the menu, are the difference between a thumbs-down on UrbanSpoon and a dinner pic on Instagram with the hashtag #FoodieHeaven. A poll of self-proclaimed food connoisseurs showed that these were the most important ingredients in nice dining restaurants:
Great Ambiance
The atmosphere should create a vibe that completes your dining experience:
- Cleanliness. Grime on the table will really kill the energy at a restaurant.
- Design. Lighting, colors, furniture, and artwork should follow the concept of the restaurant. Even if the food is great, the experience will not be if the decor is outdated.
- Staff. Every detail about your dining experience should contribute to the concept. This means the staff’s attitude and appearance should fit in the environment.
A Great Beer List
Almost half of adults between the age of 18 and 34 say that beer is their favorite alcoholic beverage. Especially craft beer. American craft beers have really made a name for themselves in the last few years, and for good reason:
- Flavor. Popular craft beers are made locally with care and have a better flavor than mass-produced, big name beers.
- Alcohol Level. Craft beers pack a bigger punch. Most good craft beers have 5-10% alcohol by volume levels (abv), while the beer coming from big beer factories has an average of 2.5% abv.
- Variety. While there are 3 or 4 types of beer available at the grocery store, craft beer restaurants across the country are putting thousands and thousands of craft beers into the universe. There is a beer to meet any palette.
A great beer list is always a part of foodie-approved, nice dining restaurants.
A Great Menu
The trendiest, nice dining restaurants offer menus that:
- Are Unique. Think of it in terms of hamburgers. A basic burger with cheese is forgettable. Almost half of consumers say toppings are the first or second most important attribute about a burger. Nice dining restaurants are the ones that have burgers with unique toppings on their menu.
- Have Quality Ingredients. Back to our burger analogy, burgers are sold everywhere. Quality ingredients set apart burgers from restaurants that allow you to order through a drive-thru and burgers from nice dining restaurants. Over 75% of burger-lovers vote the quality of meat is the first or second most important part of a good burger.
- Specialized. Good dining restaurants make what they make very well, but that’s it. It’s better to see one page of 10 great menu items than a book of menu choices that are frozen and reheated in a microwave before serving.
Do you consider yourself a foodie? Did we miss anything in our list of qualifiers? What is the most important part of a nice dining restaurant? Ger more information on this topic here. Good references.
