How can I make my restaurant feel more romantic?

Many couples enjoy going out for a meal together, whether that be their first date or 50th anniversary. Some establishments may be more suitable for a truly romantic meal than others. If you would like to increase the number of couples coming into your venue and make it feel more adult, as opposed to a family-themed eatery, you might want to consider making a few changes.

Harsh strobe lighting may be well-suited to a fast-food environment, but this may not really set the scene for love. Instead, it could be a good idea to try and create a different mood. This could be undertaken by lowering the lights so that, while customers and staff are still able to see, it may then feel like customers are not surrounded by others, allowing them to fully focus on their date. Having high bay pendant lighting, as opposed to simple bulbs or wall fixtures, can allow you to adjust the settings of each light. When doing this, it can be important to make sure that you don’t create a dreary or morbid feeling, meaning the type of bulbs you opt for could also be equally as important.

You might also want to think about what you have on each table, aside from any cutlery or place settings. It can sometimes be nice to have flowers or candles on a table, to add to the romantic effect. However, there can be some problems associated with these. Flowers may wilt, destroying the illusion, or could even contribute to allergic reactions. Likewise, candles can pose a fire hazard. Due to this, you might want to think about opting for battery-operated candles or artificial flowers. This way, these items can still be present, but they may also be safer and require a lot less maintenance than their real counterparts.

The type of music you choose to use could also have quite a large effect on any feelings of romance in your restaurant. Here, you could have several options. Firstly, you may choose to have nothing playing in the background. However, this might cause any lapses in conversation to become stilted or awkward. Alternatively, you may opt to put on some more well-known love songs. Yet, again, there may be issues should people choose to listen to the words rather than their dates.

To meet in the middle, you may want to think about playing romantic classical music. This can give your customers, and staff, something to listen to, hopefully without it becoming overly distracting. You might also want to ensure that the volume is not too high so that people are still able to hear each other without needing to raise voices and destroy the romantic atmosphere you have otherwise created.

Having set out the atmosphere in your restaurant, you may then be free to tailor your menus as you see fit. This could allow you to include some popular food choices, as well as those that even contain natural aphrodisiacs, to really help set the mood.