A house without inhabitants is dead. The kitchen looks gloomy, where hungry residents do not knock spoons on plates, thanking the hostess for a delicious lunch. It’s also sad when a cafe is empty without visitors.
It’s even sadder - it doesn’t bring profit, but, on the contrary, burdens the owner’s shoulders with ever-increasing expenses and losses. How to breathe life into an empty cafe? How to attract visitors to it?

It was not for nothing that I used the analogy with the house and the kitchen at the very beginning. Because the key to solving the issue lies precisely in it.
What do visitors want from a cafe? This is a place for food, for rest - at least short-term, in the middle of the day. For conversation over a cup of coffee or tea. This is a piece of time in which you want to relax and feel comfortable. People don’t like to eat, talk, or rest in discomfort and inconvenience. So what do we need to relax and love this wonderful place where we eat and relax? The answer is simple: comfort.

A client can forgive his favorite cafe for a lot: a poor menu, high prices, inconvenient location. He will not forgive one thing: the inability to relax and unwind. I do not urge you, of course, to rent unsuccessful far corners with difficult approaches or to deplete the assortment. It won't work well. But even if everything is fine with your location, prices and menu, it will not help you if the visitor feels tense. Create comfort - they pay a lot for it and forgive a lot.

You will say: everyone understands comfort differently. For some, a cozy place is a small coffee shop with five tables in folk style. And some are more comfortable in a minimalist design and have a plasma on the wall broadcast a football match. Yes, that's right. Different people love different places. It is important to decide on your target audience, their understanding of comfort and create a corner of comfort in this style. You can't please everyone.

However, there are also general things that are important to achieve or, conversely, to avoid, no matter what style your cafe is decorated in. Rude and unsmiling waiters ruin any opportunity to relax. When faced with inattention to oneself in a cafe, the client fumes to a greater extent than if the rudeness was committed by a salesperson in a store. And why? Because he came to the cafe to relax. And the least prepared for the waiter’s unfriendly face and irritated voice. Allow this to happen, and only a regular customer will return, confident that it was an accident. And then – not everyone.

People come to the cafe, oddly enough, for care. A person does not have to cook his own food or make coffee. He can simply sit down and wait for his order to be taken and delivered. How a mother put food on the table in front of her child as a child. If this wait becomes too long - people are disappointed by not receiving care - this is perceived on a subconscious level.

It is very important for a cafe to have a face. Or you have an expensive cafe, and it’s “so exclusive” that people understand what they’re paying dearly for. And they tell their friends about the unusual place they visited. Or you take it at cheaper prices, and they also talk about it and recommend it. The most dangerous thing is to be a cafe in the style of “the prices are tolerable and the food is quite possible.” Does this review appeal to you? And it doesn't attract anyone.

Often people come for what they cannot prepare for themselves - for variety. Therefore, to attract, and especially to return, visitors, variety is important. Recently I had the opportunity to visit a coffee shop where there were more than thirty different coffee recipes. The variety was emphasized and conveyed to visitors - it was clearly visible not only in the menu, but also on a special board behind the counter - that is, it caught the eye all the time.

And this coffee shop had a discount on one type of coffee every day. And in front of the entrance there was a beautiful announcement about which recipe was at a discount today. I realized, I realized that there are a lot of options. This couldn't get past me. And I was struck by curiosity and a desire to try this and that. Will I go back there? Of course yes.
Think about what you will have that will make the visitor tell their friends about you. What is your “trick”? Variety of menu? Original design? Unexpected small gifts from the cafe - cookies or snacks in small vases? Prices are cheaper than average - just not by two kopecks, won't they notice? Something about the presentation of the food? Original account books?

Give the person an impression that is vivid enough for him to remember it in a conversation with friends. This is how you are most likely to attract clients. Because he will remember the “funny thing”, but will tell you – in principle, about the cafe. Just make sure that the visitor cannot say anything negative along the way, like “but the wind on my legs is terrible, and the bill took half an hour.”

So, remember the recipe. Comfort, general positive impressions, plus a bright feature for starting word of mouth. This way you will reliably attract visitors to your cafe.

Being able to make a restaurant reservation helps relieve a lot of stress. You don't have to waste time looking for a place with free seats or wait for a table to become available. Thanks to the reservation service, you will receive only pleasant emotions from dinner at a restaurant and will be able to fully concentrate on your interlocutors.

Steps

How to plan ahead

Select a restaurant. First of all, you need to decide which establishment you want to visit. Not all restaurants allow you to reserve a table even when the rooms are very busy. For example, small or new restaurants may not have this option due to insufficient numbers of regular customers. Before attempting to book a table, you should check the establishment's operating rules.

1. Determine the number of guests. After choosing a restaurant, you need to decide how many people will come to dinner with you. Waiting times may depend on the size of the company. For example, if there are only two of you, then finding a table will probably be easier, but the task will become more complicated if you are planning a group of 10 people. Also, the number of people may affect how far in advance you need to make a reservation.

   • Even if you are not sure whether a person will be able to come, still reserve a table with that person in mind. It is better to have an empty seat at the table than to look for another chair in a full establishment.

2. Select a date and time. The number of available places may depend on the day of the week. For example, it is usually easier to reserve a table for a weekday than on a weekend. It is also easier to find a free table during “quiet hours” than during the usual “peak times” for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

   • Always plan a backup date and time in case the establishment does not have free tables on the originally selected day.

3. Check your phone and email for updates regularly. After booking a table online, you should receive a confirmation by email or message. In some cases, you will need to follow a link or click a button to confirm your order. You may also be sent links to cancel or change your reservation time in case of such need.

   • Many table booking sites also offer discount coupons and special programs with points that can be redeemed for various services.
   • If there is no link to cancel your reservation, you must call the restaurant by phone.

• Many busy restaurants do not offer reservations, so you may see queues of people waiting near popular places. Be prepared to wait if you want to get into such an establishment.
• Credit card companies often offer discounts at restaurants as part of a rewards program to attract more customers, and some luxury cards may even offer exclusive access to popular establishments.

Warnings

• Some restaurants require your credit card number when making a reservation and charge a "no show" fee if you don't show up on time or cancel in advance.

The most common misconceptions about what we can demand in catering establishments.

“Downloading your license” is becoming less and less common in modern restaurants - in today’s competitive environment, loyalty to guests is above all else for the establishment. Everyone knows this and even abuses it to the extent of their harmful nature. As a result, many consumers have not looked into the law for a long time - and in the meantime, it has managed to acquire many myths.

As it turned out, even in our editorial office there were incorrect rumors about what a consumer has the right to in a restaurant. Moreover, we are not talking about some subtle nuances of legislation, but about entire phenomena that we encounter almost every day. Having studied the issue in detail, we present to your attention five main erroneous opinions that have become ingrained in the minds of most people.

GLASS OF WATER

• Myth #1: In any catering establishment, at your request, you are required to serve a free glass of water.

A very common request, usually accompanied by a comment like “should I take a pill.” Add to this a heavy facial expression calling for humanism and morality - and a glass of water from the cooler is already yours. The funny thing about this is that even the staff of the establishment often does not know whether you have the right to this, and simply decides to take the path of least resistance.

In fact, there is no such law. About ten years ago, some press discussed the advisability of introducing it, but the fuss around this idea ended in nothing. However, the rumor was picked up, and since then the opinion has become stronger in society that this rule is written down somewhere.

Out of curiosity, the author of this article decided to conduct an experiment - for a month in different establishments, along with the order, she asked “just a glass of water.” In 100% of cases (and this is about 20 different restaurants and cafes) they brought it. Once they said that there was no cold water, but they could bring hot water with ice (and they did), and once again they only timidly noted that they generally have water on the menu, but 1 glass - so be it. What is this - boundless loyalty or ignorance of the law? Unclear. But the consumer is clearly the winner here, for which we thank our kind catering company.

RESTROOM

• Myth #2: You have the right to enter the toilet of any cafe or restaurant from the street.

Here the story is the same as with a glass of water: once they wanted to make it a law in an attempt to save money on organizing public restrooms. As a result, Resolution No. 433 was issued on March 23, 2004, where in paragraph 7 it was ordered to “recommend that the managers of public catering enterprises ensure unhindered access of citizens to toilets located on the territory of these enterprises free of charge.” Firstly, “recommend” does not oblige, and secondly, this document lost force back in October 2007.

Therefore, based on its own rights and integrity, the restaurant may deny you this pleasure. However, in general, here, again, there is a positive picture for the consumer - apparently, the consciousness of our society is becoming more and more civilized, and in practice, nowhere will your road to this treasured place be blocked. Well, unless you look like a homeless person with a bag, or don’t look like a drug addict who will lock himself in a cubicle until the evening.

An interesting fact: in Rome, for example, such a law exists, and catering establishments there do not have the right to prohibit anyone from visiting their restroom. At first glance, this is an excellent rule - but there is also a negative side to it: most toilets, even in extremely pleasant restaurants, are terribly uncleaned. The situation is the opposite in Paris - there, although the rights in this regard are the same as ours, there is no question of any loyalty. If you try to carefully walk from the entrance to the restroom, a waiter who runs up may suddenly grab you by the sleeve and, with indignant screams (yes, yes), escort you out. Perhaps this is some kind of special dislike for tourists.

WE'VE ALREADY DONE

• Myth #3: First they bring you a check, then you pay.

In fact, the check itself should only be brought to you with change. What they bring at the beginning is a “pre-check”: a piece of paper printed from the restaurant’s computer program, in which general accounting is kept. In other words, this is not a fiscal cash document, changing which requires a lot of effort from an accountant. Therefore, if there is an error on the invoice, you are required to reprint it.

In general, foreshadowing is a reason for a lot of manipulation and deception. Moreover, it is not so much the consumers who suffer here as the owners of the establishment themselves. Keep in mind that if after paying the bill you are not given a fiscal receipt, it means that the money went into the waiter’s pocket. You can distinguish a real check from a “preliminary” one by the letter “F” in one form or another present on it; The most common abbreviation is “FP”.

Another thing is the internal restrictions and fines that restaurant owners set to protect themselves from theft. Then, if it is necessary, for example, to cross something off the bill, then either the waiter or the cook will likely be held financially responsible for this. In such cases, you may be openly pressed for pity, as happened once in my memory in one restaurant - after an argument with the waitress, the administrator approached me with the words: “Yes, perhaps the girl heard you incorrectly when ordering, but you understand.” , that she will now have to pay for it with her own money? That is, not only did they bring me the wrong order and supposedly I have to pay for it, but in addition, I have to feel like an encroacher on someone else’s bread. Well, just greedy and inhumane. Unfortunately, this tactic is often used. But remember - formally, all these are “Indian problems” for you from that cynical saying. You have your rights, and those subordinate to the catering organization have theirs. Whether you mix them or not is your own business.

WELL WHAT IS THIS MERLOT?

• Myth #4: When you are given a sample of wine from a bottle, you can refuse it if you don’t like it.

A classic picture: a guest tries a tasting sip of wine and puts on a terribly serious, knowing look on his face, then smacks his lips and importantly summarizes: “Well, nothing, let’s do it.” This pattern of actions and facial manipulations has finally taken root in our understanding. Many even fundamentally refuse the opportunity to be the first to try wine, fearing that their opinion in the company will seem not very competent.

In fact, wine is only allowed to be tasted to determine whether it has turned sour. Yes, no sacred knowledge about the correct tannin content of a particular variety is required from you. Anyone can tell whether a wine is spoiled or not. It's like distinguishing fresh cabbage soup from fermented cabbage soup - a sharp unpleasant smell and sour taste.

“It seems to me that now most people already know why exactly they are given wine to taste,” comments Leonid Sternik, a famous St. Petersburg sommelier and co-owner of the Vincent restaurant. - From my practice, for example, I remember a case when guests tried to refuse a bottle because semi-dry Riesling (and the fact that it was semi-dry was indicated on the card) seemed too sweet to them. It was at the Cow Bar on Moskovsky. It all ended in a scandal, I even called the owners of the restaurant, but the client still had to pay, since he was wrong in all respects. Moreover, I am sure that these people could have achieved their goal if it had happened in a restaurant that was very loyal to its guests. Personally, I do not appreciate such “flexibility” - such an approach corrupts clients, and in the end conflicts occur. In general, such situations arise infrequently - a maximum of 1% out of a hundred. Much more often you can come across the erroneous opinion that wine has gone bad if it has a wet cork. But in reality, this is quite common in aged wines, which are typically five years old or older.”

FLIES IN SOUP

• Myth #5: If there is something wrong with the food, this dish can only be replaced.

Often, in order not to miss out on your earnings, the restaurant may tell you that they can only replace your spoiled dish with something else. It turns out that, having experienced all shades of disgust after you found a fly, a hair, or God forbid, something else in the soup, you are offered to order and eat another creation of the same unscrupulous chef.

In fact, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 18 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Protection of Consumer Rights,” the consumer, if defects are discovered in the product, if they were not specified by the seller, has the right to refuse payment or demand the amount paid for the product. In this case, at the request of the seller, the consumer must return the product with defects.

In other words, you can simply avoid paying for fly soup. If they plaintively try to persuade you to put yourself in their position (they say that you will have to pay the staff), then feel free to refer to the advice in the previous paragraph: this is not your problem.

Yes, and the “disadvantages” of the service in this case include only defects associated with violation of sanitary standards, which poses a threat to your health. If you didn’t like the execution of the dish itself (for example, instead of the usual panna cotta, they brought some kind of foam with ground scattering), then this will be called “the author’s execution”, and there is no point in complaining.

The editors thank Alexey Korotkov (Partner Bar Association) for legal advice in drafting the article