You wouldn't open up a five-star restaurant in Englewood or Compton. Similarly, it probably wouldn't be very smart to open a burger joint in a predominantly Indian neighborhood. The area where you open your restaurant is just as important as what the food and atmosphere inside. These tips will help future restaurant owners pin point the best location for their restaurants which will keep customers lining up out the door waiting to be seated.
1) Parking is a must. We Americans surely don't pride ourselves on our waist sizes and we probably aren't going to in the near future. God forbid we have to walk one extra block to get to the restaurant where we want to eat. With that being said, ample parking out front a restaurant, in a parking lot, or in a nearby parking garage is a must. Also, during the winter months, an available spot right outside the restaurant versus three streets down could mean the difference between an empty table versus a full one.
2)Visibility is key. While a peaceful little restaurant far removed from the bustle of a town or city sounds awesome, it isn't always the best. Consider how much more money you'll have to spend in advertising and marketing to get people to know that you even exist. However, a restaurant on a main strip or in an area with a lot of foot traffic advertises itself.
3) Uniqueness=success. Don't open up an Italian restaurant right next door to another Italian restaurant. While it might seem smart to beat out the competition because of your own superior restaurant, people might just stop going to both Italian restaurants because they want something different than all the same Italian places. These restaurants are now too "mainstream" and are considered boring and uninspiring places to eat at. Besides our waist sizes, we Americans also pride ourselves on our originality.
4) Sometimes less does not always mean more. Be realistic. You can't fit a proper restaurant with a full-sized bar, enough refrigerators/freezers for optimal food storage, and all other necessities in a space that really should only house a small coffee shop. And there's nothing worse than not being able to get up and use the bathroom at a restaurant because you're land-locked by other peoples' chairs on all sides of you. If you're trying to cram in extra tables to meet demand, that's probably a good indication that your restaurant is too small. In an area where space comes at a premium, sometimes its worth paying the extra money for a bigger building. This will not only allow you to fit more paying customers in, but it also enhances their experience by ridding them of the claustrophobic catastrophe of a cramped and crowded restaurant.
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