Table Setting As an Important Element of Restaurant Business

or Success of the Rakeru restaurant has lasted for 50 years!»

Rakeru (English female name Rachel) is a restaurant in Japan which was created as a place where you can taste real English farm cuisine. This cuisine is associated with healthy natural products that English farmers use in cooking.

In one of the previous publications we discussed how the successful restaurant Rakeru attracts customers with its well-designed facade. This publication will look at how well-organized interior and table setting in the restaurant increase the number of regular customers.

At the entrance the restaurant impresses with its interior decoration, which makes it look like a farmhouse. Checkered tablecloths, cotton curtains, furniture and home furnishings made from natural materials which were used by farmers when they built their homes: wood, stone, cloth, leather. Waiters in checkered aprons look like English farmers.

Everything gives the impression of rustic comfort and peace.The design of the interior has red colour, which makes the restaurant beautiful and elegant as well as whets the appetite.

Simple menu reminds of home-made dishes. When farmers in an English village cook, they use only fresh products which they have grown. Therefore, the main ingredients in Rakeru are100% natural products. The main dishes of the restaurant include omelettes with different fillings and freshly baked buns.

Why does this simple cuisine have such big success?

The concept of the restaurant Rakeru is to use only natural ecological products. All products that are used in cooking are purchased from the best manufacturers and have the state seal of quality.

Every ingredient is ecological and healthy.

Promotion of this concept plus design as an English farmhouse resulted in an incredible boom among families with children. The restaurant attracts them with its cozy atmosphere, healthy and inexpensive food.

Restaurant and cafe table setting

Restaurant and cafe table setting is a very important element of interior decor. Their appearance tells visitors whether they should trust this food-serving establishment and its cuisine. Remember how you react to dirty tablecloths and you’ll immediately understand the significance of proper restaurant table setting.

Bright red checkered tablecloths used in table setting in the restaurant Rakeru raise spirits and whet the appetite. Clean and tidy appearance of tables inspires confidence and arouses the desire to have a meal in this place.

Menu

Every table in the restaurant Rakeru has a menu for the convenience of customers. By the time the waiter has come to the table, they can choose what to order. This saves time of both customers and restraurant staff.

There are 3 types of menu in the restaurant Rakeru: main, lunch and the one for children.

During the day dishes from all the three menus are served.

Main menu

The main menu is a traditional menu book in a beautiful cover offering a full range of dishes. Dishes are served  regardless of time of the day and season.

Lunch menu

The lunch menu offers business lunches at a discounted price, which apart from the main course include soup, salad, dessert and a beverage. Photos and a brief description of dishes are presented in a separate laminated menu. This allows you to change it without changing the main menu book. In addition, lamination makes the menu always look great.

Benefits of lunch menu for customers:

– Dishes are well chosen (guests don’t have to worry about compatibility)

– Balanced and selected by specialists

– Costs less than dishes ordered separately

Benefits of lunch menu for restaurants:

• Allows you to sell more dishes.
• A large number of dishes allow you to make portions 20% smaller. Thus you can offer a discount that attracts visitors.
• Reduced portions gives you an opportunity to offer discounts without losing profits.
• Saves time of placing an order.

Children’s menu

Rakeru has a children’s menu for little guests. It is developed by nutritionists and consists of carefully selected dishes.

Menu design

The menu has photos of all dishes. Unlike text, beautiful colourful photos show dishes in all its beauty. Dishes in the photos  look very appetizing and tempting. In addition, when customers look at photos they know in advance what their order will look like. Under each photo there is information containing the name of the dish, its composition, price and number of calories.

Marketing tricks: Apart from basic information about dishes, the menu includes information about ingredients.

For example:

“The omelette in the restaurant Rakeru has no fat and oil, so it is very healthy and low-calorie”

“We make Rakeru omelettes only from Yodoran eggs»

“What is Yodoran egg?

Yodoran is the first egg in Japan which became an official brand. Yodoran ia a Japanese trademark that makes best eggs, which contain high amounts of iodine, vitamins and minerals. Birds that lay such eggs are fed with high-quality food, which is prepared by mixing fish flour and shredded seaweed. ”

Stand with a dessert menu

Photos of desserts on every table remind the customer that the menu has desserts. Information about desserts is usually placed on the last pages of the menu book, so some customers may forget to order one. But when customers see seductive pictures on the table, many of them can’t resist and order dessert. It can be ordered separately or along with a beverage. Beverages have a discount when they are bought with dessert. This allows to sell more servings. Since the cost of drinks is low, even when you offer a discount you get a good profit.

Why is the stand with pictures effective?

• When one member of the family ate faster than the others, he starts studying pictures of beautiful desserts. To kill the time he orders one.
• When people read the menu they often order only the main course. To finish the meal with dessert they have to ask for the menu again and study the section with desserts. Since it takes time, customers don’t often ask for the menu book for the second time. The stand with photos of desserts is already on the table and helps save time.
• Beautiful photos of mouth-watering desserts whet the appetite and encourage customers to order them.

Customers can see the true size of dishes in the display window with plastic food replicas located at the entrance.

Stand “Rakeru is 50”

Tables in the Rakeru restaurant have small stands with information that
the establishment has existed for 50 years. This information tells about customer trust and high quality of service. Long success of the restaurant always attracts new customers.

Important details in restaurant table setting

Sugar, salt cellar, cream, napkins and cutlery are put on a clean cloth.

Table setting in the restaurant Rakeru includes cutlery, napkins, sugar, salt and cream. It emphasizes that the staff has been waiting for customers and saves service time. Cutlery on a napkin looks clean and it is pleasant to use.

As a result, you want to come to the restaurant where you are always welcome and which is as cosy as a village cottage again and again!

More tricks to attract customers:

• Coupons for a free drink during the next visit.
• When guests pay the bill they get a card of a loyal customer. On the one side it has information about Rakeru, on the other cells for stamps. When all the cells are stamped, customers will receive a nice package with three signature buns from Rakeru restaurant.

50-year-old success of the Rakeru restaurant shows that well thought-out organization of restaurant business gives excellent results.