POSTED BY: | June 1, 2012

University of Missouri News Bureau

Many diners cringe at the thought of waiting for a table in a crowded restaurant, while restaurant managers hope they do not lose customers due to long waits. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has studied restaurant design and has recommendations for how restaurateurs can design waiting areas to be more comfortable, thus increasing diners’ willingness to wait for a table.

“Our study shows that waiting area design has an effect on diners,” said So-Yeon Yoon, associate professor of architectural studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “By redesigning waiting areas, restaurant owners can make more money, and customers can have a more enjoyable experience.”

Yoon provides the following recommendations to increase customer comfort and privacy:

Design waiting areas with outward curving or angled walls, as opposed to open square rooms, so customers cannot see all waiting patrons at once;
Provide several waiting areas for customers, possibly on different sides of the restaurant, etc;
Visually divide the waiting space using plants or decorative elements to give diners more privacy and less sense of crowding.

Read more here.