New York City, NY - August, 1999 - Coyle Hospitality Group
recently polled 316 frequent diners with the purpose of gaining insight
into the following questions that have confronted restaurant
operators forever:
-
Why do people go to a particular restaurant for the first time?
-
What is more important, the food or the service?
-
What are the things that make a diner return or vow never to go back?
Demographics
-
All of the 316 respondents were from the New York City area with 62% being
male.
-
21% reported income in excess of $100,000 and 56% reporting income of $50,000
or more.
-
78% eat in a sit down restaurant at least 2-3 times/week. 28% dined at
least 4 times/week.
Highlights
| Food is far and away the most important criteria diners use when evaluating
a restaurant experience. It is the main reason they cite when recalling
the best experience by a three-to-one margin over service. It is also the
top factor when citing a bad experience. |
| Diners will forgive bad service if the food is terrific, but excellent
service and atmosphere are not likely to make up for disappointing food. |
| Critical reviews in publications were second (to word of mouth) as
being a factor that diners strongly rely on to try a restaurant for the
first time. Advertisements had the least impact, being a factor in
choosing for 20% of the respondents (only 2% strongly). |
| Only 17% of the respondents disagreed with the statement that one bad
experience was all it would take to never return to a restaurant. |
| The top restaurant experiences of 1998? Nobu and Gramercy Tavern
tied for first with 18 respondents each, followed by Union Square Café
(15) and Aquavit (13). |
 Coyle
Hospitality Group (CHG) is a Quality Assurance consulting firm providing
services via their Quality Assurance Audits to over 125 hotels and restaurants
nationally. CHG is headed by James T. Coyle a 1987 graduate of the
Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Jim held management positions
with Prime Hospitality and Metromedia Hotels before founding CHG in 1996.
CHG has over 70 Auditors who complete Quality Assurance Audits. |
