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5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchise

Eating out is one of our nation’s biggest pastimes. It is convenient and gives us the opportunity to enjoy a meal without having to prepare it, serve it or wash the dishes! No matter where you look in your neighborhood, it is a surefire bet that you will find some type of eatery beckoning you to step in and grab a bite!

I decided to look in the yellow pages of my telephone book under “restaurants’ just to scan through the listings. I was literally blown away by the hundreds of restaurants citing their cuisine, contact information, what forms of payment they honor, if they offer specialty dishes (ie. vegetarian), whether they are dine in or take out, hours of operation and in some instances a map on how to get there.

After looking at the top 20 most “clicked on” restaurant websites in my online city guide, I was not surprised to found that 15 out of 20 were pizzerias and 4 out of 20 were franchises. Amazingly, only 3 out of the 15 listed pizzerias were a franchise. This small survey spoke volumes about the dining preferences of local consumers. People are looking for a dining experience in a relaxed atmosphere. It is apparent that many smaller restaurants cater to the coziness, intimacy and that “eating experience” many people are hungry for.

Here are 7 key things that most customers look for when selecting some place to dine:

1. Cuisine (ethnic, fast-food, buffet)

2. Prices (affordability)

3. Location (mall, strip center, free standing and easy to find)

4. Atmosphere (cleanliness, casual, sporty, romantic)

5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchise

restaurants’ just to scan through the listings. I was literally blown away by the hundreds of restaurants citing their cuisine, contact information, what forms of payment they honor, if they offer specialty dishes (ie. vegetarian), whether they are dine in or take out, hours of operation and in some instances a map on how to get there.

After looking at the top 20 most “clicked on” restaurant websites in my online city guide, I was not surprised to found that 15 out of 20 were pizzerias and 4 out of 20 were franchises. Amazingly, only 3 out of the 15 listed pizzerias were a franchise. This small survey spoke volumes about the dining preferences of local consumers. People are looking for a dining experience in a relaxed atmosphere. It is apparent that many smaller restaurants cater to the coziness, intimacy and that “eating experience” many people are hungry for.

Here are 7 key things that most customers look for when selecting some place to dine:

1. Cuisine (ethnic, fast-food, buffet)

2. Prices (affordability)

3. Location (mall, strip center, free standing and easy to find)

4. Atmosphere (cleanliness, casual, sporty, romantic)

5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchise

taurant websites in my online city guide, I was not surprised to found that 15 out of 20 were pizzerias and 4 out of 20 were franchises. Amazingly, only 3 out of the 15 listed pizzerias were a franchise. This small survey spoke volumes about the dining preferences of local consumers. People are looking for a dining experience in a relaxed atmosphere. It is apparent that many smaller restaurants cater to the coziness, intimacy and that “eating experience” many people are hungry for.

Here are 7 key things that most customers look for when selecting some place to dine:

1. Cuisine (ethnic, fast-food, buffet)

2. Prices (affordability)

3. Location (mall, strip center, free standing and easy to find)

4. Atmosphere (cleanliness, casual, sporty, romantic)

5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchise

nts cater to the coziness, intimacy and that “eating experience” many people are hungry for.

Here are 7 key things that most customers look for when selecting some place to dine:

1. Cuisine (ethnic, fast-food, buffet)

2. Prices (affordability)

3. Location (mall, strip center, free standing and easy to find)

4. Atmosphere (cleanliness, casual, sporty, romantic)

5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchise

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5. Ease of parking (Is there ample parking and are the parking spaces easy to get into)

6. Customer Service (how do you serve your patrons; how do you handle complaints; can you accommodate customers with special needs, such as handicap accessibility)

7. Hours of operation

Although many small restaurants do not have the big advertising budgets like some large franchises do, you must be smart with the budget that you have to work with and capitalize on your assets! Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your restaurant, and then incorporate the necessary changes to spotlight your benefits and positive features that a dining patron is looking for. As you can tell from my online search, only “one fourth” of the top twenty most visited restaurant websites were larger franchises.

Keep these seven key ingredients in mind when you focus on your marketing plan and your customers will continue coming back "for" more, "with" more! You’ll be amazed how many referrals you’ll get with an outstanding report card from your existing customers.