Thread: Restaurant Aspects

Say i was wondering which of the following choices you think is the most important aspect of a restaurant, any restaurant when you visit as a customer.

Oh please motivate your choice and if you want, let us know your second and third choice aswell.

I'd say the first and third sound very important, but perhaps you could explain them?

or just give me something to choose from

Yeah check above man

alright, I said nothing.

well, I'd say Ambiance, hygiene and service are the most important (to me). quality comes a close second, but if the waiters aren't friendly, the ambiance bites, it isn't clean but the food tastes godly, I won't go there anyway.

Ah nicely said my man, Ambiance is my solid first.
Hygiene second, Quality third and Service closely following

If I go to a restaurant, I'm going solely because of the ambiance. if I want to eat something good, I'm going to the mcdonalds (don't blame me, blame them!).

Really? okay i can't blame you for going to Mc, it's good and cheap.

indeed, you always know it's good, because every mac is basically the same.

that being said, restaurants offer better food (usually), though you must always add a 0 to the price

Originally Posted by Ederius

restaurants offer better food (usually), though you must always add a 0 to the price

I am so happy the difference between Mc and a cheap-ish restaurant is not that big over here.

McDonald's, an El Maco meal, including a Coca Cola Zero I would not need: 6,20 €.

One of my favorite restaurants, a somewhat comparable but bigger and a lot tastier hamburger meal with plain water: 12,50 €.

Yeah, neither is exactly what a university student would eat daily. A normal students' lunch at Unicafe -- eat as much potatoes, rice and salad with the food as you like: 2,60 €.

Price of course! I don't care if it's rubbish, I want to spend 50p on dinner..

Lol okay i actually forgot to add the price option

I don't care about service (there's a Chinese in London's Wardour Street that's got famously rude staff and pretty good food, worth a visit for theatrical value). Helps if the food warm once you get it, obviously.

If a restaurant is expensive I won't go in (unless it's a special occasion and it's for someone else so I can push the boat out). If the location stinks and the "ambiance" is poor and the place is filthy, but the food's brilliant, let me at it

Quality of food is what swings it. But to get to that point I've got to have been at least once before, so if it's clean and it's food I recognise I'll then make my decisions on a proper basis after

You might laugh at this, but to me, the portion sizes might be the most decisive factor.

Especially if I go to eat out by myself, it is because I want to save time, relax and enjoy the food, all at the same time. Getting a half-empty small plate in front of me is telling me that I will have to fix something for myself and do the dishes soon anyway. That feeling sucks even if the food is tasty and the price is right.

I have noticed that there are big differences between European countries in this regard. In Central Europe (Germany, Hungary, etc. -- and in this sense, Denmark belongs to Central) I was almost never disappointed. Over here, and if I still remember correctly, in Sweden too, it is a gamble: you never know in advance when entering a new place. In Russia, a cheap-ish restaurant portion that makes me happy is the exception.

as a cook, hygene is number one, no contest (i know the consequences of food borne illness. not cool)

next up is....well, i suppose quality, though thats not really that big a deal. to me, a bad meal is inspiration for me to make something better.

ambience and price are tied for last. i like the dark, slightly romantic holes in the wall in downtown san diego. but its all kinda expensive. so i suppose its the panda express on the way home during the trolley ride...

(damn i hate you all SOOOOO much for making me think of home right now. i could use some real american food)

Lol quality dominates, i would've expected Hygiene though

To me it really depends a lot on why I'm eating out in the first place. Where I live eating out alone really is quite uncommon and when I eat at a restaurant it's nearly always with other people to have a good time. Therefore the ambiance of the place matters a lot, but as I believe much of the mood is set by the food it is of course also important that the quality of the meal is good. Together with good friends the rest of the restaurant doesn't matter that much either - we can have a good time anywhere

If I were to eat out alone I would definitely put "Quality of the food" my top priority.

As for hygiene I'm not picky at it all. I've eaten at some rather dirty places, and as long as the food's good and I generally like the place I see no reason not to return (getting food poisoned 3 times in a row might change my mind, but so far it has never happened... )

That is actually a very good point, but we are talking about dining mainly.
So that would actually rule out fastfood restaurants and means most likely dining with a party of atleast 2.

Also Hygiene is quite important man, i don't want no freaking cockroach in my salad

I have been thinking since the beginning of the poll that people from different countries will take that hygiene thing rather differently.

Not saying that every surface in Finland is shiny and polished, but I have never seen a single cockroach in the country during my whole life. (Or maybe once, just could not confirm; we do have some in some places, and their number is currently increasing again.) You do not necessarily give so much thought to hygiene when you just naturally expect a certain base level.

Yeah don't you ever visit any of the chinese take-away places here in holland, cockroaches everywhere