Great food quality or great service?

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Comment by Sybil Presley on June 16, 2010 at 9:36am

i think it takes great food quality ,presentation and great service.
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Comment by Patrick O on July 5, 2009 at 8:38am

I agree that everything does count in the whole picture as one shouldn't 'put all their eggs into one basket'.

I'd like to think it's the whole experience, from the moment you step into the restaurant (the greeting), the service, the food and the exit from the restaurant.

Comment by Garrick Arnold on July 24, 2008 at 12:12pm

Don't know if anyone is still following this discussion still but consider this: A recent marketing research project I completed for a client showed that consumers ranked "experience" first in their decision making process for where to eat again and food second!

These results were confirmed by a similar research project funded by American Express and consumer dining habits.

A whole book could be written about the definition of "experience" but what it all roughly boiled down to was this: consumers, while not willing to settle for crappy food, would rather have an average meal presented in a consistent, pleasant fashion over an uneven experience.

Could this explain the success of such mediocre dining experiences like Olive Garden? Is it the greatest Italian food in the world? No but for the mass public it's consistent in both presentation and quality.

The biggest lesson I try to communicate to my clients from this info is simple: don't hang your hat on food quality alone or you'll get your hat handed to you sooner or later. Basically everything counts.

Comment by John Gani on July 21, 2008 at 8:31pm

Has to be the food, and it has to be the service, and it has to be the image. Three things I work very hard on every day.