How To Create A Better Dining Experience

In the restaurant business, there is a ton of competition! As a family entertainment business, we have leverage over the traditional restaurant scene. If you aren't maximizing the potential of your food service offerings, you might want to rethink your food and beverage environment and revamp the department from top to bottom, but we’ll go into that in our next article. Today, let’s focus on ways to enhance the overall experience.

Don't worry, fixing food service doesn't have to break the bank! One of the most important things to remember is that your dining areas should be just as fun and exciting as the rest of the family entertainment experience that your guests come to enjoy. You could have one of the best parks or family entertainment centers around, but poor dining can negatively affect the overall customer experience. This means that not only do you lose profits but lose the guest’s desires as well.

In order for your guests to want to stay and enjoy the food that you provide, you'll have to do better than merely provide the cheapest pizza in your local grocer’s freezer to your hungry guests at an inflated price. The fun and enjoyment should not stop when your guests sit down to a meal in your dining area. No one wants to pay for an overpriced item that they could pick up for a couple of dollars and heat up at home. They want food that they don't already have access to without coming to your park or FEC.

When people decide what park or FEC they want to go to, food is a consideration. If the meals that you provide are not worth the money to the guest will gladly go somewhere else for a great time. Or, cut their playtime time short to go out to eat at a better restaurant. If you want to reach your full potential and increase your sales, then you’ll need to serve the food that people crave!

Unfortunately, most family entertainment businesses continue to provide poor dining options to their guests. The majority are still operating somewhere between poor and excellent. This leaves a lot of open territory for you to capitalize on your competition’s shortcomings! This is the perfect strategy to attract more people into your family entertainment business. To create loyal fans you’ll need to engage the needs of the guest by providing a thoughtful, superior dining service.?

So, how can you boost the quality of the dining experience in your establishment? There are a few different ways to improve the overall quality of the visit.

• Make sure that the location of your dining area makes sense. Strategically place it to maximize traffic and attention.
• Be sure that staff is trained to provide happy, friendly service. Bad customer service can create a lingering negative emotion that will undoubtedly spread by word of mouth and social media.
• Make sure that the theme of the restaurant is inviting and the overall style fits your family entertainment brand. Your colors, decor, style, all of it must complement your mission.
• Make sure that you are effectively communicating your offerings to your guests. People are always afraid they're going to miss something. Make sure that you ease that fear!?
• Integrate as much as possible the “entertainment” aspect with the “food” service. They should go hand in hand. Each should equally attract customers. Your dining options should be more of a package deal instead of an afterthought.
• Don't be so concerned with your table turnover rate. Encourage the prolonged guest stay. That gives you more opportunities to keep offering ways for them to spend.
• Make sure that you have a solid customer reward program in place. This will help create long-term, recurring visits.

If you have done your job, by the end of the guest experience, you will leave each person with a memorable experience that they will share with friends and family. Not only will they feel wonderful about the meal that they had but it will be incorporated into the memories that they have had enjoying all of your offerings and attractions. In short, use your dining area to provide an experience they won't forget.?

Have you read an article I’ve published here on LinkedIn and want to talk about the topic a little more? If you’d like to book a call with me regarding the Family Entertainment Industry or Private Equity, please feel free. I enjoy connecting & collaborating with others in the same professional space.

Tim Murphy is CEO of APX Operating Company, dba Boomers Parks, under the ownership of Cerberus private equity ($60B assets). Boomers Parks owns six family entertainment centers and two water parks with locations in California, Florida, and New Jersey.

As CEO of Boomers Parks since 2020, Tim took these eight parks from bankruptcy to profitability in just a year – in the middle of a global pandemic. When Boomers acquired these parks, they were operating at a $10 million loss. Tim transformed the customer experience and added new revenue streams to generate a 180% increase in revenue in 2021 and on a similar trajectory in 2022.

Tim launched his 35+ year career at Walt Disney World and has since served more than 150 entertainment, restaurant, and food & beverage brands across more than 10,000 locations in C-suite and senior positions.

Additionally, Tim is a Board Director with Coney Park & Happy City - Family Entertainment & Amusement Parks, part of The Carlyle Group ($276B assets), a private equity firm that operates 150+ family entertainment centers and amusement parks in Latin America.??

Tim has worked with top-tier entertainment and restaurant brands including Disney, Rebounderz Trampoline Parks, Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, etc.), Red Lobster, Jimmy John’s, Applebee’s, Sonny’s Bar-B-Q, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Hardee’s, Golden Corral, and Firehouse Subs.

Tim has overseen more than 35 purchase transactions involving over 1,200 restaurants, stores, and park locations.? With extensive experience in buying and selling businesses, handling negotiations with buyers and sellers, and creating strategic partnerships to build strong brands, Tim has facilitated deals ranging from $11 million to $350 million+.

Tim is a member of International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA), California Attractions and Parks Association (CAPA), Florida Attractions Association (FAA), American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), National Restaurant Association (NRA), California Restaurant Association (CRA), World Waterpark Association (WWA) and International Franchising Association (IFA). He is a licensed commercial real estate broker in the State of Florida. Tim earned a BS/BA in Accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA in Finance from Orlando College.