Faculty & Research
Don’t Sit So Close to Me: Restaurant Table Characteristics and Guest Satisfaction
Vol 9 No 2
By: Stephani K. A. Robson and Sheryl E. Kimes Ph.D.
Executive Summary: Managing restaurant capacity effectively includes making sure that the dining room is equipped with sufficient tables of the appropriate size and type to meet expected demand. Restaurateurs usually make a point of seating parties at the right-size table to maximize seat utilization, and some restaurants set tables fairly close together to make the best use of the available floor space. We examined whether providing guests at a full-service restaurant in New York City with extra personal space improved their satisfaction and meant increased spending or longer lengths of stay. Guests seated at tables that were larger than necessary (that is, parties of two seated at four-tops) did not have significantly different perceptions of satisfaction or spending behavior from those seated at right-size tables (that is, at deuces). However, parties at closely spaced tables reported significantly reduced satisfaction, as well as lower spending per minute when compared with widely spaced tables. Patrons dining at this New York restaurant seemed uncomfortable when tables were set as close as seventeen inches apart, and were more satisfied when the distance was closer to a yard apart. These findings, which apply to the dinner period at a fine-dining restaurant, offer support for the practice of seating parties at appropriately sized tables, and suggest that restaurant operators give careful consideration to the spacing of tables in the dining room.
Your Comments Please
If this CHR Report made a positive impact on your management approach or business operations, we welcome your commentary. We would like to post your comments on our website. Please submit your comments to js372@sha.cornell.edu and rohit.verma@cornell.edu.
Download The Report
To view the whole report, please click on the link below
- Don’t Sit So Close to Me: Restaurant Table Characteristics and Guest Satisfaction By: Stephani K. A. Robson and Sheryl E. Kimes Ph.D.
| If you have trouble downloading a pdf, and are able to install software on your computer, try upgrading to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to see if that allows you to read it. |
Other Reports or Articles You May Find of Interest
- Forecasting Covers in Hotel Food and Beverage Outlets, by Gary M. Thompson and Erica D. Killam
- Exploring Consumer Reactions to Tipping Guidelines: Implications for Service Quality, by Ekaterina Karniouchina, Himanshu Mishra, and Rohit Verma
- A Consumer’s View of Restaurant Reservation Policies, by Sheryl E. Kimes
About Stephani K. A. Robson
Stephani Robson, senior lecturer, worked for several years in restaurants and retail food operations in her native Canada before deciding to pursue a college degree in the field. She graduated from the School of Hotel Administration in 1988, and began her career as a foodservice designer with Cini-Little International and subsequently with Marrack Watts in Toronto, Ontario. As a professional foodservice designer, she has designed kitchen facilities for hotels, restaurants, airports, hospitals, universities and catering halls. She joined the school’s faculty in 1993; and in 1999, she completed a master of science degree in Human-Environment Relations from Cornell’s Department of Design and Environmental Analysis. Her academic interests and current doctoral studies center on how environments affect preferences and behavior, with a particular focus on hospitality settings. She is a specialist in restaurant design psychology, and has presented and published her research in a wide range of industry and academic forums around the world.
For more information visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/facultybios/faculty.html?id=68
About Sheryl E. Kimes Ph.D.
Dr. Sheryl E. Kimes is a professor of operations management at the School of Hotel Administration. From 2005–2006, she served as interim dean of the Hotel School and from 2001-2005, she served as the school’s director of graduate studies. Kimes teaches restaurant revenue management, yield management and food and beverage management. She has been named the school’s graduate teacher of the year three times. Her research interests include revenue management and forecasting in the restaurant, hotel and golf industries. She has published over 50 articles in leading journals such as Interfaces, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Service Research, Decision Sciences, and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. She has served as a consultant to many hospitality enterprises around the world, including Chevy’s FreshMex Restaurants, Walt Disney World Resorts, Ruby’s Diners, Starwood Asia-Pacific and Troon Golf. Kimes earned her doctorate in Operations Management in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin.
For more information visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/facultybios/faculty.html?id=43
