Novelty events are a great way to provide a boost in attendance. They give new customers a reason to try out your restaurant. However, special events can require lots of work from restaurant owners and staff in order to make sure they go smoothly. These days, customers are excited about one-of-a-kind, unique dining experiences. By offering events like these, you’ll be able to establish your business as one that’s in the forefront of new trends. Recently, the concept of the Eat in the Dark restaurant has been taking hold.
What is an Eat in the Dark Restaurant?
An Eat in the Dark restaurant isn’t too complicated of a concept. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like it would be. Eat in the Dark restaurants are also sometimes just called “dark restaurants”. They create a unique dining experience by removing diners’ sense of sight while they dine. Why? The idea is that removing one of the five senses enhances the other four. This leads to a more positive dining experience. It’s also a great way for groups of friends to share time and conversation together in a one-of-a-kind experience.
Why Host an Eat in the Dark Night?
While there are several restaurants across the globe that are fully dedicated to Eat in the Dark experiences, these establishments are few and far between. It’s unlikely that any of your customers will have attended an Eat in the Dark event in the past. This novelty is a great selling point and increases your ability to draw in new customers. This is unlike more “common” restaurant events, like bar trivia night programs, which operate on your customers’ familiarity with the event and concept. Plus, there’s good reason to believe that your restaurant event will draw back these customers for “normal” dining, too, so that they can experience your restaurant with their fifth sense intact, too.
How to Create and Host Your Event
Hosting an Eat in the Dark event requires some strategic planning and preparation in order to make sure that your restaurant entertainment event goes off without a hitch.
In most cases, traditional Eat in the Dark restaurants eliminate all sources of light, including electronic devices. This is the most effective way to host an Eat in the Dark night, although it may not always be possible to blackout all of your restaurants’ windows and doors to lighted areas. A combination of efforts to reduce lights and blindfolds for your guests can be the most effective way to host a temporary Eat in the Dark restaurant event. Typically, customers order their food ahead of time, outside the restaurant or when placing reservations for the event beforehand.
Eat in the Dark nights are most successful with adult customers. Consider hosting your event in the late evening to create the best experience for your guests.
We hope that your restaurant will consider the possibility of hosting this unique restaurant event! Remember, strategic marketing to get the word out and explain what your event aims to accomplish is important. Best of luck!
