I recall learning about this in culinary school. Our instructors warned us of this problem – potential customers walk into your restaurant and see nary a soul dining. They think something must be wrong with the restaurant and walk out. No one wants to be the first customer of the evening. And when the first customer is seated, we were taught to seat them in the window so passers by don’t get the feeling of Empty Restaurant Syndrome (ERS).
In the past few weeks the local papers have been covering the closing of several restaurants. Most recently, Great Bay announced it’s shutting its doors. The last time I ate there, the cavernous room seemed eerily empty. Sure, there were other diners, but nowhere near a full house. And when I go to Open Table to peruse restaurants for an evening out, invariably they have the coveted 7:00p.m. table available.
I’ll be honest, ERS has prevented me from dining there more. When it first opened, they were packed. In the past 2 years (and not just when the economy soured), when I’ve consider dining there, I’m suspicious as to why a seemingly good restaurant is empty. And now it seems that a collection of people, just like me, stopped eating there for no other reason than other people weren’t either. We created a self-fulfilling prophecy and the restaurant is now closed.
My father, on the other hand, has reserve-ERS (Full Restaurant Syndrome??). He actually prefers the empty restaurants because they are quiet. As someone who is hard of hearing, he cherishes the quiet ambiance so he can enjoy the conversations with his dining companions.
Have you fallen prey to ERS?