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How to Open a Themed Family Restaurant (and Be Successful!)

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A themed family restaurant is a great way to make your business stand out from the crowd and to clearly establish your customer base. Parents and kids love this type of restaurant because the kids are so thrilled to be eating out, even fussy eaters will try something – a win-win situation!

However, deciding on your theme will take some research to figure out what will appeal to the masses. On the one hand, the restaurant needs to appeal to children, but on the other, it’s the parents who will be paying so you need to persuade them that this is a good idea too.

There are all kinds of wacky ideas for businesses that inexplicably do well, so think a little bit further out of the box as you come up with ideas. What can you do differently? How can you tie your theme together with your food and decor? Answer these questions and you will be well on the way to creating the perfect themed family restaurant.

Know Who You’re Catering For

The food is obviously the most important part of the restaurant and there are a few things that you can do to make it successful. But first, you need to know who you are catering for.

Many restaurants choose to have separate kids menus offering simpler foods in smaller portions, but family-style dining is also a popular choice. With this method, you may not have as much control over portion sizes, but if you are offering sharing platters that encourage everyone to eat together, this will be a big draw to families who want to spend some real quality time together.

The type of food is also important and while you might have a main theme like Mexican or Italian, you should be careful to make sure that all tastes will be catered for somehow. A good idea is to offer a range of foods from different cultures and encourage sharing and tasting.

Give it a Fun Theme

Of course, the main USP of your restaurant is the theme. You could go for something simple like a playpark including things like climbing walls, swings and slides, all on a safe rubber playground surface, or you could go for something more specific.

Whatever you choose, it should appeal to the whole family. This means that the parents will be happy that the theme is appropriate for their children and offers both fun and education; kids will be enthusiastic about the theme and be begging Mom and Dad to take them again soon.

Don’t Forget Mom and Dad

Finally, with all those ideas running around your head, you need to remember who your paying customers are. Keeping Mom and Dad onside is vital for your business to succeed. This means that you need to persuade them that your restaurant isn’t just great fun for the kids but for them too. A lot of this will come down to your professionalism and how good the food is – after all, this is a restaurant first.

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