Customers are always looking for new food experiences, and the restaurant industry is eager to please. One of the latest trends that has clients hurrying to book a table is fast-fine dining.
Fast-fine restaurants are the perfect marriage between the efficiency of quick-service establishments and the elevated food offerings of fine dining restaurants.
Could this be the best type of service for your business? Read on to find out.
Fast food vs fine dining
Before we define what fast-fine dining means, we need to understand the characteristics of the two types of concepts that it combines.
Therefore, a fast-food restaurant usually has:
- An affordable menu: usually with a small number of menu items that people appreciate because they are low cost;
- Exceptional speed of service: people expect to be able to enjoy their food almost immediately after ordering;
- Limited on-premises dining space: fast-food places don’t usually have a lot of spaces to sit, often focusing on takeaway and delivery;
- Counter service: while fast-casual places will offer table service, most fast-food joints will serve clients at the counter.
While a fine dining restaurant can be described as:
- Providing excellent service: with attentive servers coupled with an inviting ambiance that offers customers a special dining experience;
- Curated menu items: usually prepared by a skilled chef with hard-to-find ingredients and uncommon cooking methods;
- Expensive: the tasty menu items usually come with a big price tag that makes fine dining unaffordable for a lot of people;
What is fast-fine dining?
Fast-fine dining is a blend between the fast-casual and fine-dining concepts. Fast-fine restaurants offer an elevated culinary experience with high-quality dishes at a smaller price and reduced waiting times.
The audience for fast-fine dining is comprised of people who enjoy top-grade food, but either can’t afford the price associated with fine dining or don’t want to go through the hassle of limited reservations and usually formal service.
Must-haves for fast fine dining restaurants
Many restaurants have identified a target market in their area that is interested in fast-fine dining and have started jumping on the trend. Here are its main characteristics:
A small menu
Having a small menu is a good idea no matter what type of concept you choose for your restaurant because it takes away the choice paralysis clients sometimes face when trying to place an order.
Fast-fine dining restaurants have a small menu to:
- Show clients they offer quality: a stuffy menu with a variety of dishes lets customers know you focus more on quantity, while a small one showcases that you made every single menu item special;
- Keep costs low: a limited amount of menu items means that you have fewer ingredients to account for. Thus, managing inventory becomes easier and you produce less food waste, saving money in the process.
Read more: Why Restaurants with Small Menus Are More Successful [+ Template]
Quality ingredients
While fast food is known for unhealthy dishes that don’t focus on quality ingredients, fast-fine dining restaurants make prime ingredients the star of their dishes. This allows them to charge more money while keeping customers satisfied.
Successful fast-fine dining businesses usually find a niche in this concept and choose ingredients accordingly, such as:
- Seasonal cooking: with an ever-changing menu that includes ingredients that are in season. This helps cut costs as they are cheaper, and they also offer clients variety;
- Cuisine focused: such as Italian cuisine with ingredients imported from other countries. This will be cheaper but will offer an authentic taste;
- Health-conscious: another trend in the food industry. Ingredients can be bio, organic, or generally focused on offering health benefits.
Efficient technology
As the “fast” part of the fast-fine dining concept suggests, this type of restaurant guarantees fast service. To do so without increasing the chance of errors, take advantage of technology such as:
- Efficient POS system: to improve order accuracy and allow customers to pay fast and securely. The GloriaFood POS system also has a variety of features to improve the speed of service, such as a single button press to send items to the kitchen, item voiding, and one-tap POS login for employees;
- Easy-to-use online ordering system: customers expect to be able to order online from any restaurant. To offer them a pleasant ordering experience, fast-fine dining businesses can use in-house online ordering systems that allow clients to order directly from their website, in just a few simple clicks;
- On-premises ordering system: to ensure fast service even during rush hours, restaurants can implement an on-premises ordering system that allows customers to place orders by simply scanning the QR code on their table. They can browse the menu, order, and pay from their phone, without having to wait around for a server.
An inviting décor
Fast-fine dining restaurants pride themselves on inviting seating areas. Combined with a décor that creates a relaxed ambiance, this makes people want to come back.
The seating arrangements are chosen according to the concept and target audience, and they can be anything from a communal table to the classic four tops.
An out-of-the-box décor is a great idea to make your restaurant more popular on social media. Customers will take lots of photos and talk about your business online, creating a lot of free user-generated content.
Well-trained staff
The employees are the ones who provide excellent and fast service and persuade customers to come back in the process. To be able to do so, they must be regularly trained on all parts of the restaurant operation, such as:
- Greeting customers: the dining experience starts at the door. Servers who communicate with clients can find out their food preferences to make great recommendations;
- Upselling and cross-selling: how to persuade clients to spend more at the restaurant without affecting their satisfaction;
- Dealing with issues: how to handle any type of complaint, be it sub-par food or double booking.
Having restaurant standard operating procedures will ensure all staff have the knowledge to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
Fast-fine restaurant examples
Get a better idea about this type of service by analyzing these popular fast-fine restaurants:
- V Modern Italian: with locations in a variety of cities across the globe, this restaurant chain promises fine dining ambiance and elevated food at the same time as affordable prices and quick service;
- Wonder: with different types of cuisines and many restaurants, Wonder has chef-inspired dishes and guarantees an average delivery time of 35 minutes or less;
- Fresh to order: boasts about their fast table service with just 10 10-minute wait time to receive food. Their menu is full of fresh, made-from-scratch meals crafted to perfection.
Should you adopt fast-fine dining?
Opening a fast-fine dining restaurant or switching your existing business to this concept could be beneficial for your sales as it is trending and will attract customers. But, before you take the big step, you must answer these questions:
- Is there an audience for fast-fine dining in your area? To ensure the restaurant will be profitable, people must want to visit it. You can find out through market research with focus groups and online surveys;
- How much direct competition will you have? If there are too many competitors in your area, you will have a hard time standing out. Do some online research and find out how many other restaurants with this concept and your type of cuisine are in your area;
- Can you create a promising business plan for it? Will you be able to secure suppliers, pay for a location and employees, and create mouth-watering menu items while making a profit?
- Do you have a passion for running fast-fine restaurants? Being a restaurant owner is hard work and it will be easier to manage the business if you believe in the concept.
Final words
Fast-fine dining is a rather new trend in the food industry, but it won’t go anywhere because clients enjoy being able to eat carefully crafted dishes with quality ingredients at an affordable price. Will you be jumping on this trend?
