7 Things to Know About Eating at a New Restaurant

You’ve been waiting months for a new restaurant to open. The hype has built to a crescendo, and when the day finally comes, you join the masses and flood the joint as a horde of zombies closes in on a live human.

But this is not a process to be rushed. You need to set expectations before attending, have a strategy in mind, and be prepared to give grace if the experience isn’t stellar from day one.

Here are 7 tips to help you maximize your first visit to a new restaurant and avoid potential disappointment.

1. Do Your Research

Never go into a restaurant experience blind. I always scan the menu and identify items I might be interested in, then look for photos to back up those thoughts. This helps you identify your best potential meal and sets you up for success.

Research is more difficult with a new restaurant, as there are few photos or opinions to go off of. I recommend trying to find a copy of the menu—the restaurant should have one posted on their website or Facebook page—and identify several things that look interesting. Google the restaurant and learn as much as you can. Has a local newspaper done an article on the restaurant opening? Has the head chef or owner done any interviews? The more information you have, the more you get a feel for the restaurant and know what to expect going in.

2. Vary Your Order

If you’re going by yourself or with one other person, you might be a bit limited. But if you can, order several small plates. If you go with a group, see if your fellow diners are open to splitting a few different entrees and/or appetizers, or at least bribe them to grab a bite off their plates. The more dishes you try, the more comprehensive experience you have, and the more accurately you can judge the restaurant overall.

3. Be Patient

It can take weeks or months, sometimes even years, for a restaurant to truly get its feet under it. Think about the last time you started a new job. Did you hit the ground running from day one, or did it take some time to learn and adjust to the organization’s culture and way of doing things?

It’s no different for a restaurant. Servers, hostesses, and cashiers are learning the menu, experimenting with the cash register, and feeling out how to operate the dining room. The chef is adjusting to working in a new space with new equipment. The manager/owner may be opening a restaurant for the first time. The likelihood of everything running smoothly right off the bat is next to none.

So grant everyone involved some grace. Understand that everyone is working their hardest, and allow for a few honest mistakes, as long as they don’t completely tank the meal.

4. Calmly Explain When Mistakes Occur

If/when something goes wrong, don’t lose your cool on the waiter or waitress. Unless they’re being lazy or negligent, they’re not trying to serve you a bad meal. Mistakes happen, especially with so many new things to learn. It’s one thing to have everything go right during training or even a soft opening. Once the crowds arrive and the bullets are flying, it becomes a completely different beast.

So if you’re drink order hasn’t been delivered after 10 minutes or your food arrived cold, keep a level head and let your server know what needs fixing. I’m willing to bet they’ll apologize profusely and remedy the situation.

5. Leave Feedback

Whether the experience was positive or negative, let the restaurant know how it did. Feedback is critical to help new restaurants understand what’s working and what needs to be fixed.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean you should rush out to Yelp! or write a review on Google (more on that soon). But look for ways to directly interact with the restaurant. Often, owners of new restaurants will walk the floor and communicate with customers; this is a perfect opportunity to (calmly) voice your opinion. If the restaurant has an email address or contact form on its website, use that to get in touch. You can also message it on Facebook or send tweets to its page. The more a restaurant understands its performance, the more it can emphasize its strengths and improve its weaknesses.

6. Don't Write a Negative Review

Unless an experience was truly reprehensible, I suggest backing away from the keyboard. As discussed above, it takes time for restaurants to find their groove. If you disparage them after one poor experience, you could deter others from visiting and missing out on a better experience than you had. If the service was dismissive and rude or the food was truly awful, be honest about your experience. But if the meal displayed signs of promise among the struggles, don’t discourage others from forming their own opinions.

Feel free to share positive experiences, as these can drive traffic to a new business that deserves it. I recently had a fantastic meal at a new pizza joint, and many people have thanked me for opening their eyes to its presence.

7. Go Back

I don’t care if you ignore every point on this list as long as you follow this one. Unless it truly doesn’t deserve it, give a restaurant a second chance. Allow new restaurants to find themselves and correct mistakes. If those same errors pop up time and again, then write a review and warn fellow diners that the experience just isn’t worth it.

I hope these tips have helped you realize productive ways to visit new restaurants and avoid gut reactions. If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments below.