From shy first dates to tenth wedding anniversaries, couples at every stage of their relationships have been coming to restaurants for date nights for centuries. The tradition of romantic dinners is as old as the existence of restaurants themselves so it's no wonder that many venues strive to create the kind of service, ambiance, and consideration necessary to make couples feel like they are the only two people in the world even in a busy dining room.

Of course, you don't even need to be a fine dining venue with white table cloths and sculpted deserts to become a favorite date night location. Every couple has their own tastes, desired ambiance, and favorite kind of restaurant. Every time your restaurant is lucky enough to be chosen for one of these sweet personal moments, it's your job as the venue to simultaneously enhance their experience and allow the world to fade into the background for your love-bird guests.

From the First Moment

A couple's experience in your restaurant begins the moment they walk through the door. Whether they are shyly trying not to meet each other's eyes or are fully wrapped up in their own little world, couples on a date night are usually easy to spot. Their night isn't really about your restaurant, it's about spending time together and you can begin to help with that from the very first moment. Couples dislike being jostled in a crowded waiting line but you have other options.

In many cases, you can give them the privacy they desire without seating them before earlier guests. Your hostess can guide them to a more secluded waiting spot like an outdoor seating area or a private corner of the bar. You might even be able to start them with drinks so their date can begin immediately without the interruption of waiting.

Seating Couples at the Perfect Table

Dates are usually easier to seat because they only need a small table with two place settings allowing you to seat them at almost any free table in the restaurant. This creates excellent flexibility and gives your hostess the freedom to choose an ideal location for each couple to have a combination of privacy, soft lighting, and carefully calculated proximity to other customers.

Encourage your hostesses to trend toward seating couples nearer to the walls so they don't feel stared at in the middle of a dining room. Big groups don't care as much about being in the center because they need room to move around and aren't seeking intimacy.

If you have a choice of booths or chairs, always ask first because different couples have different preferences. Booths, in general, are great for date nights because they offer a more enclosed and private dining experience but some people will prefer chairs for formality, comfort, or to accommodate their attire.

You should also be prepared for unusual seating choices. Some couples prefer to sit on the same side of a table in order to hold hands and snuggle while others like to sit at adjacent sides of a square table rather than directly across from each other.

Another seating consideration is the noise level of your dining room. Most couples on a date would prefer a quieter setting if you can arrange one. This means creating some distance between them and large raucous parties or groups with energetic children. During times in which you see a lot of families and couples, you might find some benefit in actively separating them into different sections, placing the quiet people in one area and the noisy ones in another.

Providing Superb Service

Candle light dinners are a long standing romantic tradition and something you can offer even if your tables don't usually feature candles. Consider treating obvious dates with a similar policy as you might a birthday party and have a few candle sticks or votives ready to create a more romantic experience at any table.

Some people who come to restaurants are there in part to chat with the wait staff and hang out, but this isn't generally true of couples on dates. Instead, they are there to enjoy each other in a relaxing environment in which all other concerns take care of themselves. Your waiters should consider being more soft-spoken and reserved when serving a couple while at the same time being ready to make helpful wine and menu suggestions as they would for any indecisive customer.

Couples who are having a good time are often feeling extravagant. They are more likely to be interested in unusual or fancier dishes and will often want to share everything they try. Your wait staff should be prepared to help them choose a combination of dishes that compliment each other and to bring extra taster plates for splitting any item two-ways. Desserts are an especially sweet way to bond at the end of a date and in many cases they won't even want two plates, just an extra spoon and an excuse to lean in close to each other as the night comes to a close.

Enhancing Romance with Technology

While romantic dinners have existed for hundreds of years, modern technology has introduced a few incredible new ways to enhance the experience by providing couples with both privacy and control over their environment. Many of these methods cleverly use the couple's own mobile devices to give them direct access to your services without constantly speaking to a waiter. A digital menu and server requesting system, for instance, allows couples to take their time choosing and select their items with minimal interaction from the wait staff. It also means they can request drink refills and plates taken away without your servers having to interrupt an intimate conversation to check on them.

If you have a digital jukebox that allows guests to request their own songs from an app, access to this on a date can be a delightful way for couples to share their musical tastes by browsing titles together. With this tool, they can create a truly personalized dining experience by playing romantic favorites and capping the night off with "their song".

Finally, paying for the check is a deeply personal experience for many couples. Who pays or how they split the check is a reflection of their internal power dynamic as one or the other shows off their wealth or independence or chooses the practical and equal method of "going Dutch". Why ask them to explain their personal system to a waiter when you can let them work it out at the table with a check payment app?

Creating Anniversary Traditions

When your restaurant goes all-out to create the perfect date night experience for each couple that walks through your door, they're sure to remember it. Whether you offer an in-house violinist for proposals or simply give them the ideal amount of space and privacy, the perfect romantic evenings you create will be remembered as iconic and couples will return again and again. Whether your venue becomes their favorite place to spend time on a Friday night or they return every year for a candle-lit anniversary date, you'll know their appreciation in the warmth of their smiles, the size of their tips, and the couple's ability to completely wrap up in each others company despite the busy dining room around them.