Private Dining: 3 Services To Offer Guests

Private dining rooms inside of your restaurant provide a way to maximize sales by offering custom dining and party packages. To make your restaurant's private dining space stand out from the rest, you'll want to offer unique services to your customers. These services can help expand sales while also making your restaurant a desirable venue to book for everything from rehearsal dinners to anniversary celebrations. Here are a few services to consider offering for your private dining space.

1. Dedicated Servers

Having dedicated servers gives your customers the feeling of being exclusively waited on, and it frees up the rest of your serving staff to handle lunch or dinner service without having to stop and wait on your private dining customers. Consider having a separate uniform for your private dining servers to wear that sets them apart from the rest of your waitstaff. This might mean more upscale apparel, such as vests and bow ties, to give your staff a formal catering service look. The servers should stay in the room unless they are tending to customer needs, so everyone at the party has access to service when they need it.

2. Exclusive Menu Options

One way to make your private dining more elevated is to offer an exclusive menu that customers in the main dining room won't have access to. This might mean having your chef create a special menu for each event, or it might simply mean putting a private dining menu together with more gourmet dining options. This special menu gives customers more of the experience they crave when booking a private venue while also giving your chef the freedom to flex his or her culinary muscles in new ways.

3. Beverage Packages

Having a versatile array of beverage options can help increase add-on sales for your private dining business, and it also gives guests more options to choose from. You can have a bar area set up in the private dining room so guests can order drinks throughout each event, and you can also come up with an exclusive cocktail menu not available in the rest of the restaurant. 

Offer different of beverage packages, including pay-as-you-go and all-inclusive options, for customers to choose from. Within those tiers, you can set up pricing tiers for flexible pricing. For example, a top-shelf beverage package will be more expensive than a base beer and spirits package, and you can also offer a beverage package for just wine to accommodate upscale dinner parties.

Once you have determined the services you will offer, work with your staff to create menus for both dining and beverage service. Train the servers by letting them sample each food item and cocktail you will be offering. You may also want to consider having sommelier services available for an extra fee for private dining parties wishing to host a wine tasting event. 

For more information, contact a company like The Cedar Door.


Share