Eatertainment — a somewhat ungainly word describing everything from a bowling alley with a humble snack bar to immersive food-and-high-tech environments — succeeds best when it provides an escape from the everyday as well as a strong sense of community and camaraderie, according to an August 2024 report from MG2, For the Thrill of It: Eatertainment Experiences That Cater to All.
“Being able to articulate that sense of camaraderie and the community it facilitates is the way you earn [customers’] time,” said Melissa Gonzalez, Principal-in-Charge at MG2 in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “That coming together is what people are craving, especially in a post-COVID world.”
Gonzalez, who co-authored the report with MG2 Senior Strategist Nicole Pokorny Forster, identified a few of the key drivers of a successful eatertainment venue, based on MG2’s July 2024 survey of 1,178 consumers, including:
- Invest in the quality and variety of food offerings; “quality of food,” was the number-one consumer pain point, identified by 52% of respondents;
- Design the space for multiple use cases, e.g. as a coworking space or coffee/juice bar in the daytime. Use outdoor spaces if available: 52% of respondents said patios or gardens for enjoying their food would extend their dwell time;
- Design the space with sections for those who just want to eat or observe without participating in activities (“lack of other entertainment, such as TVs or no-cost table games” was the second-highest pain point, at 34%); and
- Use interior décor, high-quality sound and audio, lighting and experiential technology to create an enticing escape from the everyday.
Food, Glorious Food
There’s a reason that “eat” comes first in “eatertainment.” “People want to have a one-stop destination, and if you can do that successfully, you’ll earn more of their time and wallet,” said Gonzalez.
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“I’ve seen menus [at eatertainment venues] expand; it’s not just chicken fingers and pizza anymore,” she added. “Especially for families with kids or teenagers, the parents might hang out and have a drink while the kids are doing the activity. And [with food] there are a lot of opportunities to think creatively, for example with partnerships. A venue might partner with chefs and bring in a different chef every month.”
Gonzalez described a venue in Brooklyn, N.Y. where customers can play shuffleboard in “a building designed for a pop-up food truck to pull in, and that’s their [food] partner for the moment. And if the chef or food truck [that month] has its own following, that’s a draw if someone wants to come to the venue more frequently.”
Coworking Space by Day, Pickleball Court by Night
Eatertainment operators that want to maximize usage of their space should consider different use cases for different days or day parts. “The ability to monetize underutilized hours is pretty important in these formats,” said Gonzalez. But operators “will need to think about the use cases and their hierarchy and ask, what will the space primarily be used for?” she noted.
If the operator wants to flex the space into a coworking environment, they’ll need to ensure there are plenty of outlets and ports to plug in laptops or other devices, along with strong WiFi connectivity. Even if a space is primarily a coffee or juice bar during daylight hours, people may use it as a place to work: “Do they need a quiet space where they can get on a call?” asked Gonzalez. “Eatertainment spaces need to flex into [offering] those.”
Eatertainment venues are ideal for events that combine work and play, such as a team-building exercise or an IRL get-together for remote workers. “You can seamlessly mix a work-meets-fun day,” said Gonzalez, noting that operators need to “think more holistically about these opportunities.”
Plan Spaces for Comfort, Privacy and Choice
Operators should pay careful attention to layouts for customer seating and activities, given that factors such as ample space between a customer’s group and others was the top contributor to customers’ comfort, at 46%.
“You want environments that are approachable and that allow [customers] to escape into something,” said Gonzalez. “You also want to [offer] some optionality of how they spend their time,” given that some visitors may want to just observe rather than participate.
When asked about what contributes to a sense of comfort in these environments, respondents identified:
- Thoughtful seating/gaming layouts (46%);
- Breakout areas for those who want to relax and connect away from the games (41%);
- Quality acoustics so sounds from the game and other groups don’t drown out the experience (30%);
- Zoned temperature controls based on activity/location (e.g. water misting fans, heat lamps) (28%); and
- Option to choose their own journey, (i.e. space allows for both heavy players and those who want to observe) (27%).
A Step Away from the Everyday
Eatertainment venues also give designers the opportunity to create environments that are both fun and immersive. “From the design side, [these venues] should offer the opportunity of escapism,” said Gonzalez. “It adds to the value proposition of why you go to one of these environments. Maybe you’re not taking a full vacation with your family, but [this] feels like an adventure.”
Asked which elements contribute to a “sense of awe” in an eatertainment environment, 49% of respondents identified immersive interior décor tied to a theme, while 45% named high-quality sound and audio.
“If an eatertainment environment can instantly capture a consumer’s attention and facilitate a feeling of wonderment and connectivity throughout, they are likely to cement their reputation for being a fun-filled shared experience that consumers will want to visit again,” wrote Gonzalez and Pokorny in the report.
