If there is one thing a reviewer dislikes most about a restaurant, it is a seeming lack of effort to separate itself from all of the others. While reviewers want to see this creativity in the menu items that are offered by the restaurant and in the presentation of these items by a chef that is hopefully quite skilled, a restaurateur can immediately create the perception of a unique dining experience through the interior decorating.

According to Luke Weil of Andina Acquisitions, the influence of the interior decorating on the reviewer’s overall perception is magnified by something very similar to the primacy effect in psychology. Since the interior decorating is the first thing a reviewer notices, everything that follows will be influenced by that initial impression.

In restaurants that make an earnest attempt to decorate in a manner that is unique or at least in sharp contrast to its competitors, reviewers are much more likely to be open to creative menu items and to review them positively. Of course, interior decorating cannot mask poor food preparation or surly service, but it can ensure that the reviewer is more likely to be overwhelmingly positive due to the initial impression of the restaurant.