Feel Good Friday: Bistro Romano

If you wander along 2nd street through the historic buildings of Society Hill, you will eventually come to a large square that runs all the way to South Street. Historically, it’s a place that was established as a market for merchants to ply their wares at, but now, it’s far more common for weddings and events to occupy the space that has been known at different points as “New Market,” “The Shambles,” “Second Street Market” and “Head House Square.” Anyone who visits it will get to see a variety of restaurants and shops that have cropped up over the years, but not everyone may be aware that just off the square, along Lombard street, sits a restaurant known for its romantic atmosphere.

Bistro Romano has been around for almost forty years, but it has the feel of something that’s significantly older than that. Situated in an old granary, the business has catered to the sensibilities of anyone looking for local, fresh, Italian fare, great wine, and an experience that feels like it’s dropped out of the pages of a novel.

So, as with every other Feel Good Friday post, let’s break down why it works.

Anyone who has been keeping up knows that fresh, local ingredients can be a great “feel good” element, so it’s no surprise that Bistro Romano’s menu is one thing that helps it stand out as a feel good place worth visiting. However, similar to other businesses that have already been covered, a good menu is not always enough to sustain the business, and that’s why it’s striking how Bistro Romano has leveraged its historic location to tell a story.

Granaries were an old fashioned way of storing and preserving grain, which has been replaced by a variety of more modern alternatives. But the moment you walk into Bistro Romano, you can feel the temperatures drop a degree or two, the sound change as the stone walls mute the noise from outside, and the attitude shift from the bustle of the city streets to something more intimate and elegant. While the building may have begun as a granary, it has been filled with piano music, lively conversation, and a sense of romance — both between individuals and the kind that comes with a dash of nostalgia for bygone eras — that makes it an ideal place for anyone looking for a special night out on the town.

It’s easy to say that “ambiance” is a differentiator for a restaurant, and it would be true, but it’s not the most helpful descriptor because it doesn’t actually say what it is that a business is doing to set itself apart.

Experiences are one of the unique differentiators of an organization, because it’s tailored to the niche that they serve with a focus on delivering value for them specifically. The more you can tailor that experience to the specific capabilities your business possesses, the more you can defend your position from encroachment from competitors. Looking at Bistro Romano through this lens, there are a few things that stand out that help keep the doors open.

Bistro Romano has already been voted one of the most romantic restaurants in the city of Philadelphia few times, so it’s perhaps a little surprising that anyone would need to invest in event programming to boost their engagement with customers. However, most marketing initiatives take time to work, so usually by the time you need to invest in something like events, it’s too late to deliver the results you were hoping for in the first place.

So Bistro Romano’s team has taken the proactive approach of developing wine tasting programs, pasta nights, and other experiences that add new layers to the romantic air of the space that don’t require a partner to enjoy. It may be unnecessary, but it allows the customer base to refresh regularly so that there isn’t a time when they need to scramble to fill the space.

The fact that Bistro Romano is operating within an old granary brings with it a variety of benefits; it keeps customers comfortable, it adds intimacy to the space, it makes the piano music played on the stand-up easier to enjoy, and more. One thing it also allows for is the creation of a wine cellar that you can book for a curated, chef’s tasting experience.

It may seem odd that this would be a novel growth strategy, but it offers an innovative approach to space management to facilitate a better story overall. Granaries aren’t typically associated with wine production, but the old stone structures that help preserve the grain enables the customer to believe they’re sitting in an old wine cellar as they dine, which is accentuated by the decor, lighting, and other features of the restaurant that help give the impression of sitting down to eat in Tuscany rather than steps away from the Delaware River.

Bistro Romano is an intriguing place for its ability to immerse someone completely in the restaurant’s narrative. It may not be tied to a specific historical moment or place, but it uses the unique features of its location and building to help create an experience that taps into the imagination of its customers and creates the foundation of a magical evening.

For that reason, Bistro Romano offers an ideal case study for the kind of experiential marketing and customer experience strategies that businesses of every type and size can learn from. While it’s easier to deliver the kinds of experiences that Bistro Romano offers when you’re working on a smaller scale, creating an event pipeline and leveraging the features of physical locations can help keep costs manageable while building a steady stream of customer interest that sustains organizations when lean times come.

However, my wife and I have found that every time we have gone there, it’s been a lovely evening filled with great wine and incredible food, so if you would prefer to forgo the business lessons, it’s worth booking a reservation when you’re looking to escape into a dream for an evening.