A quarter century of studies on customer experience in restaurants: a systematic literature review and research agenda Open Access

Research on customer experience (CX) is rapidly advancing across hospitality businesses (e.g. Kandampully et al., 2018; Veloso and Gomez-Suarez, 2023). This growth is particularly evident in the restaurant sector, where immediacy of interactions, strong emotional impact, sensorial involvement of customers, and intense competition make the dining experience a critical determinant of business performance and reputational success (e.g. Ahmed et al., 2023). Unlike other hospitality sectors, in which service delivery tends to be more stable (e.g. Ntounis et al., 2022), the restaurant context is shaped by a range of dynamic factors that influence CX (e.g. Mathayomchan and Taecharungroj, 2020). These factors can be operational (e.g. the frequency and short duration of dining experiences), emotional (e.g. the fast-evolving customer sensory preferences), and social (e.g. changes in service delivery).

Given the growing scholarly interest and evolving complexity of factors that influence restaurant CX, a timely and comprehensive review is needed to capture the current state of knowledge in this field. Previous systematic literature reviews (SLRs) have examined individual aspects of the dining experience, including authenticity, service quality, food quality, atmosphere, pricing, and value (e.g. Le et al., 2019; Luna-Cortés et al., 2022; Ha and Sorokina, 2023; Zanetta et al., 2024). While these studies have advanced knowledge on specific CX drivers, they have predominantly addressed each factor in isolation. As a result, existing reviews do not provide an understanding of how these elements jointly shape the overall CX, offering a fragmented understanding of CX, with limited attention to how multiple determinants interact within a restaurant context.

This fragmentation has important implications for theoretical development. By treating CX antecedents as independent factors, prior research tends to reinforce linear and static models that inadequately capture the relational and processual nature of CX in restaurants. Consequently, it does not explain how CX is formed and how it generates outcomes. Addressing this limitation requires aggregating existing findings and identifying new experiential elements to reorganize them within a coherent theoretical framework that clarifies how diverse CX drivers shape outcomes.

Given these premises, this study aims to thoroughly review academic literature, guided by the following three research questions:

To address these questions, this study explores CX in restaurants via three goals: (1) map the distribution of publications over time and identify the most-cited articles, publications across journals, the most productive countries, restaurant settings, methodological approach, and underpinning theories, (2) detect and systematize the key antecedents and consequences of CX in the restaurant industry, and (3) highlight research gaps and propose an agenda for future studies. To achieve these objectives, an SLR was conducted.

Unlike previous reviews that remain narrowly focused on individual experiential elements such as food service quality or hospitality experience (e.g. Le et al., 2019; Luna-Cortés et al., 2022; Ha and Sorokina, 2023; Zanetta et al., 2024), this study positions itself as an integrative synthesis to advance theory development. Specifically, by organizing the literature through the antecedents-consequences framework, this SLR moves beyond the identification of isolated factors to propose a set of dimensions, determinants, and attributes of CX that can be used to inform theoretical insights and practical applications that enhance the restaurant CX design and management. This approach advances the CX theory from a factor-based view toward a systemic understanding of experience creation and its impact. Moreover, it offers contemporary insights and provides future research directions to address unresolved issues identified through the framework and reveal emerging themes within this field.

Previous literature reviews have investigated specific factors that enhance the dining experience and, in some cases, suggested managerial strategies to support CX design within restaurants (see Table A in the supplementary materials). Collectively, these reviews highlight a set of recurring experiential dimensions, such as authenticity, service quality, food quality, and atmosphere, that are consistently associated with positive customer evaluations. In this regard, Le et al. (2019) revealed that incorporating multiple dimensions of authenticity (i.e. the authenticity of the thing/other, the self, and the organization) is fundamental for creating authentic dining experiences. These were mainly examined in the setting of ethnic/local cuisine and ethnic-themed restaurants. Similarly, Ha and Sorokina (2023) identified eight key components of service quality that contribute to an enhanced dining experience: food quality, physical environment, ambiance, employee quality, price, cleanliness, safety, and speed of service. Consistent with these results, Luna-Cortés et al. (2022) reinforced these findings by showing that authenticity and service quality are key antecedents of the luxury dining experience, closely linked to customer satisfaction (CS). Zanetta et al. (2024) further expanded this view by highlighting food quality, service quality, atmosphere, price and value, personal values and beliefs, and brand/company image as central drivers of restaurant choice and experience. In brief, existing reviews tend to examine these dimensions independently, rather than advancing an integrated conceptual explanation.

Taken together, these reviews implicitly recall the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) logic, according to which environmental and service-related cues (e.g. servicescape, food quality, authenticity) act as key stimuli to trigger customers’ responses and shape experiential outcomes. However, this logic is underdeveloped because past SLRs do not integrate these elements into a conceptual framework.

In addition, all existing reviews approached the dining experience from the customer perspective. Only one study adopted a managerial viewpoint. Using a narrative review approach, Ishak et al. (2023) identified the following strategies that ethnic restaurants employ to provide a memorable dining experience: offer an authentic quality menu, strengthen cultural identity through the physical environment, create a harmonious ambiance, deliver quality services, improve overall performance, and develop collaboration projects with tourism stakeholders. Although this perspective is valuable, it is explicitly connected to ethnic restaurants.

Overall, prior SLRs remain confined to singular dimensions of CX or analyze customer and supply-side perspectives independently, resulting in a fragmented understanding of restaurant CX. By contrast, this review positioned itself by systematically comparing the limitations of existing reviews and integrating them within an antecedents and consequences framework, directly fulfilling the need for an integrative model that is now lacking in the literature on hospitality experience and foodservice quality.

The customer journey model is widely used to describe and analyze the service delivery process from the customer’s perspective. It allows service providers to model delivery processes with clarity and rigor, identifying opportunities for service improvement (Teixeira et al., 2012). This model provides a conceptual structure that aligns with service research theories, including the SOR framework and service-dominant logic (SDL). Precisely, in line with SOR logic, the customer journey enables the identification of experiential stimuli embedded in service touchpoints (e.g. physical environment, food quality, employee interactions) and their influence on customers’ emotional and cognitive responses, which in turn shape experiential outcomes. From an SDL perspective, the customer journey highlights how value is co-created through interactions between customers and service providers across multiple encounters.

Accordingly, this study adopts the customer journey model as a guiding theoretical framework to systematically assess the literature on CX creation and its impact on restaurants, identifying antecedents and consequences of CX as recurring themes (e.g. Halvorsrud et al., 2016). This model enables the conceptualization of service process delivery from the customer’s perspective through interconnected touchpoints (e.g. Zomerdijk and Voss, 2010; Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). Touchpoints, whether digital or physical, are a core element of the customer journey, as they are moments of contact between the customer and the service organization. The distinction between planned and actual customer journey (Shostack, 1982) further supports the analysis of how managerial design intentions can be translated into experienced CX.

This review moves beyond descriptive categorization, providing a theoretically grounded mapping of the experiential elements that characterize the customer journey. By doing so, it integrates them into a coherent set of dimensions, determinants, and attributes that have been absent from earlier reviews on hospitality experience, thereby providing the conceptual foundation for the integrative framework developed in this study.

This study adopted SLR as the primary research methodology to synthesize and integrate existing knowledge on CX in restaurants. The review process followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, which is widely adopted in service and hospitality management research (e.g. Le et al., 2019; Zanetta et al., 2024) to plan, identify, evaluate, extract, and synthesize the existing literature systematically by ensuring transparency, rigor, and replicability (Snyder, 2019).

The research design combined bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis, allowing both a descriptive mapping of the literature and an in-depth conceptual synthesis. Precisely, a bibliometric analysis was conducted to examine descriptive aspects, including the distribution of publications over time, the most-cited articles and productive countries, the research focus on the restaurant setting, methodological approaches, and the main theoretical frameworks. This approach ensures analyticity, rigor, objectivity, and minimizes subjective bias (Zupic and Čater, 2015). Subsequently, a thematic analysis was employed to identify, systematize, and integrate the antecedents and consequences of CX into a conceptual framework. This method is suitable for identifying, analyzing, and interpreting themes gathered from qualitative data (Braun and Clarke, 2019).

This study followed the PRISMA protocol, which encompasses four distinct phases: identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion (see Figure 1). In the identification phase, the study defined the criteria for detecting and selecting publications for review. In January 2025, we performed a keyword search on Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). Employing the Boolean operators “OR” and “AND,” an initial search was conducted for abstracts, titles, and keywords using the following combination of terms: customer experience* OR consumer experience* AND restaurant. The research strings were as follows:

1. Scopus: (TITLE-ABS-KEY (customer AND experience*) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (consumer AND experience*) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (restaurant))

2. WoS: ((author keywords (AK)=(customer experience*)) OR AK=(consumer experience*)) AND AK=(restaurant) AND title (TI)=(customer experience*) OR TI=(consumer experience*) AND TI=(restaurant) AND abstract (AB)=(customer experience*) OR AB=(consumer experience*) AND AB=(restaurant)

Quotation marks were intentionally omitted from the research strings to capture a broader range of lexical and syntactic variations of the keywords. No time constraints were set. This yielded 2,521 documents (1,929 in Scopus and 592 in WoS).

During the screening phase, the document titles were read, and duplicates (472) were removed using Microsoft Excel. This led to the inclusion of 2,049 documents. Applying predefined criteria—document type, source, subject area, and language—only peer-reviewed journal articles in English within the fields of “Business, Management, and Accounting” in Scopus and “Social Sciences Other Topics” and “Business Economics” in WoS were selected. We selected peer-reviewed journal articles to ensure that only scientifically validated knowledge was included because these publications undergo anonymous review processes that guarantee their academic rigor. Given that English is the primary language of scholarly communication in most academic outlets, this choice reflects our intention to present widely recognized and internationally accessible research. We excluded book chapters and conference proceedings because of their limited representation in the selected databases. Similarly, editorials, research notes, viewpoints, commercial publications, and magazines were omitted because they did not meet the criteria for academic rigor and relevance adopted in this review. The final sample comprised 601 articles.

Article eligibility was based on its accessibility and relevance to the research. Two researchers independently reviewed all full texts, excluding those outside the scope of management research or misaligned with the study’s objectives. As a result, 466 articles were excluded, and 135 were retained for final analysis.

The data analysis was conducted in two sequential phases: bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis. First, a descriptive bibliometric analysis was performed to map the literature on restaurant CX. Metadata from the 135 selected articles was extracted from Scopus and WoS and processed using Microsoft Excel and Biblioshiny, an R-Studio interface for bibliometric analysis. Biblioshiny was used to analyze annual publication trends, the most-cited articles, the most productive countries, the research focus on the restaurant setting, methodological approaches, and the main theoretical frameworks.

Second, a thematic analysis was undertaken to examine CX creation and its impacts in the restaurant context. The thematic coding process followed a structured, multi-step approach to ensure transparency and replicability. Two researchers independently imported 135 articles into NVivo and conducted open coding, identifying recurring concepts, keywords, and patterns directly from the data using an inductive approach. Next, the preliminary codes were systematically compared with constructs and dimensions drawn from established CX literature (deductive approach) (e.g. Creswell and Creswell, 2018). Disagreements were discussed and resolved through consensus, and overlapping codes were merged. This allowed the researchers to refine, merge, or relabel codes in line with theoretically grounded categories while retaining data-driven specificities. This process resulted in a validated, shared coding scheme (see Table B in the supplementary materials).

Once validated, the codes were grouped into higher-order categories. Conceptually similar codes were clustered into broader nodes, each representing a central dimension of CX in restaurants. Within each node, child nodes were created to capture more specific determinants and attributes of CX in restaurants. For example, the “food experience” node encompassed “food sensorial quality,” “differentiated gastronomic offerings,” and “food price” as determinants. “Food sensorial quality” was further articulated through child nodes that reflected specific attributes, including “taste,” “freshness,” “aroma,” “temperature,” and “healthy options.”

Finally, the clustered nodes were organized into two overarching groups: (1) the antecedents of CX in restaurants, consisting of three nodes—food experience, experiencescape, and consumer-related profile—each with their respective child nodes; (2) the consequences of CX in restaurants, comprising seven outcome-oriented nodes: CS, customer delight (CD), customer perceived value (CPV), customer loyalty (CL), brand love, place attachment, and well-being, along with their child nodes.

To address RQ1, a bibliometric analysis was conducted. In general, the results reveal a growing scholarly interest in the topic, with an annual research growth rate of 8.09%. The 135 articles were published across 64 journals by 348 authors, with notable collaboration (17.04% international co-authorship) and an average of 38.73 citations per article. These data highlight that CX in restaurants is both an emerging and now well-established theme in research. However, the limited extent of international collaboration suggests that research remains largely regionalized, with only a few countries actively engaging in global partnerships.

The following subsections present the results of the descriptive analysis. The focus is on the distribution of publications over time, the most-cited articles, publications across journals, the most productive countries, research on restaurant settings, methodological approaches, and the main underpinning theories.

The number of publications on CX in the restaurant industry has grown significantly in recent years (see Figure 2). Of the 135 articles, 40.74% were published between 1999 and 2018; most (59.26%) were published between 2019 and 2024, indicating that scholarly interest in CX has accelerated significantly within the past decade. The peak years were 2022 and 2024, with 14 articles each.

Table C (see supplementary materials) presents the most globally cited articles (those with more than 100 citations each), measured by total citations, citations per year, and citation normalization for comparability across different publication years.

There were 74 journals in which more than three articles were published. Most of these journals are in the field of hospitality and tourism management (see Figure 3). The International Journal of Hospitality Management (22 articles) and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (16 articles) were the most represented, highlighting the dominance of hospitality-focused journals. On average, each journal published 6.17 articles. Most articles appeared in peer-reviewed journals ranked with three stars in the Academic Journal Guide 2024.

The concentration of publications in hospitality and tourism journals highlights the disciplinary anchoring of CX studies within this field. The presence of publications in interdisciplinary journals such as Technological Forecasting and Social Change reveals an emerging dialog with innovation and technology studies.

Research on CX in the restaurant industry is geographically concentrated in the United States (81 articles) and China (55), in terms of publication volume and citation counts. Other active countries include France, India, South Korea, the UK, Portugal, Australia, and South Africa. Most articles are single-country publications, indicating limited international collaboration. However, countries such as Italy and Nigeria, despite fewer publications, show high levels of international co-authorship (50% multi-country publications), suggesting a stronger tendency toward global research partnerships.

The articles are mainly on casual and fine dining restaurants (37.78%) and full-service establishments (20.74%), highlighting a strong academic interest in traditional and upscale dining. In contrast, innovative models such as robotic/self-service (4.44%) and online-only delivery restaurants (2.96%) are underrepresented. Michelin-starred restaurants remain a niche topic. This indicates that while conventional dining dominates research, tech-driven and emerging formats are still nascent areas of study, despite their increasing market presence and potential to reshape CX.

Quantitative research dominates the field (101 articles). These studies rely on surveys, experiments, and statistical techniques. Qualitative methods are used in 20 articles. Qualitative methods are less common because of their interpretive nature and smaller sample sizes. Mixed-method approaches appear in 14 studies, indicating a growing interest in combining qualitative and quantitative insights. The relatively limited use of qualitative and mixed methods highlights the need to further explore the subjective, emotional, and contextual dimensions of CX.

Of the 135 articles analyzed, 10 do not reference any theory. Among the rest, 145 theories were used only once, while 25 appeared multiple times. The most frequently cited are experience economy theory and attribution theory (six times each), followed by expectancy-disconfirmation theory (five times) and perceived value theory, service quality theory, equity theory, and social influence theory (each cited four times). This suggests that CX research in restaurants has not yet converged toward a unified theoretical framework.

Theories used can be grouped into three main categories: service-oriented (e.g. service quality, relationship marketing), cognitive and psychological (e.g. decision-making, perception), and emotional/motivational (e.g. emotional responses, motivation) perspectives. This reflects the diverse conceptual lenses used to study CX. Thus, the existing studies tend to rely on isolated theoretical lenses, with limited integration across different perspectives. This fragmentation, which constrains theory development, can be overcome by adopting the antecedents–consequences framework developed in the next section to address RQ2.

Taken together, the descriptive findings proposed in this study highlight an analysis field that is simultaneously expanding, although it is still fragmented. While research on CX in restaurants has reached a level of maturity in terms of quantity and journals, international partnerships are limited, and theoretical perspectives are dispersive, suggesting that knowledge accumulation remains limited and the importance of strengthening cross-national collaboration to enhance the diversity of perspectives and methodological approaches.

In relation to RQ1, this pattern recommends that CX research in restaurants has evolved more through parallel research streams than through cumulative theorization, underscoring the need for integrative frameworks that can organize and connect existing contributions.

To address RQ2, this section presents the key themes that emerged from the analysis, structured according to the antecedents-and-consequences format used as an organizing framework in strategic management and service management (e.g. Stange et al., 2025) research. Beyond categorizing themes, the analysis adopts an interpretive lens, proposing a conceptual framework that integrates these themes into a comprehensive representation of CX creation and its impact on restaurants, highlighting how experiential elements interact across the customer journey (see Figure 4).

The food experience is an inherently multisensory and emotional journey that engages customers through food quality; attributes such as taste, sight, smell, touch, and hearing (e.g. Batat et al., 2019); and variety, presentation, and pricing. According to the reviewed articles, the following determinants create the food experience dimension: (1) food sensorial quality, (2) differentiated gastronomic offerings, and (3) food price. Food sensorial quality refers to how customers perceive food in terms of taste, freshness, smell/aroma, temperature, and nutrition (e.g. Bangsawan et al., 2017; Namkung and Jang, 2008; Yrjölä et al., 2019). These attributes were confirmed in previously reviewed articles (e.g. Mehraliyev et al., 2020). Other noted factors that influence the food sensory experience were local flavors, spiciness, texture, dish names and images, food hygiene, pesticide-free products, food color, visual appeal, portion size, and quantity (e.g. Rejikumar et al., 2022).

Differentiated gastronomic offering is the second determinant of the food experience, noted in every reviewed article, in terms of visually attractive presentation, menu variety, meal options, product innovation through novel and distinctive offerings, and a wide range of wines, including regional and local varieties (e.g. Manhas et al., 2024; Mohamed et al., 2022). Broadening the research to include the studies cited in the analyzed articles, other elements include themed offerings and traditional recipes (e.g. Leung et al., 2022).

Finally, the food experience is determined by the food price (the customer’s willingness to pay), which was examined in terms of reasonableness and appropriateness for the level of service (Mohamed et al., 2022).

Unlike the servicescape concept (Bitner, 1992), experiencescape identifies how experiences are staged and consumed; however, it also considers the importance of immersion and the interaction between customers and multiple elements of the environment (Mossberg, 2007). From previous studies in the restaurant industry (e.g. Hanks and Line, 2018; Lin and Mattila, 2010), this dimension of CX is created by physical, social, technological, and cultural experiencescape. The first determinant, physical experiencescape, noted in all 135 articles, is created by combining multiple atmospheric elements designed to make customers feel immersed in the environment. These could include, for example, atmosphere, lighting, music, décor, colors, spatial layout, furnishings, table settings, and the physical appearance of employees, in terms of neatness and cleanliness (Bangsawan et al., 2017; Bichler et al., 2021; Batat, 2021a; Beldona et al., 2014; Santiago et al., 2024; Kabadayi et al., 2023; Mohamed et al., 2022; Namkung and Jang, 2008; Teng, 2011). Other interior and exterior design attributes mentioned in the articles were temperature, aesthetics, painting and sculpture, comfort, seating, cleanliness, location, and parking (e.g. Aktas-Polat and Polat, 2022; Choi et al., 2024).

The second determinant, social experiencescape, includes factors connected to customers’ interactions with other customers and service providers during service encounters (Peng et al., 2024) from a co-creation experience perspective (Hussain et al., 2021; Teng, 2011). The interactions among customers are affected by attributes of ingroup socialization, such as the possibility of focusing on themselves, paying attention to each other without interruption, and concentrating on the things discussed in the conversation in the restaurant (Mohamed et al., 2022). Also, with specific reference to interactions with service employees, the selected articles identify multiple attributes of professionalism regarding service quality and performance. These enable restaurant personnel to develop pleasant and entertaining relationships with customers during meals. Service attributes identified were helpfulness, friendliness (e.g. smiling at customers, being welcoming), language skills, politeness, ease of interaction, reliability (e.g. food served as ordered, error-free orders), responsiveness, promptness (e.g. quick service), patience, passion for the job, and cheerfulness. Attributes that facilitate interactions between customers and service staff included personalized attention, knowledge, and the ability to anticipate customers’ needs and preferences s (Bangsawan et al., 2017; Bichler et al., 2021; Namkung and Jang, 2008; Song et al., 2019). Some studies highlighted the importance of the chefs’ know-how (Pasquinelli et al., 2021), image (Rodrigues et al., 2023), hedonic passion, cultural heritage, and creativity (Batat, 2021b) in creating enjoyable interactions with customers within the restaurant (Daries et al., 2018).

Technological experiencescape, the third determinant, includes e-servicescape and smart servicescape. The former consists of attributes of the servicescape applied to the online context and social media such as Facebook and Instagram (Mhlanga and Tichaawa, 2017). The latter consists of direct and indirect interactions between customers and smart devices, mainly e-tablet menus, augmented reality technology service robots, artificial intelligence, and services automation technologies within the restaurant (Bangsawan et al., 2017; Bichler et al., 2021; Batat, 2021a; Beldona et al., 2014; Santiago et al., 2024).

The last determinant, cultural experiencescape, received limited attention in the reviewed studies. It is mainly determined by the restaurants’ signs, symbols, and artifacts (Yrjölä et al., 2019). Another element of cultural experiencescape is gastronomic storytelling. This occurs when chefs create a narrative by explaining the geographical provenance of ingredients, their cooking techniques and how they prepare dishes (Pasquinelli et al., 2021; Mohamed et al., 2022), and the stories behind the wines. Some restaurants also invest in creating authentic experiences (Levitt et al., 2021) and have food prepared and served by local people (Song et al., 2019) to establish cultural and emotional connections with customers.

Less explored in the reviewed articles is the consumer-related profile dimension. Only demographic and psychographic determinants emerged as intrinsic attributes of the consumer that are able to foster CX in restaurants. Attributes such as gender, age, (monthly) income levels, and level of education (e.g. Mhlanga et al., 2015) were used to investigate the demographic profile of customers. Their national culture (e.g. Teng, 2011) and the purpose of their visit, such as business, leisure, or a special occasion (Dube and Renaghan, 1994), are expressions of a consumer’s psychographic characteristics.

Like any business, every restaurant aims to create value for customers so that the restaurant can make a profit. Customer value is the “overall assessment of the utility of an offering according to what is received and what is given” (Zeithaml, 1988, p. 14). It is a multidimensional construct that is closely linked with CX. Specifically, it is a customer’s subjective assessment made after experience, purchase, and consumption.

In line with these assumptions, the different studies examined in this SLR highlight that CX affects CPV by determining specific benefits and sacrifices. These, in turn, define the key dimensions of CPV. These dimensions can be classified in various ways: (1) utilitarian and hedonic aspects (Choi et al., 2024); (2) economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic value (Yrjölä et al., 2019); and (3) social, emotional, epistemic, functional, and conditional value (Croitoru et al., 2024).

These studies also indicated that different types of perceived value influence customer behavioral intentions. Specifically, CPV affects CS and word of mouth (WOM), and thus CL.

CS has been historically conceptualized as “a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption related fulfillment, including levels of under- or over-fulfillment” (Oliver, 2014, p. 13). Consequently, it is conceived as a fulfillment response employed to evaluate CX.

Almost all the studies examined in this research investigated this construct as one of the possible consequences of CX, confirming that CX directly creates different (dis)satisfaction levels (e.g. Arora, 2012; Hussain et al., 2021). Most of the articles investigated whether specific components of CX create (dis)satisfaction. There was wide consensus regarding the determinants of CX in the restaurant context: food quality, service quality, atmosphere, interactions with employees, and price (e.g. Bangsawan et al., 2017; Mohamed et al., 2022; Namkung and Jang, 2007).

An extreme form of CS is CD, which is determined by human resource factors such as service recovery and staff professionalism in fine dining experiences and by positive surprises such as exposure to unexpected attributes (e.g. Aktas-Polat and Polat, 2022; Arora, 2012; Rodríguez-López et al., 2023).

Finally, CS and CD were found in these studies to be important determinants of CL (e.g. Rodríguez-López et al., 2023; Singh et al., 2021), as seen in Kivela et al. (2000), who examined various factors related to dining satisfaction and return patronage. Factors included the influence of satisfaction on return visits, variation in satisfaction based on demographic characteristics, and differences in return intentions depending on prior visit frequency.

CL refers to customers’ preferences for a particular product, service, or brand, which induce them to make repeat purchases and develop long-term relationships with the company because of the positive experiences received from the relationship itself (Utami et al., 2023). It is a multidimensional construct that includes attitudinal and behavioral aspects.

The analysis conducted in this SLR highlights that scholars have primarily focused on attitudinal loyalty, paying less attention to behavioral loyalty and neglecting cognitive loyalty. From an attitudinal viewpoint, multiple studies investigated the (direct or indirect) impact of CX (or its specific attributes, such as food quality and atmosphere) on recommending restaurants to others through WOM or electronic-WOM (e.g. Bangsawan et al., 2017; Doan et al., 2023) and the intention/desire to revisit/return to the restaurant (e.g. Arora, 2012; Choi et al., 2024). In behavioral terms, studies analyzed the positive behavioral responses that lead consumers to make repeat purchases and become loyal customers (e.g. Manhas et al., 2024; Mohamed et al., 2022; Rodríguez-López et al., 2023).

Very few studies examined the impact of CX on brand, especially brand love, which is determined by the degree of passion and emotional attachment to a particular trade name or brand. Trivedi and Sama (2021) examined the effect of celebrity endorsement and perceived food quality on brand love in the context of celebrity-owned restaurants, highlighting that CX positively strengthens the relationship between these variables and brand love. Kabadayi et al. (2023) highlighted that the physical environment positively affects brand love and that CX moderates the relationship between the physical environment and brand love. These results reveal that if restaurants focus on food quality and the physical environment when trying to enhance CX, then the customers will develop a strong relationship with the restaurant itself.

Only one study explored place attachment, defined as an attachment or connection to a particular environment (Yuksel et al., 2010), as one of the consequences of CX in restaurants. In tourism and hospitality management literature, place attachment is defined via (1) place identity, which refers to the feelings and memories created by a person about a place, in terms of reliable identification between the person and the place (Sthapit, 2017), and (2) place dependence, which refers to a person’s identification with a place because it meets their needs (Tsai, 2016). Mohamed et al. (2022) argued that the destination restaurant experience positively affects tourist place attachment and destination revisit intention.

A limited number of scholars examined the impact of CX on well-being in terms of either food well-being. Batat (2021a) studied how augmented reality affects CX in the physical restaurant space, acting in sensory, behavioral, intellectual, affective, and social terms, by enhancing overall food well-being. Considering only some attributes of CX, Rejikumar et al. (2022) demonstrated that hygiene perceptions, detailed information about the ingredients and recipes of the food customers eat, and food movement from the kitchen all have significant effects on food well-being.

Because chefs, as human brands, are promoters of novel and hedonic gastronomic experiences that contribute to customers’ happiness and well-being, customers’ well-being is one of the consequences of CX (Rodrigues et al., 2023).

Overall, the three categories of antecedents shaping CX in restaurants (food experience, experiencescape, and consumer-related profile) are interrelated and jointly contribute to CX creation across the dining journey. The influence of food experience depends on contextual cues such as atmosphere, social interactions, and service performance, indicating an interactional rather than additive logic. Accordingly, food-related stimuli do not operate in isolation but combine with other elements of the dining environment to shape experiential outcomes. The experiencescape plays a key contextual role, as physical, social, technological, and cultural elements influence how food and service interactions are interpreted, thereby strengthening or weakening customers’ responses. As a result, similar food or service attributes may lead to different experiences depending on the surrounding context and the nature of customer-provider interactions. Consumer-related profile further shapes CX by influencing customers’ expectations, involvement, and evaluation criteria. The limited consideration of customer heterogeneity in existing CX models reduces their explanatory power, highlighting the need for more customer-sensitive theorization. Overall, CX emerges from the joint activation of emotional and cognitive processes triggered by multiple experiential antecedents, supporting a dynamic and context-dependent view of CX in restaurant settings.

The consequences of CX identified in the literature reflect an interrelated pattern rather than isolated outcomes, following a process-oriented pattern. Specifically, antecedents influence customers’ evaluations, such as CPV, CS, and CD, which subsequently drive behavioral and relational outcomes, including CL, brand love, place attachment, and well-being. This pattern directly addresses RQ2 by clarifying how CX generates effects over time in accordance with the customer journey framework.

To answer RQ3, this section builds on the interpretive synthesis of the results to highlight key theoretical advancesand proposes a research agenda outlining promising directions for future studies on CX in the restaurant industry, as synthesized in Table D (see supplementary materials).

The results of this research reveal a significant gap in the perspective adopted when studying CX in the restaurant industry. Of the 135 articles examined, almost 90% focus on the customer’s perspective (e.g. Trivedi and Sama, 2021) and only 8% explore the viewpoint of restaurant managers and staff members (e.g. Batat, 2021b). The remaining studies adopt a dual perspective, considering both restaurant operators and customers as units of analysis (e.g. Jeannot et al., 2022). This imbalance suggests that research is mainly demand-oriented rather than supply-oriented.

Future studies could benefit from a stronger emphasis on the perspective of service providers to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how restaurateurs can shape and enhance CX while addressing their operational challenges. Managers could design and manage any direct or indirect touchpoint (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2015) that customers perceive and remember during each service encounter. However, first, the factors that enhance CX creation and management strategies in restaurants must be defined. This study identified the importance of three antecedents of CX (food experience, experiencescape, and consumer-related profile) and multiple determinants and attributes. However, restaurants can only partially control these factors, given that consumers’ characteristics and interactions within the restaurant vary. Considering the fundamental and active role of the customer, studying how to design and manage CX based on their needs, expectations, perceptions, and interactions emerges as a strategic research area. For example, it would be interesting to examine how to create flexible experiences that adapt to diverse customer preferences, encourage customer engagement through personalized touchpoints and loyalty programs, and manage customer feedback to implement continuous improvements.

Although accessibility and inclusion are often addressed to meet legal or ethical obligations or for strategic advantage, scant research has examined this topic in terms of CX in the restaurant industry. In this analysis, only Doan et al. (2023) explored service interactions that involved employees with disabilities, offering insights into their integration within food service from the perspective of the employees themselves.

To advance research about inclusive CX within the restaurant industry, future studies could continue to examine customers’ and managers’ perspectives of analysis, embracing the planned and realized CX (Voss et al., 2008) and integrating them into a single view of how to create and offer inclusive CXs. On the one hand, further research could explore how restaurateurs effectively design and manage CX for vulnerable populations, such as people with disability. On the other hand, future studies could examine the customers’ needs and expectations and their perceptions about the service offered by restaurants that engage workers with disability.

Previous studies have examined the link between CX and sustainability, analyzing how restaurants affect the environment and incorporate sustainability into their management practices (e.g. Huang et al., 2025), not only to strengthen restaurants’ organizational legitimacy but also to enhance their competitive advantage.

Although CX and sustainability are two concepts that mutually influence each other, the connection between them remains underexplored in the restaurant industry (e.g. Bonfanti et al., 2025a), particularly in terms of how sustainable practices influence customer perceptions, satisfaction, and loyalty. For example, health has been recognized as an antecedent of the food experience (Namkung and Jang, 2008; Yrjölä et al., 2019). In this regard, Xu’s (2014) study identified that Chinese fast-food diners expect socially responsible restaurants to prioritize product nutrition, customers’ well-being, and environmental sustainability.

Beyond these specific aspects, here is still limited research on how sustainability initiatives shape the overall dining experience, affect brand reputation, and drive customer engagement. Further investigation is needed to understand how restaurants can effectively integrate sustainability into their CX strategies to enhance CS and long-term success. A deeper analysis could clarify whether sustainability significantly influences CX in the restaurant industry and determine which dimensions have the most significant impact. The research could be further expanded by identifying potential disparities or similarities across different restaurant types, including luxury, traditional, and fast-food restaurants. In terms of restaurant type, future research could examine whether sustainability exclusively serves as a key driver of CX in sustainability-focused restaurants (e.g. Michelin Green Starred restaurants) or influences CX in restaurants that do not explicitly prioritize sustainability values.

This review highlights that the attributes of CX, emerging across antecedents and consequences, are primarily by human execution (e.g. Bichler et al., 2021; Song et al., 2019). Technology plays a relatively minor role (e.g. Batat, 2021a; Santiago et al., 2024), even though it is not merely an operational support tool but has become an integral component in the creation of experiential value (e.g. Bonfanti et al., 2025b). It shapes customers’ perceptions of quality, evokes emotional responses, and fosters trust and engagement throughout the customer journey. In doing so, technology directly influences key outcomes such as satisfaction, loyalty, and brand love (e.g. Zaitouni and Murphy, 2025). The results of this review suggest that, compared with other industries, technological integration in restaurants remains underdeveloped. This presents significant opportunities for growth and innovation in enhancing CX.

There is limited understanding about whether human factors have a more substantial impact on overall CS than technological factors, particularly from the consumer’s perspective. Clarifying this distinction could help future research refine experience management frameworks. Moreover, integrating both perspectives could bridge existing knowledge gaps and provide a more balanced understanding of how to optimize CX.

The analysis of theories presented in this SLR reveals a fragmented landscape in CX research within the restaurant industry. Existing studies predominantly focus on traditional business and marketing theories (e.g. Choi et al., 2024; Leung et al., 2022) and overlook a broader perspective that considers the psychological and behavioral dynamics underpinning CX. To address this gap, an interdisciplinary approach integrating psychology and behavioral economics would be essential. This approach would enable a deeper exploration of the cognitive processes that lead to restaurant interactions.

The descriptive analysis in this study reveals a significant methodological imbalance in CX research within the restaurant industry. Of the studies examined, only 14 employed a mixed-methods approach (e.g. Arora, 2012), 101 used quantitative methods (e.g. Choi et al., 2024; Croitoru et al., 2024), and 20 used qualitative methods (e.g. Pasquinelli et al., 2021; Teng, 2011). This disparity underscores the need for future research to embrace more diverse methodological frameworks. Adopting multi-method strategies that integrate empirical rigor with contextual depth would foster a more comprehensive and multidimensional understanding of CX in the restaurant industry.

The findings of this SLR reveal that research on CX in the restaurant industry has considered various dining settings but does not clearly distinguish between different restaurant types. While this approach provides a broad overview, it does not capture the specific aspects of CX across different restaurant formats, such as luxury, traditional, and fast-food establishments.

To refine this perspective, future research could involve the use of a targeted SLR, aimed at mapping the current state of knowledge on CX within each of restaurant typologies. A focused, systematic analysis would enable us to identify and explore key CX themes, including the conceptualization of CX across different restaurant types, and its antecedents and consequences. It would also enable an assessment of similarities and differences. This approach would fill a gap in the literature and offer a structured understanding of CX dynamics across restaurant settings, ultimately informing restaurant strategies.

This study contributes to the scientific debate on CX in restaurants by conducting an SLR of 135 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Its contributions are threefold.

First, it provides an up-to-date overview of publication and citation trends (RQ1). While previous works have examined CX more broadly in hospitality or service contexts, no review has specifically mapped the evolution of CX research in the restaurant sector with such depth and breadth. By offering a descriptive bibliometric analysis, this study fills that gap and documents the increasing scholarly interest in the topic.

Second, the review not only validates the core factors of the dining experience identified in earlier literature but also advances the field by reorganizing them into broader categories of CX antecedents—namely, food experience, experiencescape, and consumer-related profile. Within these, it distinguishes between determinants and attributes. Moreover, it systematically identifies seven key consequences of CX in restaurants—customer perceived value, satisfaction, delight, loyalty, brand love, place attachment, and well-being—and integrates both antecedents and consequences into a conceptual framework structured along the customer journey model (RQ2). This framework offers a more holistic view of how CX is generated and what impact it produces, thereby advancing a process-oriented understanding of CX. The model provides a temporal and sequential structure that explains how customer perceptions evolve across touchpoints. Our framework, which maps dimensions, determinants, and attributes of CX into different stages of the journey, reinforces the applicability of this perspective to the restaurant industry and offers a systematic way of integrating diverse empirical findings.

Third, the study contributes to theory development by uncovering underexplored areas and highlighting emerging research gaps (RQ3). In doing so, it not only synthesizes what is known but also sets an agenda for future studies.

This study proposes several theoretical implications that advance CX studies beyond descriptive consolidation. First, this research contributes to the broader academic debate on CX (e.g. Kandampully et al., 2018; Veloso and Gomez-Suarez, 2023), theorizing CX in a context—the restaurant industry—that has received comparatively limited attention in this domain despite its experiential intensity and complexity (e.g. Ahmed et al., 2023; Bonfanti et al., 2025a) and highlighting specific elements that distinguish this study setting. While previous studies have consistently identified food quality, service quality, and atmosphere as key attributes of CX in restaurants (e.g. Liu et al., 2015), this review advances existing knowledge by expanding these factors and grouping them into three broader categories of antecedents: food experience, experiencescape, and consumer-related profile. This reconceptualization extends the literature beyond fragmented, factor-based explanations and provides a broader, theoretically grounded understanding of CX creation.

Second, this SLR advances CX theory by organizing existing knowledge on CX in the restaurant industry into a comprehensive and integrated framework, connecting the key antecedents and consequences that earlier reviews have examined in isolation (e.g. Le et al., 2019; Luna-Cortés et al., 2022; Ha and Sorokina, 2023; Zanetta et al., 2024). It offers a holistic understanding of how restaurants create CX and the impact it generates by adopting the antecedents-and-consequences framework, commonly used in service management research (e.g. Stange et al., 2025) and provides a foundation for developing theory-driven hypotheses on the mechanisms linking CX creation to its consequences.

Third, this study extends the customer journey perspective proposed by Zomerdijk and Voss (2011), by highlighting its explanatory value in the restaurant context. By positioning the main antecedents and consequences of CX along the customer journey, this research advances the application of this model to the restaurant industry, showing how the framework advances the customer journey model from a descriptive mapping tool to a theory-informed lens that captures how various factors shape CX across distinct touchpoints. Using this conceptual tool, scholars can theorize CX as a dynamic process, thereby supporting future empirical investigations.

Finally, this research addresses existing gaps in the literature and proposes a future research agenda that includes diverse theoretical perspectives. Precisely, the integrative framework developed in this study opens new avenues for theory development by explicitly linking restaurant CX research to central theoretical models in service research. The identification of experiential stimuli, customer responses, and outcomes provides a platform for hypothesis development grounded in SOR logic, while the emphasis on interaction and co-creation aligns with SDL (Lusch and Vargo, 2014) to further advance the theory-driven research on CX in the restaurant industry.

From the proposed conceptual framework, several practical implications emerge for restaurant managers, experience designers, and policymakers. From a managerial standpoint, an enhanced food experience can be used as a strategic lever that can influence CPV, CS, and brand love. Restaurateurs should develop menus with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, prepared using techniques that optimize flavor and texture. These offerings should address the preferences of food- and health-conscious consumers and be supported by transparent, flexible pricing to improve CPV and broaden appeal. This approach can be reinforced through staff culinary training, segmented menus by dietary preference (e.g. plant-based, low-carb, allergen-free), and optional “chef’s journey” tasting menus that deepen the experiential dimension and foster emotional engagement.

Regarding the experiencescape, physical environments should stimulate the senses and foster emotional engagement through warm lighting, minimalist décor, and open kitchens. These features should be paired with a personalized service atmosphere and digital touchpoints, such as tablet menus, discreet server call functions, or mobile ordering platforms, that enhance convenience, interaction, and personalization. To further enhance sensory and emotional engagement, restaurateurs might use dynamic ambience systems that adjust lighting, music, and scent to match the tempo and mood of each dining stage. Incorporating storytelling, regional design elements, and local artistic expressions can deepen emotional resonance, reinforcing brand love and place attachment.

Tailoring experiences to diverse customer profiles is also essential. Understanding demographic and psychographic traits enables better alignment with customer needs—for example, creating quiet zones for older guests or offering vegan or low-calorie options—initiatives supported by customer personas or purchase data analysis to enable effective personalization. Some restaurants could also implement adaptive menus that adjust suggestions by time of day, customer profile, or even weather—offering lighter meals on hot days or comforting dishes in colder evenings—to enhance CPV.

Emotional elements are key to exceeding expectations and fostering CD. Thoughtful gestures, such as a complimentary birthday dessert or remembering a customer’s preferences, can be effective. Restaurants might also introduce unexpected “rituals” during the meal—like a warm towel before dessert or a mini-sorbet—to surprise and emotionally uplift guests. Well-being can be supported through calming atmospheres, additive-free dishes, and clear nutrition or allergen labeling. CS is likely to increase when service quality, food freshness, and value-for-money are consistently delivered and perceived as fair. Finally, CL can be strengthened through coherent brand storytelling across channels and personalized loyalty programs offering emotionally meaningful rewards, thereby increasing visit frequency, positive word-of-mouth, and long-term revenue—reinforcing the commercial value of CX investments.

For experience and service designers, the findings reinforce the importance of experiencescape as an antecedent of CX outcomes. Emotionally engaging, multisensory environments, achieved through thoughtful use of space, lighting, sound, and décor, can enhance both CS and CD. These should be supported by technological innovations such as augmented menus or interactive interfaces that enable convenience and immersion. Designers can leverage these insights to integrate adaptive technologies and participatory features, such as letting guests choose background music or add messages to a communal digital wall, boosting engagement and memorability.

Inclusive design also plays a growing role in delivering CPV to a diverse clientele. Step-free access, braille menus, and sound-dampened areas contribute to personalization and accessibility. Designers might also incorporate tactile cues into tables or menus, helping visually impaired guests navigate the experience with greater autonomy and dignity. The limited research on emerging restaurant formats highlights the need to adapt CX strategies to digital and hybrid spaces, including virtual venues or those that use robots. This opens opportunities to prototype hybrid interfaces that blend physical and virtual CX layers.

Finally, from a policymakers’ perspective, this study provides insights into how CX-oriented practices can support public goals. Policies that encourage additive-free meals, transparent nutrition labeling, and eco-responsible sourcing contribute to well-being and sustainability. Promoting inclusive employment and training programs focused on emotional and service skills can also enhance CX and social equity. Public institutions can leverage these insights to shape quality certifications, refine hospitality training programs, or incentivize accessibility innovations, extending the societal impact of CX enhancements beyond individual establishments.

This study has two fundamental limitations. Although the inclusion criteria adopted for this SLR were aligned with international standards and widely accepted scientific practices, it is possible that relevant publications may not be indexed in Scopus or WoS, resulting in incomplete literature coverage. This study also made subjective selections based on the relevance of the articles to the purpose of this research. Additionally, although this SLR has followed a rigorous and transparent approach, the human judgment required to select studies for the final dataset has inevitably introduced elements of subjectivity. Future resesarch could address this issue by incorporating multiple measures to ensure intersubjective verifiability and replicability.

The supplementary material for this article can be found online.