Restaurants have seldom been the subject of theory-driven empirical research. Moreover, extant literature has generally focused on food and service quality issues, ignoring décor as a key influencing factor in restaurant performance. Hence, we have much data on restaurants but limited useful understanding of restaurant décor. This study addresses the gap by examining décor of restaurants from an evolutionary theoretic and classical economics perspective. Age and competitive intensity are introduced as the predictor variables affecting the décor of restaurants. OLS regression analysis of 243 Italian restaurants in Manhattan finds that age and competitive intensity are negatively associated with décor, and competitive intensity exacerbates the extant negative association between age and décor.
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