Choosing the right restaurant for a client dinner is important for the outcome of the meeting. A really bad meal will throw a pall over the most fruitful discussion. But the opposite can be true, too: A spectacularly wonderful meal may steal the show and have your client thinking more about the deliciousness of the bouillabaisse than the presentation you are making. Here are some tips for selecting just the right restaurant for a client dinner:

1. Go to a place you’ve been to before. Culinary exploration is fun on one’s own time, but when you pick the setting for a business meal, it’s extremely useful to know what to expect. Even better than going to a restaurant you know, is going to a restaurant that knows you. Getting a warm greeting from the staff is a great way to suggest that you are a take-charge person and have everything under control.
2. If you are in a strange city and don’t know any of its restaurants first-hand, do some homework. Consult guidebooks, websites and your hotel’s concierge if it has one; talk to trusted associates who know the city’s restaurant scene; call a potential restaurant, and quiz them to make sure it’s the sort of place you want to be.
3. One obvious but often over-looked consideration: Casually ask the client in advance if he or she has any particular food allergy, favorite type of restaurant, or strong like or dislike for any kind of food. You don’t want to walk into a steak house and then find out your dining partner is a vegan.
4. How casual or fancy do you want to be? If you know the person is a serious gourmet, a high-end setting might be just right. On the other hand, maybe your suggestion of a humble, little-known cafe would set the warm, fuzzy tone that helps a certain type of client relax. Ask yourself a question: Is this a situation in which it would be better to impress the client or to put the client at ease? If you know little or nothing about the person with whom you’re eating, take the middle road: A polite restaurant with decent food and a menu with something for everyone.
5. What is your goal at dinner? How important is it that you talk business and make the deal? If it is your one and only meeting and you need to get things done, choose a quiet place conducive to serious conversation. You don’t want singing waiters or a floor show intruding on important talking points! But if dinner is an evening warm-up for more focused business meetings, you might be better off selecting a non-businesslike environment so you can bond with your client. Here, too, the most important considerations are to respect what kind of person your client is and to clearly know what you want to happen at dinner.