1. Salty snacks at the bar Those complimentary   pretzels and peanuts weren't set in front of you as a kind gesture. They're   there so you'll order more drinks. Salty snacks make you thirsty. End of story.

2. Menu design Our eyes have a natural tendency   to look at the right side of the menu first, so restaurants usually list their   most expensive dishes in that area. Some restaurants put their most expensive   items at the top of the menu, so other items look more reasonably priced. Shaded   boxes and borders around menu items also attract hungry patrons and can increase   sales.

3. Lack of dollar signs Have you noticed that   more restaurants are listing prices without dollar signs? That's no coincidence.   In a Cornell University study, guests given a menu with only numbers and no   dollar signs spent significantly more than those who received a menu with prices   either showing dollar signs or written out in words.

4. Flowery descriptions Which sounds better: "Classic   Burger" or "Tavern-Style Burger with Frizzled Onions and Smoky Barbecue   Sauce"? According to a six-week field experiment by Cornell (.pdf file),   menus that had descriptive or creative food descriptions, rather than items   with simple names, increased sales by 27%. To add insult to injury, scrumptiously   described dishes often cost more.

5. Extremely friendly servers Customers leave   higher tips when their servers personally introduce themselves, crouch beside   the table, or ask about your day.

6. The upsell The servers who grip your wallet   with their charisma also pull you in with the classic upsell, and they're very   good at it.

7. Music Classical music makes you spend. According   to the Daily Mail, University of Leicester researchers found that classical   music, associated with affluence, encouraged spending at restaurants, while   a lack of music caused diners to spend drastically less.