Want to understand behavior design? Start with the world’s best restaurant

The world’s top eatery may seem an unlikely classroom for behavior design, but Maido in Lima, Peru (recently crowned The World’s Best Restaurant 2025) offers some rich and tasty (sorry) lessons. Maido’s multi-course Nikkei tasting menu, “blending meticulous Japanese technique with vibrant Peruvian ingredients”,  is built on seasonality, narrative and sensory surprise. Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura himself says “making people happy has always been what I’ve loved doing”. In other words, Maido’s entire operation is crafted to shape diners’ actions and emotions. Let’s unpack how Maido’s approach exemplifies core behavior-design principles, and how hospitality guru Will Guidara’s advice from when he was at Eleven Madison Park (told brilliantly in his book ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’) boils over with these ideas (last food pun, I promise).

Maido’s design cues: Welcoming, novel, and fun

From the moment you arrive, Maido primes guests for a special experience. The staff greet every diner with a hearty “¡Maido!” (a Japanese phrase meaning “welcome”) immediately signalling warmth. In fact, Maido is named after this greeting (it’s literally the first word you hear inside). This simple cue focuses attention and instantly shifts your mindset: you’re not just entering a restaurant, you’re joining a community. The dining room’s minimalist look, punctuated by a surreal, multicolored rope “forest” on the ceiling, grabs your senses. That visual novelty acts like a trigger or hook, making you curious and primed for a one-of-a-kind meal. In behavior-design terms, these cues remove friction and heighten motivation to engage.

Maido

Behind these design choices is an emphasis on playfulness over formality. Tsumura says “Maido is about having fun... it’s everything outside of a formal restaurant”. By removing stiff rules (no dress code or hushed silence), Maido lowers social barriers: guests relax, chat, and participate. There’s even a casual sushi counter alongside the fancy tasting menu (many diners mix and match high-end courses with simple nigiri, enjoying them like a regular everyday Japanese restaurant). This “democratization” makes world-class food feel accessible, so more people will take the plunge. In behavior terms, Maido has removed the fear of “doing it wrong”, instead, every patron feels free to be themselves and explore.

And now for the food itself: Maido’s tasting menu is essentially a story-driven journey. It unfolds over 10–15 courses that read like chapters in a novel. Early amuse-bouches (think yuzu-lemon-perfumed “leche de tigre pearls” or blue potato spheres) ignite curiosity, serving as onboarding that hooks you in. Each subsequent dish brings new surprises (Amazonian chorizo in a ramen, anyone? A wagyu-sushi mashup? Uni on quinoa tempura?), blending cultures and textures in unexpected ways. These surprises act like rewards: you never know what’s next, so you stay engaged throughout the meal. As one travel writer noted, Maido’s creations are “expressions of identity, history, and innovation, designed to surprise, delight, and provoke wonder”. In other words, each plate is a carefully designed trigger that yields emotional payoff.

Maido: Lima, Peru

Behind the scenes, the restaurant changes elements every season. Maido sources rare Andean and Amazonian ingredients (like paiche fish or cassava-infused foams), weaving Peru’s terroir into its narrative. This local grounding builds authenticity and an educational journey for the guest: nother powerful behavior cue. “Each dish is a story told through Peruvian ingredients and Japanese craftsmanship,” explains a Maido review. This storytelling approach makes guests invest mentally: they’re following along, following the tale of Peru on their plate. And when diners internalize a story, they’re far more likely to remember it and share it with others, a key goal of any good design, or restaurant for that matter.

Beyond sights and tastes, Maido’s service design is all about connection. Tsumura sees cooking “the most beautiful act of love”, and he expects his team to mirror that passion. Staff explain each dish’s origin and chat with guests, making people feel valued. This echoes what restaurateur Will Guidara calls “unreasonable hospitality.” Guidara, who guided Eleven Madison Park to becoming the world’s #1 restaurant in 207, says the single most important element is making people feel taken care of and like they belong. He writes that if a restaurant focuses “passionately, intentionally, wholeheartedly on connection and graciousness, on giving...the people we served a sense of belonging… then we’d have a real shot at greatness”.

Maido mirrors that philosophy. The welcoming greeting (“¡Maido!”), the friendly explanations, and the willingness to adapt (offering both fine-dining and casual a la carte options) all convey: we see you as a person, not just a table. This is behavior design in action: treating guests as individuals (Guidara calls this “one size fits one”) triggers trust and comfort. When people feel cared for, they relax and engage deeply with the experience. In practice, this means diners are more likely to try new dishes, ask questions, and build positive memories of Maido…exactly the reactions behavior design seeks to produce.

Maido

Tactical lessons: What to copy from Maido (and Guidara)

Set powerful triggers: Have a signature cue or ritual. Maido’s very name is its cue: hearing “¡Maido!” at the door signals “this is special,” which immediately captures attention. In your own work, ask: what is the first thing your customers encounter, and how can it trigger the desired mindset?

Craft a narrative flow: A great experience has a clear progression. Maido’s menu is an “orchestrated performance”, with each course building on the last. Early amuse-bouches spark curiosity, middle courses deepen interest, and sweet finales leave a lasting memory. This is like structuring a user journey: design easy wins early, then progressively richer rewards. Each stage should feel purposeful. Maido’s courses “feel like chapters in an epic novel” so participants stay engaged to the end.

Use novelty and surprises: Behavior design thrives on variable rewards. Maido keeps diners guessing: a sprinkle of unexpected Amazonian fruit here, a playful transformation of a classic dish there. These novelty cues keep the brain's reward system guessing and returning for more. (Guidara makes this concrete with his “5%” rule: he manages 95% of operations tightly, then freely spends the last 5% on extraordinary gestures that become unforgettable memories.)

Embed culture and authenticity: Maido’s dishes taste amazing AND teach you about Peru’s identity. This deepens satisfaction and builds loyalty. Similarly, Guidara emphasizes tailoring experiences to each individual, knowing their background or story, to make them feel special. In design terms, inject elements that resonate with your audience’s identity or values. Maido does this by telling Peru’s story through food; you might do it by customizing content, language, or context in your product so users feel “this was made for me.”

These tactics all come down to one insight: people crave care and surprise. Maido’s focus on love (literally “cooking for someone is love”) and fun guarantees that diners aren’t passive observers, but delighted participants. The result is habitual behavior: guests talk about it, post photos, book return visits. Guidara puts it plainly: guests want to be part of something bigger than a meal, and Maido delivers on that by making every dish an invitation to belong.

Final Course (I know, I lied about the puns): Apply restaurant wisdom to your world

High-end restaurants and product marketing might seem worlds apart. But Maido proves the principles are the same. Its chefs and staff are master designers of behavior, laying out an environment and service flow that prompts exactly the experiences they want: wonder, satisfaction, connection. As Guidara shows, success comes from connection,  graciousness, and being intentional about every (every) detail.

So if you want to understand behavior design, don’t just study apps or ad campaigns. Study your favorite restaurant or experience. Pay attention to the first bit of engagement, from each playful course, to how others in the room are reacting. You’ll see a choreography of cues that moves people to delight. And remember, at its heart, behavior design is human design. Like the world’s best restaurant, your goal is not to just change actions, but to make people feel cared for and like you are doing THEM a favor. When you get that right, the rest follows naturally.