In the preceding article “Consumer research in the restaurant environment, Part 2”, the operationalisation of the theoretical model of dining satisfaction and return patronage (IJCHM, Vol. 11 No. 6), was developed and described. This was preceded by Part 1 (IJCHM, Vol. 11 No. 5), in which a model of dining satisfaction and return patronage was proposed and conceptualised. Based on an extensive review of the relevant consumer behaviour literature, proposed model (Part 1), the development of the research instrument, sampling frame and procedures (Part 2), and the analytical analysis used in the study, this paper is the final contribution to the three‐part series and it reports on the findings of the study. Overall, the encouraging results of this study can be summarised as having provided: a clearer understanding of customers’ dining satisfaction perceptions; a clearer understanding of restaurants attribute performance that determine satisfaction as a consequence of dining experience; and a robust prediction of return as a result of dining satisfaction.