Tips for Planning a Restaurant Dining Room and Choosing the Appropriate Seating
The design of a restaurant should be a balance between a welcoming ambience and maximum seating capacity. The look of this may change based on the type of restaurant you plan on opening. For example, diners typically have more seating while fine dining restaurants tend to focus more on the mood. Before buying any furniture, be sure to know exactly how much space will be devoted to restaurant seating. This will dictate the type of seating that needs to be chosen. Restaurant booths, for example, save on space but cannot be moved together to accommodate large parties the way chairs and tables can. In addition, booths may fit well in a family-friendly diner but chairs covered with an elegant fabric would be a better option for a fine dining restaurant. When considering space, be careful of packing too many tables into the dining room. When designing a floor plan, what works on paper may not actually work in reality. A good rule of thumb for placing restaurant tables is to leave a minimum of 24” in between corners of the tables. The goal is to maximize seating without sacrificing a clean flow of foot traffic between the kitchen and the dining room. Keeping this in mind will help you select the right size chairs, tables or booths. Prices for seating can quickly add up, consuming a good portion of your initial start up budget. What to Look For When Buying Restaurant Furniture: When purchasing chairs, look for easy to clean designs. Avoid styles with lots of designs and crevices, they will be harder to wipe down and keep free of crumbs and other debris. If leaning towards chairs or restaurant booths with fabric seats, be sure to have the fabric treated with a stain resister and plan to budget in a professional cleaning at least once or twice a year. What to Skip When Buying Restaurant Furniture: It is important to avoid buying restaurant furniture that is not manufactured to withstand a commercial setting. The main reason restaurant seating can be pricey is that it is designed to hold up to the wear and tear of everyday usage of customers. Restaurant Wait and Host or Hostess Stations: An important part of any well-planned restaurant dining room is the placement of the wait station. A good wait station should be easily accessible to the staff, but invisible to guests. Wait stations should be stocked with coffee, glassware, silverware, napkins, condiments, and all the things that will make serving patrons convenient and efficient. Another option is to make the wait station portable. By having a portable wait station, it can be moved to fit most needs instead of trying to relocate a table into a less desirable area of the dining room. The host or hostess station may be part of the restaurant dining room or adjacent to it. It is usually the first area a customer sees so it should be neat and free of clutter. The actual host or hostess station itself can be as simple as a tall counter or as extravagant as an old roll top desk. In conclusion, since the dining room sets the tone and the ambience, consider the above tips before ordering your chairs, tables or booths. Once the seating is in place according to the original floor plans, sit in every seat. One way to spot problem areas before opening day is to sit in every single chair in the dining room to study the view from each seat. One may have a direct view into the kitchen while another gets a draft from the front door, both undesirable locations. Experiencing each seat first allows changes to be made before the customers begin to complain. It is always best to stay one step ahead of both the competition and the customers!
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