When designing the restaurant, the first thing you need to consider is how you are dividing up the space. Your restaurant is going to have different areas, i.e. the cooking space, the storage area, cash counters, reception/cash counter, waiting area and the dining room. Your cooking space is not going to be visible to your customer but in contemporary food business, there is an increasing trend of creating open kitchens to show the
customers food is with full hygienic standards. You need to create a floor plan for an effective design. If you decide on decorations of your restaurant without a floor plan, you will not be able to effectively design your restaurant. While designing your floor plan, you will also need to keep in mind the intended operations of your restaurant. The operations of your restaurant include your menu, the potential number of your customers, spacing during busy hours, spacing during non-busy hours, areas needed for cooking, areas needed for storage, and areas
needed for other operational functions such as dishwashing and disposing of waste. Your preparation/cooking area and your dining area will take up the most space of your floor and once you have decided on the space you will need
to decide…
The Theme of your Restaurant
When marketing your restaurant, you will be using pictures and to attract customers, you will need to show case an attractive aura of your restaurant. So, it is important to decide on the theme of your restaurant before you start decorating. Your theme could be anything, it could be relevant to your food, you could decide a modern style, and you could decide to pick up an ethnic theme. The only thing limiting you would be your imagination, once you have decided on the theme you can start decorating your…
Dining Area
The key to decorating your dining area is that your customers need to be comfortable. In contemporary environment, you might have seen a lot of new restaurants opening on the themes of movies, i.e. Harry Potter themed restaurant, a Game of Thrones themed restaurant and those restaurants create a hype even before they open because they are based on favorite shows and movies of customers. Their dining area has decorations that would remind customers of the movies or make them feel like they are sitting in a place from their favorite show or movie. However, your restaurant or café does not need to necessarily follow a movie theme to be successful. You can choose any style you like, but the key is to have a comfortable sitting area that makes your customers want to spend more time in the restaurant and help them relax and enjoy their food. So, it is an innovative idea to use cushioned chairs or couches unless your theme dictates otherwise. If your theme dictates otherwise, you can still make the seating area comfortable by creating a pleasant atmosphere. Your dining area should not be clustered and when seating is arranged, you need to keep in mind that privacy of customers is respected and in crowded times, your customers do not feel overwhelmed. Once you have decided on the theme and seating plan of your dining area, then you can move on to…
Waiting Room
You may or may not have a waiting room depending on the size of your restaurant, but generally it is recommended to have a waiting area in your restaurant. Your waiting area is also the first impression of your restaurant
and you should make it comfortable and should be aligned to your theme.
Production Area
A common mistake that restaurant owners make is not paying enough attention to the production area of the restaurant. The production area includes the kitchen, storage space and any other space that is not visible
to the customers but is vital to restaurant operations. However, it is important to design the production area as well to keep it organized and jeep the operations smooth. If the production area is clustered and not well-organized, then your operations cannot run smoothly. If your production area is not organized, then during rush hours you might not be able to serve customers effectively and on time. The key to decorating your restaurant is to first divide it into proper space and then decide on the theme of your restaurant and then align all decorations with your theme and make your restaurant as comfortable and as amicable you can.
Restaurant Music
Silence is definitely not golden in most restaurants. Music will set the tone in a restaurant just as much as the style of the menu or the artwork on the walls. Avoid CDs that are repetitious, for the sake of your staff, which has to listen to it over and over again. Radio is an inexpensive option for casual dining establishments, but non-commercial channels, like MUSAK is preferable. Live entertainment, which can be expensive, adds a definite
sense of ambience. A good musician or group can draw in crowds better than any dinner special. Many restaurants feature live music on weekends or certain nights of the week.
Restaurant Heating and Ventilation
An important (and expensive) consideration for any restaurant, either new or existing, is heating and cooling. Restaurant kitchens put out a lot of heat and smells and smoke. Make sure that your commercial range has proper ventilation, with the right kind of hood and fans. Proper air conditioning is also essential to any
restaurant design. Nothing will turn patrons away faster than a non-air conditioned dining room in the middle of a summer heat wave. It may be tempting to skimp in this area, but in the end poor ventilation and air conditioning can cost you a lot more in lost sales.
Restaurant Restrooms
Design and ambience carry through to restaurant restrooms. Restrooms should be checked at least once at the start of every shift (preferably more often if it is busy). A hostess or bus person can be assigned the task of refilling paper products and taking out the trash.