Space requirement restaurant and RESTAURANT THEME

Space requirement restaurant and RESTAURANT THEME

Space requirement

When creating a thriving restaurant business, planning the interior space to accommodate more customers and manage traffic is absolutely essential. It's important to consider the flow of traffic. People exit and enter through doors -- such as going to and from the bathroom, wandering in and out of the bar and walking back and forth from the kitchen -- so find a balance between all the movement and the seating comfort of your guests

1. Determine your space and design requirements. Typically, the dining room will take up the majority of space, followed by the kitchen and the prep and storage space. Facility experts in the restaurant industry recommend the following space allotments: 40 percent to 60 percent of the total space reserved for the dining room; 30 percent used for the kitchen; and 10 percent can be used for food preparation and cooking, dish washing, trash, receiving, storage and administrative activities.

2. You can figure how much dining space you'll need by calculating how many people you need to fit at a time. For instance, if you expect to be open seven days a week, and you serve approximately 1,200 people per week and turn your tables once a night, use this formula: The number of people served per week divided by the number of days opened per week equals the number of people served per day (1,200÷7=171.43 people per day).

3. Divide the number of people served per day by your number of table turns (171.43÷2=85.72 or 86 people). This yields the number of people you need to accommodate at a time. You then multiply that number by 15 to 18 feet, the amount recommended by restaurant facility experts, to determine a space requirement of 1300 to 1600 feet for the dining room.

4. Reserve about 2 square feet for bar stools and chairs, and 10 to 12 square feet per customer at a table, if the restaurant has a bar.

Primary Space Planning

In primary space planning, the general rule of thumb for determining for determining the area allotted is that the dining area should comprise of most of total area and the kitchen, storage and preparation area should take up the remaining the space. These dimensions will have to be adjusted if you plan on having a waiting area or a bar, but those should be the approximate percentages for the total area.

·Dining Room:  60% of Total Area

·Kitchen, Cooking, Storage, Preparation, etc:  40% of Total Area

Designing your seating plan will depend on what type of restaurant you plan to open. It’s important to remember that banquet seating may use as little as 10 square feet per person, while fine dining may require 20 square feet per person. It is common for most restaurants or coffee shops with that have a general menu to average about 15 square feet per person. This is taking into account space needed for traffic aisles, wait stations, cashier, etc.

Example: A space of 5000 square feet

·200 seats

·‏ 60% Dining Area  =  3000 square feet

·‏ 40% Kitchen  =  2000 square fee

The general seating guidelines that should be observed are:

Fine Dining: 18 – 20 Square Feet

Full Service  Restaurant Dining: 12 – 15 Square Feet

Counter Service: 18 – 20 Square Feet

Fast Food Minimum: 11 – 14 Square Feet

Table Service, Hotel/Club:  15 – 18 Square Feet

‏Banquet, Minimum: 10 – 11 Square Feet

For safety reasons and to allow for the free flow of traffic for diners and servers, the traffic path between occupied chairs should be at least 18 inches wide and you should leave at least 4 – 5 feet per table, including chair space. This allows for free movement of servers between stations and the kitchen and provides enough comfortable room for the guests to move around. It is very important for safety reasons that there is enough space for the guest and staff to move around and that the aisles are clear, especially in case there is a fire.

Determining the area for the wait stations should also be taken into account when designing your floor plans. One small station should take up 6 – 10 square feet, sufficient for 20 diners. One large central station should be anywhere from 25 – 40 square feet. This would be sufficient for 60 diners.

If your restaurant will have a bar, in determining the length you should allow for 1 foot 8 inches to 1 foot 10 inches per person for standing room only. If you are going to have seating at the bar, there should be a distance of 2 feet between bar stools.

Here are some general furniture guidelines to assist you in determining the ideal height of the tables and seating you will need to buy.

Furniture Guidelines:

Table Height:  29″ – 30″

Bar Height  30″ – 36″ – 42″

Seat Height  17″ – 18″

Bar Stool Height 29″ – 30″

Restaurant Theme

A restaurant theme is a blend of food, atmosphere, and service

Be Aware of Your Own Bias

Often when a person decides they want to open a restaurant, they have a pretty good idea of the concept – a steakhouse, a sandwich shop, a coffee house, etc. That’s great because it gives you a place to start. Beware of your personal bias in regards to your restaurant theme. You might firmly believe that your neighborhood is in need of a place to get a good steak and handcrafted beer. But do others agree with you? Even if you don’t care for your local restaurants (which are also your soon-to-be competition) many people do. Look at several restaurants from the point of view of other customers. Maybe you can’t stand the loud music played at the local tavern, but there are many people who enjoy it while they eat dinner. Or perhaps you think there aren’t enough family-friendly restaurants in the area.

Who’s Your Audience?

White collar? Blue Collar? Families? Men? Women? Who do you hope to attract to your restaurant? What appeals to one group of customers may not necessarily appeal to other groups. For example, what might entice families with small children won’t necessarily work for single, white collar office workers looking for a beer and dinner after work. Identifying your restaurant audience will help to further shape your concept. It will determine things like hours of operation, seating capacity, design and décor of the dining room, and menu items and prices. For example, if your audience is families with younger children, you don’t need to be open until midnight or have a full-service sports ba

Find out More About Your Customers

Demographics for your town or city can be found in a variety of places. The US Census offers a profile of your area’s median age, income, household size. Local chambers of commerce and small business bureaus are also good places to find out more about the demographics of an area. The more detailed information you can find out, the better for your restaurant concept. You should also go beyond your local audience, if appropriate.

Is there a tourist trade in your area? Perhaps a ski mountain, beach or other attractions that bring in tourists? If so, are you going to include them in your demographics? All this information will not only help you flesh out your concept, it will strengthen your restaurant business plan

Study the Competition

See who frequents the other restaurants in the area on any given day or night. Do the customers change from lunch to dinner, from a weeknight to the weekend? Once you have decided on a target audience and price range, look at other restaurants with similar price range

Study Food Trends

Food, like fashion, goes through trends and fads. Some menu items are classics and will never go out of style- think burgers and pizza. Other foods fall into trends, such as artisan panini sandwiches, while others are fads, like bottled water. Food magazines such as Bon Appetite and Gourmet and cooking channels like Food Network are a great resource for finding out what’s hot in food right now. Not every trend will fit your restaurant theme, but knowing what is currently popular will help you shape your own restaurant theme

Round Tables
36" Seats 4 People
42" Seats 5 People
48" Seats 5 People
54" Seats 6 People
60" Seats 8 People
72" Seats 10 People Hide Sketch

Rectangle Tables
30" x 72" Seats 6 People
30" x 96" Seats 8 People Hide Sketch