How to Create a Restaurant Floor Plan

Having a successful restaurant isn't just about serving great food or having a friendly staff, it's also about creating the kind of ambiance that will make your guests feel relaxed and your employees feel productive and safe. If you have the luxury of designing a new eatery, here's what you need to know about where to place all of the basic elements and achieve the perfect balance of accessibility, efficiency and privacy.

Instructions

1

Identify the genre and theme of the restaurant. Perhaps it's a place where brokers will meet to seal important business deals over lunch. Maybe it's a family friendly venue where the servers are dressed as pirates. Another option would be to set the stage for a romantic evening with a posh bar, cozy booths and a platform for a smooth jazz combo. Maybe an Internet cafe is more to your taste with funky furniture, a pastry/muffin counter and 42 kinds of lattes. Dinner theater calls for yet another concept--either a runway motif with dining set up on either side or "classroom" style with banquet tables that all face the stage.

2

Determine who your prospective clientele will be and the type of seating. If you're going to be catering to romantics, you'll want to have smaller tables and booths as opposed to family gatherings where you'll not only want to be able to put tables together but also be able to segregate a noisier gathering from those who want to enjoy a quiet meal. If business meetings are going to be conducted, you'll want to have larger tables, a certain level of privacy and good lighting. If you plan to attract breakfast/lunch patrons, you might want to build the seating around couches, overstuffed chairs and counter space where they can comfortably type on laptops but also engage in conversations with those seated nearby.

3

Consider the overall color scheme. Family oriented restaurants, for example, go for lighter, brighter colors than evening venues for couples. The latter settings tend to gravitate toward deep greens, reds, blues and lots of dark woods. If your restaurant's focus is going to be on ethnic cuisine, the colors and furnishings will probably reflect the ambiance one would find if they were actually dining in Barcelona, Paris and Germany. The URL's at the end of this article can supplement your research of checking out the neighborhood competition and getting creative ideas.

4

Decide how many patrons you want to be able to accommodate. This number, including employees, must be in compliance with state regulations enforced by the Fire Marshal as an issue of health and safety. While no one minds if a bar has a crowded feel to it, no one wants to get repeatedly poked by someone's elbow while they're trying to enjoy their meal. Nor should the dining room be so loud that it's impossible to carry on a normal conversation. Restaurant experts recommend that you allow 10 to 12 square feet of personal space per person.

5

Start sketching. Using your graph paper and pencil, allocate 1/8 of your total space to the hostess station/reception area, 1/8 to the restrooms, 1/2 to the dining area and 1/4 to the kitchen. The reception area will obviously be in the front; you may or may not decide to have the restrooms located nearby so that patrons can make a note of the location when they first enter the premises. Otherwise, position the restrooms toward the back of the restaurant. Where you decide to place your kitchen depends on whether the production aspects of the food constitute a "performance" or are best kept under wraps. Many a successful restaurant has placed its cooking area center-stage so that patrons can actually watch their food being prepared either behind a glass wall or in the middle of the room. Note: if you're not good at drawing, consider purchasing an architectural design software program that will enable you to move walls, do different paint schemes and rearrange furniture without having to invest a cent.

6

Consider the traffic patterns. You want to make it easy enough for your servers to pick up orders and deliver them to tables but not to have to dodge patrons going to and from the restrooms. Likewise, you want your patrons to have a pleasant view. This means that no one should be seated directly facing the restroom doors or a parking lot. Another consideration is whether your restaurant is a place that people want to be seen or prefer to be discreet. If it's the former, you'll want to employ lots of open space. If it's the latter, you might want to experiment with angular walls or small rooms that can be closed off with curtains or rice paper sliding screens.

7

Take into consideration where sunrise and sunset will transpire relative to your new restaurant. If your restaurant will be serving breakfast, you'll want the windows to be facing east. If your primary clientele will be people having late lunches and dinners, you'll want to have your windows facing the west. Take particular note of where the sun is going to be during the middle of the day. You won't want your customers to feel green-housed or to bake under a skylight that would otherwise be an attractive feature. If they are going to be exposed to a lot of sunlight, consider plantation shutters, screens or blinds that will help filter the light and heat.

8

Take advantage of a lovely vista by offering outdoor seating on a patio or deck. Incorporate outdoor heaters to take the chill off of cool evenings.