How to create a functional restaurant layout?

Have you been dreaming of opening your neighbourhood’s hip new burger joint? What about a classy corner spot that offers the perfect wine pairing with every item on the menu? If you’re ready to make your dreams of opening a restaurant a reality, we can help!

Opening a restaurant requires a lot of strategic planning and the interior design of your new space is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to consider. But committing to a floorplan for a new restaurant can be daunting. As experts in the psychology of restaurant interior design, our designers at Sansa Interiors can walk you through the process and help to design the restaurant of your dreams.

 There are many factors that need to be considered such as your budget, timeline, location and, perhaps most importantly – the floor plan!

The importance of a functional restaurant floor plan:

While customers may not notice it, the configuration of your restaurant and the relationship between seating, bar and kitchen can make a huge difference. For staff, these decisions mean the difference between a seamless service and getting trapped in unnecessary bottlenecks that can impact your diners experience, too.

A well-designed restaurant floor plan can increase profit margins by enabling servers to move between the front and back of house faster, serve customers more efficiently and turn-tables more quickly.

A functional floor plan might just be your restaurants most important tool for daily operations and its worth taking the time to create a great one.

 In this article, we share a few key considerations to help you feel confident in your restaurant’s layout and design:

Concept is King: Step one to designing your restaurant is to decide on the vibe and atmosphere you are hoping to achieve and build your concept from that. Your restaurant interior design is the tangible expression of your brand identity – and must be cohesive. 

The first thing a good interior designer will do when beginning to plan your restaurant is to have extensive conversations with you to understand your objectives for the look and feel and understand the kind of image and experience you envision for your customers.

Asking questions like, what do you want your customers to do at your restaurant and how do you want them to engage in your space will help to lay the foundation needed to create a strong brand story and identity for your restaurant. And it’s important for these questions to be firmly answered before planning can truly begin.

The vibe you’re going for will also have an impact on the type of service model you choose, and how you want your customers to be seated. Will customers order at a counter and have items brought to them? Will they order at the counter and pick up food in another area? Or will servers seat your customers, take their orders and deliver their food? The answers to these questions will have serious implications for both layout and style. 

Typically, a restaurant’s dining area, bar, restrooms and waiting area take up approximately 60% of its total square footage, with the remaining 40% reserved for the kitchen. That means there’s tons of space to play with the look, feel, colours, textures, lighting and wall treatments that will bring your restaurant to life.

Don’t Forget about Function: Front-of-house is only half the fun. What’s most important is that your kitchen functions efficiently. Working with an interior designer that has specific experience in restaurant design will mean that they understand both the back and front of house – and how the two work together! 

They’ll also understand that every restaurant is unique and will require its own considerations for a functional layout – from the way the kitchen is designed and organized, to the flow of guests within the space, to when, where and how staff receive orders and input them into the point-of-sale system. Ideally, these functions work together in a well-coordinated dance of staff and customers, and no one is getting in each other’s way.

Kitchen layouts and sizes also vary depending on the type of food being prepared and the volume of business. Open kitchens – where your customers can see what the chef is preparing as a form of entertainment – have become more popular in recent years. It also has serious implications for your kitchen layout.

Planning the kitchen is the most important part of your design, and we recommend nailing your kitchen plans before tackling the overall floor plan of the space. This will allow you to have more flexibility as you tailor the equipment to your service.

Remember Spacing: In addition to the comfort of your diners and ease of movement for your staff, don’t forget about AODA accessibility requirements, as well as building codes and regulations, to ensure you’re creating a welcoming – and safe - space for everyone.  

An experienced interior designer can help to ensure that your plans meet your local building codes regulations and construction will receive a stamp of approval from the building code inspector come inspection time.

 For those with mobility issues, making sure that workspaces and dining areas are accessible is important, too. For every type of seating you provide in your restaurant, you must provide options for both ambulatory people and those with limited mobility. A good example of this is providing a section of the bar that is set up to meet those accessibility guidelines.

In addition to dining and workspace areas, ensuring your restrooms also meet accessibility standards is a must. This includes the correct number of accessible stalls, adequate clearance for wheelchair turnarounds, and sinks and hand-drying stations installed at the appropriate – and legal – heights.

A designer who is well-versed in restaurant interior design will know the ins and outs of the building code and will make sure all the t’s are crossed and I’s are dotted on your designs before construction begins – potentially saving headaches down the line.

Acoustics: Don’t let poorly planned acoustics prevent your diners from returning again and again. We’ve all been in a restaurant that’s too noisy: It interferes with your meal and can leave a sour taste in your mouth.

An interior designer can help you choose the finishes, fixtures, furniture, and drapery that will ensure your restaurant functions at its full potential.

We know that sound travels in waves, and when sound waves are reflected back into a space from a flat surface, it causes that echoing and distracting background noise. In a restaurant, that reverberation is what causes the noisy hum of voices that some diners – particularly those who are hard of hearing – find distracting. Softening those acoustics and dampening that reverberation is what will give you the lively, pleasant atmosphere you’re looking for.

To optimize the sound within your restaurant, your designer would start by looking for any large, flat, hard surfaces, like large glass windows, tiled floors or large walls, then tackle each of them using some of the suggestions below:

o   Flooring: Consider laying down rugs or carpets to prevent too much noise from becoming a problem in your space. The soft and textured surface of a carpet will absorb some of that bouncing sound.

o   Windows: Consider installing fabric curtains, even if they’re left open. Curtains will trap sound waves and help to muffle noise.

o   Walls: When installing pictures on your walls, set them a few centimeters off the surface to create extra space to grab any reverberating sound waves. For added sound-dampening effect, you can also choose to fill that space with foam. Wallpaper or wooden accents will also help to reduce noise, especially if they’re heavily textured.

o   Seating: Opting for upholstered seating in a restaurant will also break up sound waves and improve overall acoustics. Again, the thicker the texture, the more effective it will be at absorbing noise!

Final thoughts: How to create a functional restaurant layout

While our list above certainly wasn’t comprehensive, we hope it gets your creative juices flowing as you imagine what your dream restaurant could look like.

Don’t forget: form and function are equally important for both your staff and customers; ensure your space is safe and accessible for everyone; and don’t let too much background noise distract your diners from their delicious meals.

Ready to take the plunge and get your project out of the clouds and down onto paper? Let an experienced interior designer help! We’re well-versed in the psychology of restaurant interior design and can create a design that marries the form, function and customer experience you’re dreaming of.

Article by Laura Zarnke, Writer and Content Strategist.

Looking for an Interior Designer in Toronto?

We can help! Our team specializes in complete architectural interior design services for full house renovations and restaurant interior design. Our team serves downtown Toronto, Etobicoke, Mississauga, and the rest of the Greater Toronto Area. Contact us via our website to book a consultation and to find out more about how we can help you to create a unique and trendy space you’ll love.