As a restaurant owner, it’s easy to forget about the basics sometimes when you’re trying to find new and exciting ways to promote your establishment. One of the core fundamentals of your restaurant is the brand, and that starts with the interior design.
It’s important to regularly consider your restaurant design as it affects everything from ambiance and mood to the overall guest experience. Implementing these tips can help you to attract customers and keep them coming back.
Why Your Restaurant's Interior Is Essential for Success
The appeal of your restaurant from the outside can help drive traffic through the door, but if the experience inside is disappointing, your customers won't come back to spend more time in your establishment. On top of that, people could tell their friends or even share photos on social media of what the restaurant looks like. If it looks old and tired, or worse, dirty, it could put off potential customers.
Creating a coherent and beautiful design can definitely make the difference, and there are many ways to improve the interior of your restaurant.
Choose A Specific Theme
A theme for your restaurant can help provide the image you’re looking for and this will often be apparent from the type of cuisine you serve. For instance, seafood restaurants will often go for a nautical theme while taco places will go desert themed.
If this isn’t clear from your type of food, it may still be a good idea to opt for a theme to make your restaurant memorable and get people talking. Luxurious furniture or art can complement a fine-dining menu, whereas a few well-placed arcade games can flesh out an all-hours diner.
Pick the Color Palette
Colors can marry with the theme of your restaurant and even the type of cuisine you serve. Color psychology is fascinating once you delve into it. For instance, did you know that it is thought that red makes people hungry? Think about it, if you consider the logos and interior solutions of many successful chain restaurants, you almost always find some red.
Going back to the idea of sticking to themes, let’s consider the seafood restaurant again. Colors like whites and blues are likely to form a big part of the design to get people into the mood for that type of cuisine.
Commercial Kitchen Layout Tips
Key to a restaurant’s success is the kitchen running smoothly and being conducive to beautiful food. Having a nice design and well-planned kitchen will make the service go smooth and ensure your restaurant can perform to its optimal level.
There are companies that spend a lot of time perfecting their kitchen layout to increase their employee productivity. A few key points to consider:
- Make sure you have specific workstations for different areas and roles such as food prep and washing.
- Make it easy for those who need to communicate with each other.
- Ensure there is a clear area for servers to collect food and communicate.
- Make sanitation easy no matter what part of the kitchen your employees are working in.
- Consider health and safety laws so that your staff members are protected.
Usually the contracting professionals you work with will help with the best practices on choosing the right layout and materials for your restaurant's kitchen.
Don't Forget the Bathroom Design
People still want a positive experience, even when visiting the bathroom. The bathroom can’t necessarily make a positive experience at a restaurant but it certainly can ruin one.
A bathroom that is poorly designed, ugly and run-down may also give people the impression that your restaurant is unclean, which is a surefire way to stop customers from coming back and enjoying your food again.
Many establishments are guilty of ignoring the bathroom because it isn’t the most glamorous aspect of restaurant design, so make sure you don’t fall into the trap. Even if you don’t opt for a world-changing design or layout, at least make sure the floor is clean, soap dispenser is full and that all the lights are working properly.
Consider Lighting Solutions
Speaking of the lights, a lot of your visitors are probably going to come in the evening to enjoy your restaurant. If the area looks poorly lit then you can experience all sorts of health and safety problems as well as looking more like a dungeon than a restaurant.
Fortunately, there are many ways to make a restaurant look warm and homely while still being bright and spacious. Many people opt for lights that create a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.
You should also consider whether you want to go for something more traditional or more modern. In some restaurants, a beautiful candlelight style might be amazing, in modern restaurants it simply may not work.
Your restaurant design can be one of the most important factors in whether a business succeeds or struggles. Make sure you don’t ignore some of the “easy wins” of restaurant design.
About the Author
Gary Braun is a content marketing expert and freelance writer. He is a DIY enthusiast who enjoys sharing practical home improvement ideas and valuable tips for completing successful DIY makeovers, with a great deal of experience of writing about residential and industrial design projects.
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