Designing a restaurant can be a challenging and costly project. However, it’s one of the most crucial stages of building a food service business. Restaurant design should be practical but also pleasant and inviting. Designing an eatery properly can be a pivotal step in achieving restaurant success. Nowadays, there are multiple options and solutions to help you create an excellent restaurant design. However, there are still many things to consider throughout the process, such as how to make a diner’s design help your restaurant's marketing efforts. In this post, we’ll explain the main design types for restaurants and share a few tips about restaurant interior and kitchen design. Our post on bakery design can also help you on this journey.
Key takeaway: Proper restaurant design has the potential to increase foot traffic to an eatery. The design should be in line with the style and vision of the business. It should be a combination of value, comfort, convenience, and other factors that customers find attractive.
Types of Restaurant Designs
There are dozens of different restaurant design types. Some of them focus on natural materials and elements, while others emphasize sophisticated and high-end styles. Let’s examine the main categories of restaurant designs.
Fine-Dining Restaurant Design
These establishments focus on creating a stylish and elegant environment through high-end materials like wood and leather. Art pieces, luxury decoration, and soft lighting are also extensively used in fine-dining restaurant design. The floor plan of these diners usually has a more formal setting with more space between tables for a more private dining experience.
Casual Dining Restaurant Design
A casual eatery offers a combination of convenience, affordability, and comfort. These diners usually rely on warm colors and a relaxed atmosphere. They might have various types of seating areas – restaurant booths, classical chairs, or comfortable sofas. Casual dining restaurants can design their premise in various ways. They can make the place more family-friendly or focus on attracting nearby workers who look for a convenient lunch restaurant.
Fast Food Restaurant Design
These establishments prioritize speed and table turnover above anything else. That’s why they have a standardized layout with bright colors and a focus on branding. Fast food eateries use durable, easy-to-clean, and high-traffic materials like plastic.
Other Restaurant Designs
There are various other restaurant design options. Buffet design is used primarily in the hotel and leisure industry as it makes serving many guests simultaneously optimal. On the other hand, pop-up restaurants have very little decor and only a few seating options. Their primary goal is to serve customers quickly.
Tips on Designing a Restaurant
Restaurant Interior Design Tips
- Matching design and brand. It’s paramount to match an eatery’s design with its brand concept. For example, sustainable restaurants are likely to use natural materials instead of plastic.
- Layered lighting. Proper restaurant lighting is a mix between natural light and different types of lighting. Ambient lighting should be combined with accent lights (often in warm tones).
- Zoning and different types of seating. Proper separation of the bar, waiting area, and dining zone will improve service flow. Also, consider having different types of seating to fit the needs of different customer categories.
- Integrate technologies. Thanks to the latest restaurant technology trends, eateries can automate ordering and other tasks. These innovations should be considered when making the restaurant’s design.
Restaurant Kitchen Design Tips
- Workflows are crucial. Arranging different areas in a restaurant kitchen is one of the most important tasks when designing a restaurant. Stations should be properly divided and there should be minimal collision between cooking, refrigeration, and cleaning areas.
- Energy efficiency is important. Energy-efficient appliances and equipment are not only eco-friendly but can also help reduce utility costs substantially.
- Involve different staff members. When doing restaurant design, in addition to working with professional designers, it’s also important to involve chefs and other staff members during the planning stage.
- Arrange storage intelligently. Dry, cold, and frozen storage should be properly planned and the space should be used optimally. In addition to ingredients, eateries need to also store various miscellaneous items such as restaurant merchandise, aprons and other apparel, and restaurant condiment holders.
Trends in Restaurant Designs
- Open kitchens and visible prep areas have been a major trend in restaurant design in recent years;
- Sustainability and eco-friendliness is a trend that can be seen in various niche markets. Restaurants utilize it with increased usage of natural materials like wood, stone, and plants in addition to ordering eco-friendly wholesale restaurant supplies;
- Coziness, warmth, simplicity, and comfort have been among the preferred styles in the restaurant industry in recent years;
- Although restaurant design is commonly associated with indoor or kitchen design, having an aesthetically pleasing and in line with the brand website, app, and eCommerce ordering platform is also important;
- Technological solutions and their integrations in a restaurant’s design have also gained popularity among restaurant businesses. That includes QR codes for restaurant menus, self-ordering kiosks, or other automation and solutions;
- Outdoor dining has become increasingly popular. Thus, eateries should focus on patios, rooftop dining, or greenhouses.
Frequently Asked Questions about Restaurant Design
Whether you’re looking for information on restaurant catering or want to know more about the impact of restaurant inflation on eateries, BlueCart is your reliable source of information. You’ll find plenty of useful articles on our website. Below, we’ve answered a few of the frequently asked questions about restaurant design and its role in food service businesses.
How to Do Low-Cost Restaurant Design?
The easiest way to do a restaurant design with a low budget is to go minimalistic. Fortunately, this is one of the trends in this field. The minimalistic approach means less decoration and more functional design. Another idea for a low-budget restaurant design is to rely on mirrors and greenery. Mirrors make spaces look bigger, and plants are an affordable way to make the place nice and cozy. Affordability can also be part of the business model. For example, a food service business can invest in self-ordering kiosks or other automation solutions. These investments will help along the way by reducing recurring costs.
How to Design an Outdoor Restaurant Space?
Generally speaking, outdoor tables of a restaurant should match indoor ones. Some eateries might choose a different approach and make the interior cozy and warm, while exterior tables have a more natural or tropical vibe. This can be especially suitable for an eco-friendly restaurant. Outdoor tables are susceptible to weather conditions. That’s why building an all-weather patio can be a great way to still keep these tables available even on rainy days. When it comes to designing a restaurant’s outdoor space, you should work with the nearby environment and create a fitting atmosphere.
How to Create a Restaurant Brand Identity?
Restaurant interior design plays an important role in the overall branding of the business. That’s especially true for restaurant chains that wish to build loyalty with their customers. In order to create a restaurant brand identity, you need to carefully consider all aspects of it. Keep in mind that branding takes part in interior design, advertising materials, menu design, and all other aspects of the business. When done properly, restaurant branding can help with customer loyalty and restaurant customer acquisition.
BlueCart: The Wholesale Marketplace Platform for Restaurants
Eateries, coffee shops, bakeries, and other food service businesses can benefit from BlueCart’s wholesale ordering software. From finding vendors to making the ordering process automated, there are many ways our platform can help eateries. Specialized and broadline distributors can also benefit from BlueCart’s solutions. Thanks to our software, suppliers can increase their wholesale sales and automate certain business processes. Schedule a demo and see why BlueCart is among the best apps for restaurants and wholesalers.