Best restaurant design concepts - e-architect (2024)

Best Restaurant Design Concepts guide, Dining Style Advice, Eating Out Design Tips

22 Jan 2021

Despite the restaurant business being highly profitable, it is a competitive industry, with small and large establishments fighting for customers. If you run such a business, you definitely understand how outdoor and indoor décor and ambiance affects your customers. That said, you should consider investing heavily in a creative restaurant design. The guide below outlines some of the best restaurant design concepts to consider.

1. Exterior Design

Your restaurant’s exterior design is your visual language that communicates with your customers. This is why getting the right design is an important factor that determines the restaurants’ success. The exterior design gives your clients a clue of what to expect from your establishment. While no surefire or specific element guarantees success, the right combination of various elements can provide this.

An important part of the exterior is how you construct the entrance. Simple installations, such as canopies, awnings, upright plants, and other décors, can improve the doorway. Inexpensive settings, such as wine barrels, easily attract the attention of passers-by and inform them of the dining experience to expect inside.

Using multiple colored tiles on the pavements and clearly visible entrance mats also attracts your customer’s attention and differentiate you from competitors. Colors and signage also play an important role in your exterior design’s success. Highly saturated and bright colors often bring a casual and fun feeling to restaurants.

On the other hand, dim and warm lights are best for upscale restaurants. Broken bulbs, cracked pots, and dried plants are a turnoff and often give customers wrong impressions about your establishment’s cleanliness.

2. Interior Design

Apart from the exterior, most restaurant owners dream of developing a gorgeous and breathtaking space that flocks. When planning your interiors, a general rule of thumb is that dining spaces should take up at least 60% of your interior space while the kitchen, restrooms, and storage rooms share the remaining 40%.

The spacing between tables and other seating arrangements should allow for easier navigation. However, spacing for restaurants varies depending on the type of restaurant. For instance, 20 square feet for every person is best for classy and fine dining restaurants. Fast food establishments can use 10 square feet per person.

3. Lighting Design

Proper lighting has subconscious effects on your customers. Flickering fluorescent lights can easily conjure your customer’s minds. Unfortunately, despite such importance, lighting is among the underestimated restaurant design elements. For starters, proper lighting sets the right lounging mood for your customers. Most customers are always searching for different dining experiences.

Good lighting also increases your sales. Just as it sets the right mood, customers enjoy a lengthy dining experience under the influence of lights, thus ordering more. As customers spend more time in your establishment, they will likely spend more money. Proper lighting also increases sales by enhancing the appeal of your food.

Lighting designs in a restaurant should also help differentiate spaces within your restaurant. Choose and install restaurant lights according to functionality. Restaurants have separate areas that contribute to their overall functionality. Areas such as dining lounges, bars, and waiting bays should have separate lights that reflect the different purposes of every area. For instance, waiting bays should have bright and warm lights that give an inviting feel, while sitting areas should have dark lighting that creates an intimate feel.

4. Good Waste Disposal System

Food waste is a significant issue that restaurants should learn to manage. Nothing is unsightly as dumped leftovers in a restaurant. It leaves not only bad odors but also gives potential customers a bad impression of your establishment. Therefore, you should incorporate a proper waste disposal system in your restaurant design. Restaurant waste often results from overproduction, food trimming, and preparing wrong portion sizes.

Therefore, besides designing a good waste disposal system, adopt various measures to minimize waste production. Monitoring your inventory, storing your food correctly, and conducting a waste audit can help reduce waste production. You should also have a team dedicated to managing your restaurant’s waste.

However, even with an integrated waste management strategy, you will still have some leftovers to be disposed of. This calls for hiring reliable and professional commercial waste management experts to prevent accumulation.

5. Restaurant Menu Design

Menus are an important marketing tool for restaurants. However, most people view it as a simple inventory that lists available items with their corresponding prices. Menus are crucial documents that outline your restaurant’s offerings, brand attributes, and other culinary philosophies. Therefore, the size, paper choice, photo quality, font, and typographies should be chosen with caution.

Best restaurant design concepts – Bottom Line

There are hundreds if not thousands of design concepts to consider in your restaurant. Modern successful restaurant design concepts go beyond good service, a good atmosphere, and good food. Apart from the key concepts mentioned above, other essential design considerations include staff uniforms, ventilation, restroom design, and acoustic designs.

Comments on this guide to Best Restaurant Design Concepts article are welcome.

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Best restaurant design concepts - e-architect (2024)

FAQs

Best restaurant design concepts - e-architect? ›

On average, architectural fees for designing a restaurant range from $5 to $10 per square foot. These costs can escalate depending on the complexity and specific requirements of the project, such as high-end finishes or specialized environmental considerations.

How much does an architect cost to design a restaurant? ›

On average, architectural fees for designing a restaurant range from $5 to $10 per square foot. These costs can escalate depending on the complexity and specific requirements of the project, such as high-end finishes or specialized environmental considerations.

How to design restaurant architecture? ›

When designing your floor plan, you need to factor in the following elements:
  1. Waiting / entrance area.
  2. Dining room.
  3. Bar / countertop area.
  4. Kitchen and prep rooms.
  5. Storage.
  6. Restrooms.
  7. Compliance with accessibility legislation.
  8. Patio / outdoor dining spaces.

What is a restaurant architect? ›

As a restaurant architect, you could be responsible for designing the interior and exterior structures of eateries. Restaurant architects confer with clients to determine what type of design they'd like for their dining establishments.

What are the factors to consider in designing layout of the restaurant? ›

5 Factors to Consider When Designing a Restaurant
  • Design an Interior Space That is Both Functional and Visually Stunning. ...
  • Streamline the Exterior Design to Optimize Your Customers' Experience. ...
  • Design an Innovative Space While Staying on Budget. ...
  • Ensure That Your Restaurant is Accessible.
Sep 29, 2023

Is 100k enough to open a restaurant? ›

Considering the range of expenses, the cost to start a small restaurant is between $100,000 and $300,000. In terms of cost per square foot, restaurant consultants say a good estimate is $100 to $800 ($450 average) per square foot to get your new restaurant up and running.

Is a building designer cheaper than an architect? ›

An Architectural fee can run anywhere between 2% and 15% of construction costs depending on who you are engaging and what part of the country you are in. Builders and Designers will cost less or even be free. Just be aware that they usually roll the design fees into your construction cost.

Which type of layout is best for a restaurant? ›

The zoning layout is ideal for restaurants with extensive menus, plenty of staff and large operations like hotel, catering or event space kitchens. Restaurants with smaller kitchen spaces may benefit more from a different layout, as the zones can make multitasking challenging.

How big is a 100 person restaurant? ›

How many people you can seat in your restaurant depends on your municipal code. The seating is usually based on 12 square feet per person for optimal customer comfort. So, if your goal was to seat 100 people, (100x12=1200) you would need 1200 square feet in the seating area.

How many sq ft per person for a restaurant? ›

In general, account for the following: Fine dining: 18 to 20 square feet per customer. Full-service dining: 12 to 15 square feet per customer. Counter service: 18 to 20 square feet per customer.

What is the difference between an architect and a design architect? ›

Whereas an architect is a licensed design professional, an architectural designer is not. An architectural designer is one step below an architect when it comes to expertise. Before an architect passes the ARE's and gets licensed, she is an architectural designer.

What are 5 responsibilities of an architect? ›

Architects typically do the following:
  • Meet with clients to determine objectives and requirements for structures.
  • Give preliminary estimates on cost and construction time.
  • Prepare structure specifications.
  • Direct workers who prepare drawings and documents.
  • Prepare scaled drawings, either with computer software or by hand.

How should a restaurant be designed? ›

Here are 10 essential factors that you should consider as you draw out and design your restaurant floor plan:
  1. Building codes and regulations.
  2. Layout.
  3. Accessibility.
  4. Budget.
  5. Restaurant brand identity and aesthetics.
  6. Per-customer square footage.
  7. Lighting.
  8. Detailed plans for each restaurant space.

What is most important to consider when designing the layout of a restaurant kitchen? ›

Space planning, equipment selection, safety and sanitation, workflow, and energy efficiency are some of the most important factors to consider.

What is the most important factor in choosing a restaurant? ›

Food. Here is the most important factor, the core of the discussion. No matter what additional activities we plan to accomplish in a restaurant, the primary objective of visiting the place is to have food. Needless to say that the taste of the food should be good.

How much do you pay an architect for a design? ›

How much should you budget for an architect? For large-scale projects, such as the new construction of a house, budget between 5% and 15% of the total project cost. Simpler renovations require up to 20% of the project cost depending on the scope of the work.

What is the average cost of a design architect? ›

The average cost to hire an architect can vary largely depending on the experience of the architect and the complexity of your project, but generally, you can expect an architect to charge between 5-10% of your overall build costs.

How much does an architect charge to draw plans? ›

The usual percentage fee an architect will charge ranges from about 8% to around 15%.
Project cost8%10%
£10,000£800£1,000
£25,000£2,000£2,500
£50,000£4,000£5,000
£75,000£6,000£7,500
1 more row
5 days ago

How much does it cost to build an architectural design? ›

Architects cost $2,000 to $20,000 to draw basic plans or $15,000 to $80,000+ for full house design and services. Average architect fees are 8% to 15% of construction costs to draw house plans or 10% to 20% for remodels. Architects charge hourly rates of $100 to $250 or $2 to $15 per square foot.

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