Many restaurant owners focus on the back of the house – the kitchen staff & appliances = and neglect the details when it comes to the front of the house. You may have the best chef in town, the best food in town, and the most state of the art equipment, but if guests aren’t impressed with your front of house they may never return. Below are a few ways you can spruce up your seating area to make sure diners are repeat customers!
Lighting: While the current trend in restaurants seems to keep the seating area dark, many modern restaurants are option for open floor plans, with lots of natural light. Lighting makes the space look cleaner and larger, while making your food look appetizing! Overall, you want to have clean lines and open spaces – or at least the illusion of open spaces! Mirrors and lighting can help to achieve this effect.
Accessories: Many restaurant owners tend to ‘over-clutter’ their seating area with kitschy accessories that don’t really seem to have a rhyme or reason. Develop a style or theme, and decorate sparsely. Keep it simple, clean, elegant and refined. Sites like Culinary Depot can serve as a one-stop shop for restaurant accessory shopping!
Layering: Layering is totally ‘in’ right now in the fashion world – why not the restaurant world? By having tables and chairs of varying heights throughout your seating area, you create an atmosphere that is interesting and eye catching. You can also layer fabric on top of your paint to create an interesting texture, or focal point for the room.
There are numerous ways to make your front of house just as appetizing as the food you serve, but no matter what: keep it well lit, de-cluttered, and interesting!
