Getting Good Restaurant Floor Plans
While I don’t profess to be and architect or engineer, I do know that architects and engineers are not restaurateurs. The point is that when starting a new restaurant that requires alternative example floor plans, you and the architect/designer must work together. Great ideas come from combining many experiences into a concept.
Your designer, which may be a restaurant planner, architect or engineer, has the benefit of knowing building codes and the experiences from past jobs to offer you. However, you have a better grasp of what image you are trying to portray, food handling requirements and the expediency of a kitchen line or cooking area. Each of you brings valuable input together to create a workable plan that can lead to a productive and attractive restaurant environment.
When working with a designer for your restaurant floor plans, here are a few tips:
- Remember, it’s all about your guests and their comfort.
- Don’t let eclectic, artsy designs translate into loud uncomfortable surroundings.
- You are in business to make money. You need the maximum seating capacity to maximize your profitability. You should have several sample floor plans to work through your preliminary drawings.
- Another profit maximizer is turning tables. Make certain that practical considerations are built in. How quickly can you bus tables? How fast can you seat guests? Where are dirty plates, trash and waste going?
- Servers are sales people and guest entertainers. Do whatever you can to reduce the number of steps it takes to stay in front of your customers.
Sample restaurant plans are readily available on the internet. Below are a couple of links that provide sample restaurant floor plans from previous customers of the design firms represented. This is not a recommendation or endorsement of the companies involved.
My final recommendation is that both you and your designer work independently to sketch your initial design ideas without influencing each other. Then meet to put the plans together and use the best of each.
