Although you may not think about it often, an effective restaurant floor plan is an essential element of running your restaurant efficiency. For capacity as well as ease of movement, a well-thought-out floor plan can truly make or break your restaurant. If you had a floor plan that worked out well for your restaurant’s needs, the COVID-19 pandemic likely threw it for a loop! Safety guidelines and the priority of keeping everyone in your restaurant safe and healthy have changed how many business owners think about floor plans.
Creating a safe floor plan might sound simple. It’s true that by decreasing the number of tables available and by spreading out your seating arrangement, you can pretty effectively meet all guidelines. But with a little more thought and effort, you can create a floor plan that meets safety standards. Plus, you can design a space that is also effective and efficient for your restaurant operations.
Restaurant Floor Plans: General Layouts
Start planning your floor plan by taking a survey of the space you have available to use. Are there built-in objects, like booths? Maybe your restaurant has nooks or alcoves that you can creatively utilize. Make note of any elements of the space that are permanent and need to be incorporated into the final seating plan.
Next, it’s time to think about tables. Throughout all of the stages of designing your floor plan, you need to keep in mind the capacity of the space. This means not only the full capacity, but also any capacity limits that your state or local governments have put on establishments as part of current safety standards.
If these limits apply to you, it’s your decision whether or not you want to eliminate extra tables entirely. You may want to leave them in place and simply not seat guests at them. The final decision is up to you. It may come down to such factors as storage space for the additional furniture pieces.
How to Create an Accessible Restaurant Seating Arrangement
Making your business accessible to guests with disabilities is extremely important. But that’s not the only thing that falls under the umbrella of accessibility. Accessibility principles also apply to your staff and all of your guests as they navigate your restaurant. With fewer people and potentially less furniture in your dining room, creating a space that’s easy to navigate is easier. However, it’s always important to test out every seat in your restaurant before committing to a new floor plan. You might discover an annoying air vent above one seat, or a place where servers could have difficulty bringing food to a table. These are all small issues that can easily be adjusted for if the proper care is taken to notice them.
Overall, creating an effective and efficient restaurant seating chart is a simple way to improve your space’s functionality. Creating a great experience for guests starts long before their food arrives at the table, and designing a well-functioning layout is a great first step. Best of luck!
