A crowded restaurant is good news for you, the owner. But for the patron? Not always. While a full house definitely communicates to customers the fact that they have selected an eatery that’s popular and where the food must be great, an overwhelming feeling of being crowded can have the effect of claustrophobia and irritation.
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Commercial Seating
Time was, in fashion, everything had to match: hats and gloves, finger- and toenail polish, staying in color families. Then the trend progressed to coordinating—not matching exactly, but a more liberal approach: formerly unmatching colors grouped together, mixing prints with stripes, or big prints with small prints. Then came “whatever makes you happy”: a cheery eclecticism of “anything goes.”
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Planning booths as part of your restaurant seating? Think comfort, think space, think square feet.
Use yourself as an example. You’ve probably sat in booths that weren’t exactly the height of comfort. Maybe some were overstuffed, making you feel like you are being pushed froward. Then there are the booths that have no space between the seat back and the table edge—no room to slide in, no room to breathe, crushed ribs feel like a certainty. Booths—usually the wood ones—whose seat backs are at ninety-degree angles to the seats are murder on backs. They seem designed to make people want to leave as soon as possible.
Don’t be a victim of poor booth design. And don’t make the mistake of squeezing into space that’s not sufficient. If your tables are attached to the walls or floor, there’s no way to remedy the situation of no breathing room. Make sure nothing gets nailed down until both booths and tables are physically in your restaurant. If you are ordering, make sure you have full measurements of the space in which the booths are to be placed, and don’t settle on a booth until you have the table selected (height, width, and length)–and vice versa.
Not one of the most time-honored inventions, certainly, but drop-leaf tables can be saviors to restaurants that need their versatility. Go from square or rectangular to round or oval in a flash, and accommodate larger parties without sacrificing a lot of space or using up whole tables to serve only a couple of extra patrons.
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Whether you take reservations or not, are you treating your customers well by providing seating for those waiting for a table? Even if you have limited space, it’s a gesture that does not go unnoticed, especially if you have an older clientele. Waiting is so much more palatable if there’s a place to sit. Even the most successful eateries—you know, the ones that can still afford to have potential customers leave when there’s too long a wait for a table—could take a page from the book of the smart entrepreneurs who leave some real estate for a waiting area.
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