When it comes to decorating and designing your restaurant, the key is to take into account the preferences and tastes of your customers before your own.
Customers don’t just go to your restaurant attracted to food. They want to savor an entire experience, even a coat hanger (ที่ แขวน เสื้อ which is the term in Thai). And as you know, a complete gastronomic experience involves all the senses: taste, sight, touch, smell, and hearing. The restaurant design and decoration of your choice should address each of these aspects to provide an attractive environment that will ensure that your customers always return. But attracting your customers should not be your only goal when designing your restaurant. You should also consider efficiency and productivity: an optimal design should boost service speed and better performance.
The following tips to design and decorate your restaurant will help you in both areas, improving both the efficiency and the appearance of your restaurant.
Key Elements To Decorate And Design Your Restaurant
Capacity: You must create a balance between the capacity of your restaurant and the number of seats you assign. Depending on the type of restaurant you have, you will have to decide if you want to maximize capacity with as many seats as possible or if you prefer to create a good atmosphere. In any case, your customers should feel comfortable and have enough privacy, and the servers should be able to move easily. If possible, avoid placing seats in problem areas such as the entrance, in front of the kitchen and front of the bathrooms.
Illumination: Lighting is often overlooked both at home and in the workplace. However, lighting is very important to define a space. Proper lighting can improve the overall customer experience and, more importantly, strategic outdoor lighting is the first thing that can attract passersby. Have you ever gone through a restaurant with a patio with nice lighting and high quality? Used in the right way, the lights create a comforting environment that invites you to relax with your family or friends while enjoying a good glass of wine does it sound good? That is the power of enlightenment. Do not forget also that warm light brings warmth to your space, while cold light makes customers speak louder.
Music And Sound: This is another key factor. Music can make your environment pleasant or it can ruin it. Have you ever been to a restaurant with bad music where it is impossible to have a conversation? Nobody likes to shout! Here you have an interesting fact: several studies have shown that soft background music not only makes employees happier but improves the image of the establishment and stimulates the appetite of customers. A non-commercial radio station is an economical way to provide background music.
Kitchen Design: This aspect is often overlooked in restaurant equipment (อุปกรณ์ ร้าน อาหาร which is the term Thai) and design, because it is hidden from the public (unless it is an open concept restaurant, which is becoming more popular every day). The distribution of the kitchen is perhaps the most important part of the design of your restaurant. However, this possibility is not always feasible, so we briefly propose three kitchen design options: design with the assembly line, island design, and zone design. Simply put, the assembly line provides workers with three distinct areas for food preparation, keeping staff within defined workspaces. Island design simply means that the main preparations take place in the center of the kitchen, making it ideal for spaces where staff supervision is required. If your space is limited, you can consider a zone design, which can be adapted to a variety of shapes and sizes.