Furniture in catering establishments is no less important than food. However skilled the chef at your restaurant is and how unique the cocktails at your bar are, if the atmosphere in the hall lacks comfort and cosiness, your customers are unlikely to be satisfied!
This brings up a challenging question: what furniture is suitable for the interior of a café or a restaurant? Is it enough to choose tables and chairs at the nearest furniture store, or should one give more thought to this issue?
Let’s talk about the features of furniture for cafés and restaurants in greater detail. In this article, we’ll look into the main qualities and criteria for the purchase. We’ll also tell you about the advantages of certain materials that should definitely be used in the manufacture of such pieces of furniture.
Furniture for cafés and restaurants: what should it be like?
It seems simple at first glance. In any café or restaurant, furniture is roughly divided into the hall, where guests stay, and the kitchen. It’s quite logical with the latter: the furniture in the restaurant kitchen must always meet sanitary and hygienic standards, and therefore it is really easy to choose. The interior of the hall, however, is a whole different thing. It would seem that for the successful operation of a restaurant, you can just set up a sufficient number of seats — tables and chairs, choose a bar counter and coat racks, and you’re golden! However, it’s not that simple. What requirements are set for furniture in cafés and restaurants?
- Increased strength. Remember that a café is, by definition, a high-traffic place, and every piece of furniture in the hall withstands far heavier daily loads than furniture in your home or office. Hence, the strength of a restaurant’s furnishing materials is a mandatory criterion.
- Safety. This is another factor that must not be overlooked. During lunch or dinner, your clients should not have to worry about possible hangnails, splinters, or sharp edges of furniture that may harm them.
- Comfort. Spending time over a delicious meal in a comfortable environment is much nicer, which primarily depends on the furniture. The right choice of table height and area, comfortable chairs, the option to leave outerwear in the cloakroom and freshen up in front of a mirror — such simple yet necessary things will ultimately benefit your business and encourage visitors to come back again. Conversely, uncomfortable tables and narrow or overly heavy chairs can turn clients away from your restaurant, even if it serves incredibly delicious food.
- Compliance with the overall style and concept of the restaurant. This requirement is also essential. Aesthetics and harmony between the restaurant’s cuisine and its visual design can greatly influence customer choice in a competitive environment. Accordingly, if you serve European cuisine, then it’s worth choosing classic-style furniture with oak tabletops, luxurious sofa upholstery, and lots of details. An inexpensive bistro or healthy food café will look organic with an interior in a minimalist style, eco-style, or trendy loft style. Likewise, for a country restaurant or grill bar, a country style with wood panels on the walls, rustic ash tabletops made of edge-glued panels, and a live-edge bar counter would be perfect.
The combination of these four criteria creates an environment in a restaurant that clients remember with appreciation and delight.
Furniture selection: what should definitely be in your café?
Of course, the choice of interior items is primarily determined by the style and concept of the café. You also shouldn’t neglect zoning: it’s better to equip areas for different-sized groups; for example, small tables for couples, family tables with sofas for 4–6 people, and big tables for large groups. In doing so, it is important to calculate the number of seats so that the room isn’t cluttered, but at the same time, you are able to seat the number of guests you expect to have.
A typical set of furniture for the hall of a café or a restaurant includes:
- tables;
- chairs;
- sofas;
- bar counter;
- bar stools;
- order reception counters;
- tables for staff;
- cloakroom or coat racks.
Features of materials: what is better to choose for your café?
Before deciding on a style and amount of furniture for your restaurant, think about what it will be made of. Typical materials for a café interior are:
- Plastic — inexpensive but practical material. Plastic furniture doesn't look so luxurious; however, it will look appropriate in such interior styles as minimalism, modern, and partly — high-tech.
- Metal — is one of the most popular materials, but only if combined with plastic, glass, leather, and other materials. It’s good for a loft style, high-tech furniture, and, in the form of forged details, — for classic interiors.
- Wood is a timeless classic and a truly universal option. It goes well with most design solutions, from fine dining restaurants to trendy eco-cafés or inexpensive bistros. In addition, modern wood processing methods allow the use of expensive solid wood and convenient materials like edge-glued panels (for example, bar counters and walls), glued laminated timber, and lumber. And ready-made oak or ash tabletops will be an excellent choice for tables and a bar countertop. Moreover, staircases, wall panels, and ceiling beams made of wood are indispensable attributes of authentic-style bars and cafés, country cafés, and restaurants with antique designs.
Let’s summarize! To choose the best furniture for your restaurant, you should consider:
- the material it will be made of;
- strength and safety of every piece of furniture;
- comfort and convenience for visitors;
- amount and sizes of the furniture so that it doesn’t clutter the space.
Wood remains one of the most sought-after materials for restaurant furniture due to its strength, versatility, eco-friendliness, and beauty. If you’re not sure what concept to stick to, it’s better to choose wooden furniture — it will never disappoint you!