TOP 5 Restaurant Design Mistakes That Might Ruin Your Business

Starting from the idea that there is no such thing as an ugly or beautiful restaurant –  only a right or wrong set-up – we made a top of the most common mistakes in restaurant design that can harm your business long term. We talk less about aesthetics and more about space architecture, about the way you can make servings more efficient through a correct setup. Last but not least important, we discuss how you can positively influence the customer’s experience so he wants to come back to your restaurant or cafe. 

Ignoring the fact that your restaurant is a business, not just a beautiful design

Restaurants’ interior design trends are like a revolving door – they come and go, but successful restaurants have always put space functionality before tendencies.   

Restaurant design will not meet your expectations if you don’t keep in mind – since the set-up sketching step – 2 very important things:

Restaurant concept. Everything placed in a restaurant must tell its story, be a podium for the product and align to its brand identity. Find out here how to create a successful concept.

The restaurant’s operational flow. The design elements should firstly focus on creating an efficient workflow, keeping the product and the estimated turnover in mind. Ambience will project around these elements.

Space planning

The kitchen space is often miscalculated and doesn’t reflect the number of customers the restaurant can host. This can set up slow serving because the kitchen doesn’t have enough space for the needed number of orders, then customers get their food or drinks late and the employees become frustrated. This is just the beginning of a long problem chain. 

The kitchen and its annexes used for meal preparation have to occupy, for a fair balance, 40% of the whole restaurant.  A restaurant designer should study and anticipate a restaurant’s operations, know the product and keep in mind user experience before sketching the space. 

Wrong lighting

Poor or harsh lighting is a mistake that can ruin the whole customer experience in a restaurant. No one wants to make an effort to read a menu or to see what’s on their plate. On the contrary, lighting should highlight the product, like a painting in an art gallery.

Rethinking the lights system can often save a restaurant. We pay more attention to architectural light than to fixtures’ shape. This light should centre the table and other certain places we want to highlight.

When the table size doesn’t meet the plating, the product will suffer

It’s just another proof that a restaurant’s concept and design has to start from THE PRODUCT. Communicating with the Chef is essential in the beginning. Together, you will decide on serving sizes, plates, all together on a minimum and maximum of plates that can be on a table at the same time. 

The restrooms

Bathroom design shows respect towards the customer and rounds up his pleasant experience in your restaurant. Because of incorrect planning, the budget for designing a restaurant can be over when we get to the bathrooms. Often we see cramped restaurant restrooms with insufficient facilities. 

Don’t forget to also adapt the restrooms for people with disabilities.