Restaurant Furniture Blog

Do you need to sacrifice space in your restaurant furniture layout design to cater for those that struggle on two legs? It is an important question in this day of equal access and equal rights. Restaurants are all about getting backsides on seats and delivering meals as quickly as possible. Even the high class restaurants depend on a certain turnover of tables each night. This is why bookings in those restaurants are encouraged - it makes planning a lot easier.

What about wheel chair access? We live in a society in which civil suits are brought before the courts every day, often for the smallest of problems. Lack of access for a wheel chair may have the potential to lead to such an action. The same problem exists when it comes to the elderly and their walking sticks or walking frames - is there easy access?

If you are clever with your restaurant furniture layout design you can cater for these situations. The issue is whether you can be clever without being too obvious. If you set aside an area that is reasonably close to the entrance then you will only need to sacrifice that small amount of space between the entrance and the nominated seating area. Of course, if you only have the one table with easy access, the problem may arise when you have two dining parties that require wheel chair access. Unless you are in an area frequented by wheel chair users - the elderly or those requiring access concessions - this should only be a rare problem.

You don’t know who your next customer is going to be. If they require special access considerations and you cannot accommodate them, at the very least your reputation may be harmed. When you are considering your restaurant furniture layout design, don’t forget to cater for those that don’t have normal access requirements.